A workshop on March 14 to educate foresters, wildlife biologists, and forest landowners on improving wildlife habitat
PORTLAND, Ore. – Harm to water and wildlife caused by rodent poison and other chemicals used at illegal marijuana plantations is the keynote topic of a “Wildlife in Managed Forests” workshop in Albany on March 14.
Mourad Gabriel, a doctoral candidate at University of California, Davis, is the keynote lunch speaker at the Wildlife in Managed Forests: Practical Tools Workshop. The day-long event is for foresters, wildlife biologists, and forest landowners seeking ways to improve habitat on private timberland.
Gabriel and his team found that in California more than 80 percent of fishers–a forest mammal in the weasel family–had exposure to highly toxic rodent poisons. Gabriel also reports that thousands of pounds of high-nitrogen fertilizer and other agricultural chemicals used to grow marijuana in remote parts of the forest are a potential threat to water quality.
What: Wildlife in Managed Forests: Practical Skills Workshop
When: Thursday, March 14, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Where: Linn County Fair and Expo, 3700 Knox Butte Road E., Albany
Other workshop sessions will offer hands-on techniques for improving wildlife habitat in working forests. Among the topics: fish-passage law and culverts, promoting healthy elk herds, and herbicide use as it relates to forage for deer and elk.
The workshop is co-sponsored by the Society of American Foresters, the Oregon Forest Resources Institute and the Wildlife Society. Registration is $45 to $50, depending on membership. Download workshop information at www.forestry.org/media/docs/or/2013%20wildlife_workshop_flyer_FINAL.pdf.