As you peruse this month’s Musings, you can see what a contradictory month January has shaped up to be. It has been a time of both happy accomplishments and concerns.
The installation of the new osprey nesting platform and monitoring camera near the south end of the refuge goes at the top of the plus list. As detailed elsewhere in this newsletter, this project brought together a wonderful set of partners and gives us all a new way to enjoy nature’s endless show at Malheur. What could be better than that!
In the weather department, things have been more complicated. Last winter the weather gods gifted the Harney Basin with copious amounts of water – so much, in fact, that parts of the town of Burns were ultimately flooded and the annual bird festival had to be cancelled. All that water may have been hard on human affairs, but the birds loved it. The huge expanses of temporary wetlands were good for both migratory and breeding species.
This winter, if January is any indication, is likely to go in a very different direction. Unless we soon see some fundamental change, it looks like the winter of 2025-2026 will go down as less than average. This back-and-forth oscillation between wet and dry is a part of the natural annual cycle of the Harney Basin, but we always watch with interest and concern. Like the birds, we will need to adapt to whatever happens.
A very different area of concern takes us away from nature and into the department of human affairs. In December, the federal agency responsible for protecting and managing Malheur, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, initiated a nation-wide effort to reassess its operations. The goals include confirming mission, reviewing the role of individual refuges, and seeking maximum efficiency in both operations and organizational structure.
These are admirable goals, but we must make sure that the review process hears from those many of us who care so deeply about places like Malheur. As explained elsewhere in this newsletter, a part of this effort is an opportunity for public comment. FOMR is preparing to submit comments, and we urge you to do so as well. It is this organization’s position that the mission of Malheur is absolutely essential and that the primary inefficiency hobbling the successful operation of the refuge is that too much of its operating staff and budget have evaporated in recent years. As a result, most of the remaining employes are trying to do two or three jobs, something that is almost impossible to do well. You may or may not agree with this conclusion, but we encourage you to tell the government what you think. It’s important. The future direction of the refuge system is on the table.
– W. Tweed
