THE OUTDOORS : Outdoor Notes : Drought Is Resulting in Severe Decline of the Nation’s Wildlife

The drought has federal officials worried about its effects on the nation’s wildlife. Water levels at many of the country’s wetlands, streams and reservoirs are shrinking, vegetation is growing sparse, and wild animals in some instances are being forced into areas where conflict with humans may occur, or already has occurred.

Recent examples:

--The death of 9,000 fish and 100 birds in the wetlands at the Stillwater Wildlife area near Fallon, Nev.

Biologist Steve Thompson said that declining water levels in Twin Lakes and Lead Lake lowered the oxygen supply, killing the fish. The species involved: Sacramento black fish and carp.

The dead birds, which included ducks, pelicans and gulls, apparently suffered from an outbreak of botulism caused by the lack of fresh water getting into the wildlife area.

This was the first kill at the wetlands this summer. Last year, thousands of birds and fish died, apparently because of similar drought conditions.

--The fall migration of ducks has been reduced to the second smallest on record and could mean a 25% reduction in hunting this year.

The migration will total about 66 million ducks, according to biologists of the national Fish and Wildlife Service, and only the estimated migration of 62 million in 1985 was lower. The migration last year was pegged at 74 million.

All the decline is expected in the Central and Mississippi flyways because of steady loss of marshy breeding areas in the northern plains states and southern Canada in the 1980s.

The flights on the Atlantic and Pacific flyways should be unchanged from last year.

--The Inyo Register is reporting that black bear sightings are on the rise in southern Inyo County, an area where such appearances are normally considered rare.

“I have no idea where they’re coming from,” Mike Wolter of the Department of Fish and Game was quoted as saying. Wolter, a patrol lieutenant for Mono County and most of Inyo County, said he doesn’t expect any major problems from the bears, but as the drought continues, so will the sightings and possible bear-human encounters.

The bears have recently been reported roaming the streets as far south as Lone Pine.

“To see a bear in Lone Pine is really unheard of,” Wolter said. Several Lone Pine residents, however, have reported bears in the neighborhood.

One Independence resident said he saw one that “must have weighed between 350 and 400 pounds,” walking down a sidewalk.

Game Warden Tom Lipp said that one bear recently raided a beekeeper’s hives at Ft. Independence. “I’ve been here going on 10 years and until last year I’ve never had a bear problem down in the lower elevations,” he said.

Lipp cites consecutive dry seasons in the high country, resulting in lack of food, as the reason the bears have been moving into populated areas.

Conservation leaders are calling for drastic measures to save the Atlantic bluefin tuna, the populations of which appear to be dwindling to dangerous levels.

Cause for concern stems from the following:

--Studies have shown that spawning stock of the giant bluefin, reduced by over-fishing to about 30% of 1970’s population, is still shrinking.

--The United States and Canada have not come close to reaching quotas for five consecutive years.

--Only four giant bluefins were caught in 1987 off the coast of Newfoundland, where years ago tens of thousands reportedly swam.

--There were 24,405 fishing vessels licensed to operate in U.S. waters. Only 769 reported catches of giant bluefins. The total number of bluefin taken in 1987 was 4,476, the average weight 474.3 pounds, well below previous years’ catches.

--Combined catches for Canada’s maritime provinces were the worst catch in history, a mere 141 fish. Longtime tuna leader Prince Edward Island counted just 53 in 1987, well below the 789 taken in 1983.

“The days of catching giant bluefin tuna are over, and it will take 15 years of strict tuna management before we could expect to see the large fish that were caught in the past,” said Elwood K. Harry, president of the International Game Fish Assn.

Ken Hinman, executive director for the National Coalition for Marine Conservation, added: “There is evidence that the present conservation measures are failing. American and Canadian fishermen, particularly rod-and-reel anglers, continue to catch fewer fish. The adult spawning stock is still dwindling, while not enough young fish are surviving to replace those fish.”

The fish that have been putting the bite on swimmers at Northern California’s Lake Mendocino have yet to be identified, but biologists who recently studied the lake’s fish population said there is little likelihood that any exotic species, such as piranha, are inhabiting the reservoir.

Experts instead are theorizing that the bites are from either catfish or largemouth bass that are protecting their nests, which because of drought-caused low water levels are more exposed than normal.

About 10 swimmers and fishermen in the last month reported that fish bit their legs hard enough to draw blood.

Access to Cerro Gordo peak for hang gliders and adjacent areas for deer and chukar hunting will be at issue during a hearing in the Inyo County courthouse at Independence next Monday.

At the root of it all is a feud between private property owners that Inyo County Counsel Greg James says “sounds like the Hatfields and the McCoys.”

Superior Court Judge Don Chapman is expected to rule on the county’s motion to dismiss a suit brought by Harold and Robbie Carrasco of Lone Pine to reopen the restricted county road that runs through the historic silver mining property owned by former actress Jody Stewart, and on the Carrascos’ related motion to modify a 1986 court order limiting public access.

The Carrascos have a five-room cabin they built in 1984 on 19 acres they own beyond the gate, kept locked by Stewart.

After the Carrascos had built, Stewart returned to her native Owens Valley and bought about 2,400 acres surrounding the Cerro Gordo ghost town, which she is developing into a tourist attraction. She objects to the traffic on the steep dirt road up the mountain past her house because of “dust pollution, no privacy and no protection from vandalism in the ghost town.”

Harold Carrasco, a retired Inyo County road worker, said: “We’re not fighting for ourselves. We’ll get in. But we enjoy the hang gliders and the others who use the land.”

Cerro Gordo peak is a preferred jumping-off place for hang gliders, who have set world records riding the thermals up the Owens Valley. In fact, many have continued to use the 8,200-foot peak by signing waivers of liability.

Carrasco said the land also offers “the best chukar and deer hunting in Inyo County.”

It has become an emotional issue around Lone Pine and, James said, “The county has gotten into the middle of it.”

Stewart said she has received veiled threats and heard talk of “bloodshed on Cerro Gordo.” She added: “I have been creamed and slandered royally (for) restoring a ghost town with my own money, and those people have cost me $25,000 in legal fees.”

Briefly

The 40th annual Catalina Ski Race, an event during which entrants water ski to Santa Catalina Island and back, will be held Aug. 14, beginning at 9 a.m. next to the Queen Mary in Long Beach. . . . The eighth annual World Fly Fishing Championship--an effort to promote friendship and understanding among the world’s freshwater fly fishermen--will be held in Tasmania, Australia, Nov. 26-Dec. 2. . . . The DFG has scheduled its second and final “free fishing day” for Aug. 13. On that day, anglers can fish without a license in California waters.