For the past 13 years the Yurok Tribe has been developing a management plan to bring back California condors. Tuesday鈥檚 announcement is a final step in the federal rulemaking process that designates this as an experimental population of the endangered birds. It also marks a decision between the tribe and federal agencies to build a condor management facility to house, release and observe condors, which are culturally significant for the tribe.
鈥淲e had a task force of elders who were tasked with identifying the most important restoration priorities for Yurok ancestral territory and they identified condor as being the single most important terrestrial-based animal to bring back to Yurok ancestral territory,鈥� says Tiana Claussen, director of the tribe鈥檚 wildlife department.
Redwood National and State Parks Deputy Superintendent David Roemer says designating this as a non-essential, experimental population of California condors protects birds, while giving assurance to landowners that their property won鈥檛 be affected in the process.
鈥淐ondor reintroduction can only be as successful as they are welcomed in the regions they will fly and live,鈥� Roemer says. 鈥淲e want to be able to provide land owners, people with the ability to be flexible and not be impacted in a way that affects their lifestyle and bottom line.鈥�
The Yurok Tribe, U.S. Fish and Wildlife and National Parks Service plans to bring six birds per year for 20 years to the region, which encompasses both Redwood National and State Parks and Yurok ancestral land. In the next year they hope to bring four juvenile birds to a rearing facility from other sanctuaries.
There are an estimated 300 California condors in the wild in California, Arizona, Utah and Baja California, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Just 23 of the birds were alive in 1982, shortly before they were placed in a captive breeding program to prevent extinction.
鈥淚t鈥檚 not just a species reintroduction. It鈥檚 not just bringing back a bird because it鈥檚 big or cool. It鈥檚 ecosystem restoration and it鈥檚 closely connected to the values of tribal self-government and their cultural believes,鈥� says Roemer. 鈥淚t鈥檚 got everything.鈥�
Claussen says the nearest management facilities for California condors are in Central California at the Ventana Wildlife Society near Big Sur and inland at Pinnacles National Park. She says the Redwood National and State Park鈥檚 landscape that includes prairie ecosystems, old growth forests, windy ridges and coastal resources should provide ideal habitat for the birds.
鈥淲e think that it鈥檚 going to be a safe harbor for condors to expand into their historical range,鈥� she says.
