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Wildlife veteran
Roseburb Bureau of Land Management wildlife biologist Frank Oliver retired last week after more than 30 years of service with the agency. He was head of the spotted owl survey program and has been tracking and researching the birds' habitat since the program began in 1983.
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ENLARGE
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Cleaning out the office
Roseburg Bureau of Land Management wildlife biologist Frank Oliver looks through some files as he cleans out his desk at the BLM office recently. He retired last week after more than 30 years of service with the agency.
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Frank Oliver can point anywhere on a map of forestland in southern Douglas County and tell you the history of the spotted owl pair that lives there.
In return, some owl pairs can recognize Oliver's imitation owl hoot.
As head of the Roseburg Bureau of Land Management's spotted owl survey program since it began in 1983, the wildlife biologist has been tracking and researching the birds' habitat.
And even though he retired last week after more than 30 years with the agency, he's not going to completely abandon the owl and the forest he has come to know and respect.
On his post retirement to-do list are remodeling projects and replanting trees on 10 of his 15 acres west of Roseburg, as well as continuing to volunteer for the BLM.
"I'd like to continue to work for the spotties," he said.
Oliver, 62, received his bachelor's degree in wildlife management from Oregon State University in 1964. He began as a fisheries biologist with the Oregon State Game Commission, now the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, and was hired at the BLM in 1969.
Co-workers commend him for his commitment to sound science, his personable attitude and his dedication to educating the community.
"Frank is on a 'first name basis' with all of the owls that he has banded over the years," said Joe Ross, a multi-resource specialist who has worked with Oliver since 1988.
"He's basically got a lot of credibility and professionalism and he's somebody you can always count on," Ross said.
Oliver said one of the most rewarding aspects of his job has been working with the public and showing the complexity of the habitat needs of spotted owl.
"I've been allowed to get people out in the field to see what's really going on," he said.
Another reward, he said, is that he's been able to influence the BLM's management of spotted owl habitat.
<b>TRACKING AND TAGGING</b>
Oliver estimates there are about 180 owl sites and about 45 owl pairs in the 200,000-acre research area that extends south of Roseburg to the Medford district, west to the Coos County line and east to Tiller, where Forest Service land begins. His spring and summer schedule was spent out in the field, tracking which pairs live where, if they've nested or if they've moved.
He identified owls according to their brightly colored plastic rings -- from hot pink with white polka dots to black with white triangles -- placed above their claws, because they are easy to see from the ground.
Birds that haven't been tagged are caught with a noose pole. The fiberglass rod has a wire attached to the end that surveyors loop around the bird's neck and pull tight. ("It's not as bad as it seems," he said -- the 1- to 2-pound bird is mostly feathers and fluff, with a neck not much bigger than a thumb.)
In return, some owl pairs can recognize Oliver's imitation owl hoot.
As head of the Roseburg Bureau of Land Management's spotted owl survey program since it began in 1983, the wildlife biologist has been tracking and researching the birds' habitat.
And even though he retired last week after more than 30 years with the agency, he's not going to completely abandon the owl and the forest he has come to know and respect.
On his post retirement to-do list are remodeling projects and replanting trees on 10 of his 15 acres west of Roseburg, as well as continuing to volunteer for the BLM.
"I'd like to continue to work for the spotties," he said.
Oliver, 62, received his bachelor's degree in wildlife management from Oregon State University in 1964. He began as a fisheries biologist with the Oregon State Game Commission, now the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, and was hired at the BLM in 1969.
Co-workers commend him for his commitment to sound science, his personable attitude and his dedication to educating the community.
"Frank is on a 'first name basis' with all of the owls that he has banded over the years," said Joe Ross, a multi-resource specialist who has worked with Oliver since 1988.
"He's basically got a lot of credibility and professionalism and he's somebody you can always count on," Ross said.
Oliver said one of the most rewarding aspects of his job has been working with the public and showing the complexity of the habitat needs of spotted owl.
"I've been allowed to get people out in the field to see what's really going on," he said.
Another reward, he said, is that he's been able to influence the BLM's management of spotted owl habitat.
<b>TRACKING AND TAGGING</b>
Oliver estimates there are about 180 owl sites and about 45 owl pairs in the 200,000-acre research area that extends south of Roseburg to the Medford district, west to the Coos County line and east to Tiller, where Forest Service land begins. His spring and summer schedule was spent out in the field, tracking which pairs live where, if they've nested or if they've moved.
He identified owls according to their brightly colored plastic rings -- from hot pink with white polka dots to black with white triangles -- placed above their claws, because they are easy to see from the ground.
Birds that haven't been tagged are caught with a noose pole. The fiberglass rod has a wire attached to the end that surveyors loop around the bird's neck and pull tight. ("It's not as bad as it seems," he said -- the 1- to 2-pound bird is mostly feathers and fluff, with a neck not much bigger than a thumb.)
"The ability to work with them is really something special. They're very approachable. Most of the danger they perceive is from other predators," like hawks and big-horned owls, he said. "If they hear you doing something, they may fly in to know what's going on."
<b>OWL HABITAT AND FIRE</b>
Oliver's research has been used to determine timber sale areas and provide information for landowners with land adjacent to owl habitat.
He's also learned a lot about what owls look for in a home.
"Good owl habitat has a mix of vegetation that provides different functions," he said. That means a range of ages and types of trees to provide places to nest, to escape summer heat and winter rain, and to support the birds' prey base -- dusky footed wood rats in the southern part of the county's owl country.
Owls living in old growth adjacent to stands logged 20 to 50 years ago will use the neighboring land for foraging.
He also found owl habitat burned in the 2002 Tiller Complex fires didn't deter two owl pairs living in the area near Tiller. Here, the fires burned at a fairly low intensity. Both pairs shifted a bit, but remain generally in the same place.
One of the pairs made its nest the following spring in a burned-out cavity where a limb had broken off.
Insects and salamanders are also thriving in the snags.
"The net result is going to be improved habitat from the owls' standpoint," he said.
<b>THE FUTURE OF THE OWL</b>
Oliver's experience with spotted owls also gives him a uniquely informed perspective on the Northwest Forest Plan, approved by the Clinton Administration in 1994 to protect spotted owl habitat on 24.5 million acres of federal forestland in Washington, Western Oregon and Northern California.
"The plan is not static," he said. Rather, it was designed as a basis from which to learn from and then change accordingly, which has been difficult, he said.
"Part of the problem we've had with (the plan) is we really haven't had the opportunity to go forward with all the litigation," he said.
Though the plan has been controversial, Oliver said he never felt threatened or felt the need to be discreet about his work with the owls.
In April, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service agreed to review the endangered status of the bird, after timber groups had sued the agency a year earlier. Reviews are expected later this year, but Oliver doubts their status will change.
"If you look at the status across the terrain, I don't think the data is going to show that the animal needs to be delisted."
Owl habitat has been depleted in much of northwestern Oregon and Washington. If the owl were delisted, he said he would hope the Northwest Forest Plan or a similar plan would stay in place.
"You need to keep it from being necessary to list it again," he said.
Oliver's work has amplified the drastically short lives of humans compared to the life of forest ecosystems. He said he wishes he could live another 80 years to be able to see the effect today's management has in the future.
"We're just newcomers to the area," he said. "Unfortunately, we don't live long enough to see the replications ... In the life of a tree, even 80 years is not much."
* You can reach reporter Diane Huber at 957-4218 or by e-mail at dhuber@newsreview.info.
<b>OWL HABITAT AND FIRE</b>
Oliver's research has been used to determine timber sale areas and provide information for landowners with land adjacent to owl habitat.
He's also learned a lot about what owls look for in a home.
"Good owl habitat has a mix of vegetation that provides different functions," he said. That means a range of ages and types of trees to provide places to nest, to escape summer heat and winter rain, and to support the birds' prey base -- dusky footed wood rats in the southern part of the county's owl country.
Owls living in old growth adjacent to stands logged 20 to 50 years ago will use the neighboring land for foraging.
He also found owl habitat burned in the 2002 Tiller Complex fires didn't deter two owl pairs living in the area near Tiller. Here, the fires burned at a fairly low intensity. Both pairs shifted a bit, but remain generally in the same place.
One of the pairs made its nest the following spring in a burned-out cavity where a limb had broken off.
Insects and salamanders are also thriving in the snags.
"The net result is going to be improved habitat from the owls' standpoint," he said.
<b>THE FUTURE OF THE OWL</b>
Oliver's experience with spotted owls also gives him a uniquely informed perspective on the Northwest Forest Plan, approved by the Clinton Administration in 1994 to protect spotted owl habitat on 24.5 million acres of federal forestland in Washington, Western Oregon and Northern California.
"The plan is not static," he said. Rather, it was designed as a basis from which to learn from and then change accordingly, which has been difficult, he said.
"Part of the problem we've had with (the plan) is we really haven't had the opportunity to go forward with all the litigation," he said.
Though the plan has been controversial, Oliver said he never felt threatened or felt the need to be discreet about his work with the owls.
In April, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service agreed to review the endangered status of the bird, after timber groups had sued the agency a year earlier. Reviews are expected later this year, but Oliver doubts their status will change.
"If you look at the status across the terrain, I don't think the data is going to show that the animal needs to be delisted."
Owl habitat has been depleted in much of northwestern Oregon and Washington. If the owl were delisted, he said he would hope the Northwest Forest Plan or a similar plan would stay in place.
"You need to keep it from being necessary to list it again," he said.
Oliver's work has amplified the drastically short lives of humans compared to the life of forest ecosystems. He said he wishes he could live another 80 years to be able to see the effect today's management has in the future.
"We're just newcomers to the area," he said. "Unfortunately, we don't live long enough to see the replications ... In the life of a tree, even 80 years is not much."
* You can reach reporter Diane Huber at 957-4218 or by e-mail at dhuber@newsreview.info.
