California Condors in the Pacific Northwest by Jesse D'Elia and Susan M. Haig Noel Snyder

Abstract

 Reviews simple is a critique one could just as easily make of Pauling.Carson noted that Pauling was hurt in 1962 when her husband alone won the Nobel Peace Prize, apparently concurring with many others who thought the award should have gone to both Paulings. It seems that despite her criticism of Friedan, she too recognized the benefit of public acknowledgement of one’s “occupation” and felt stung when such appreciation was not forthcoming. Pauling’s feminist awakening was a feminist pacifist awakening, which also soured her on Friedan’s thinking, since Friedan endorsed U.S. involvement in the Korean War. Pauling is best known for her activism on behalf of many U.S. and international women’s peace organizations.Her undaunted support of those organizations explains her many admirers and the heartfelt praise she won for a most worthy occupation. Ava Helen Pauling: Partner, Activist ,Visionary will be a welcome addition to any library and will inspire many readers to learn more about this important American figure. Erika Kuhlman Idaho State University California Condors in the Pacific Northwest by Jesse D’Elia and Susan M. Haig foreword by Noel Snyder Oregon State University Press, Corvalllis, 2013. Illustrations , maps, tables, bibliography, index. 184 pages. $19.95 paper. The largest land bird of North America, the California Condor (Gymnogyps californianus), went extinct in the wild in 1987 and existed only in captivity at that time. Beginning in 1991, due to the Herculean efforts of zoos and conservationists, condors have been returned to the wild in California and a few places in the southwest.At present,formidable obstacles still threaten viability of the wild condor populations, and without extensive and costly human involvement, it is unlikely they could survive.(The current major threat to wild condors is feeding on the remains of game that has been shot with ammunition containing lead.) The California Condor’s geographic range spread widely across North America during the late Pleistocene Epoch. By the end of that  OHQ vol. 114, no. 4 period, however, their range contracted drastically , and the birds inhabited only the far western part of the continent. Although the last condors lived in southern California, their range had extended further as late as the first decades of the nineteenth century. At present, there is interest in attempting to reintroduce the birds to the Pacific Northwest,and the Oregon Zoo has been actively involved in raising and breeding condors. Jesse D’Elia and Susan Haig argue in their short but valuable book that evaluating the chances of contemporary reintroduction efforts in the Northwest necessitates understanding historical distribution of condors and the causes of their demise.California Condors in the Pacific Northwest concisely summarizes what is known about the distribution of the California Condor in the region, the likely causes of their extinction there, and how current conditions have changed or not changed. For those interested in the prospect of reintroducing condors to the Northwest,the book is a valuable aid and resource. The book begins with some background information on the life history of condors and an account of the condor recovery program. It then moves to the prehistoric distribution of condors that has emerged from a number of sources. Because some scientists have doubted thevalidityof claimsthatcondorswere resident in the Pacific Northwest, D’Elia and Haig have included a chapter on the migratory habits of vultures in general, including what is known about the historical movement patterns of the California Condor. A long chapter examines in detail the timing of the condor’s range collapse and explores the various hypotheses that have been advanced to explain that collapse. The primary causes appear to be secondary poisoning (much of it the use of strychnine intended to kill wolves) that is exacerbated by humans directly killing condors. The volume concludes with a discussion of overcoming problems associated with any attempt to reintroduce condors to the Northwest and reminds readers of the likely cost. D’Elia and Haig have demonstrated,however,that available evidence supports the claim that the California Condor did indeed reside in the Northwest, and although numerous obstacles still exist, most of the original causes of their collapse have been mitigated. Paul Farber Corvallis, Oregon...