Del Norte County Research Articles

Cladonia carneola: Two New Localities in Western North America

Cladonia carneola (Fr.) Fr., hitherto unreported from California, is reported from two localities in the state. Both localities lie at 500 m elevation or less. These localities are widely separatedfrom other populations of C. carneola in western North America, which have been reported from much higher elevations. The relictual presence of C. carneola in unique habitats in coastal California is discussed. Extensive collecting of the lichen genus Cladonia Hill ex Browne in California has yielded several taxa unreported from the state. Significant among these is C. carneola (Fr.) Fr., which represents the first report of subsect. Ochroleucae (Fr.) Matt. in California. Populations of C. carneola in California are separated by hundreds of miles from other pop- ulations of this species in western North America. Cladonia carneola was collected in two sites in northern California. It was found in Mendocino County (Lachelt s.n., sFSU) at approximately 390N, 124?W, growing on soil in an open pygmy forest of Cupressus pygmea (Lemmon) Sarg. and Pinus contorta Dougl. ex Loud. var. bolanderi (Parl.) Vasey. Further collections of C. carneola were made in Del Norte County, in the Klamath region of north- western California, Hammer 1913, 1928, 1948 (all SFSU). These collections were made on damp, exposed soil at the edge of a partially logged forest including Picea sitchensis (Bong.) Carr., Tsuga heterophylla (Raf.) Sarg., and Pseu- dotsuga menziesii (Mirb.) Franco. The site was located near State Highway 199, 41'50'N, 124?W, 20 km northeast

The Native-American Tradition and Legal Status: Tolowa Tales and Tolowa Places

he Tolowa Nation of Indians is an Athapaskan-speaking community whose aboriginal range once included all of what is now Del Norte County, California. As of March, 1987, there were 337 enrolled Tolowas. There are also at least 200 other persons of Tolowa descent who are not on the Tolowa Nation roll, including the members of the Big Lagoon Rancheria of Smith River Indians, the Smith River Rancheria, and the Elk Valley Rancheria. This American Indian tribe is engaged in the process of seeking recognition by the United States government. As their attorney and principal researcher for their federal recognition case, I completed and submitted their brief to the Bureau of Indian Affairs for active consideration through the Federal Acknowledgment Staff in May, 1986, submitted additions in July 1986, and submitted the base roll in March, 1987. Having taken particular interest in the status clarification problems of unrecognized and terminated American Indian tribes since my admission to the California State Bar in 1979, I serve as principal investigator for the recogni-

The January 1977 avian cholera epornitic in northwest California.

A total of 844 birds were observed dead at three sites in Humboldt County and an estimated 6750 birds died at three sites in Del Norte County, California. Coots were the primary species affected. The isolation of Pasteurella multocida from a snowy egret (Egretta thula) is the first reported case of avian cholera in this bird. There was evidence for a distinct sequence in the bird species dying at one site; American coots (Fulica americana) appeared to be the first species to die.

Conservation Strategies in the Redwoods

Conservation Strategies in the Redwoods Thomas R. Vale* CONTROVERSY inevitably permeates questions of land use in the United States. Disagreements usually involve traditional economic utilization of the land versus the maintenance of areas in an undeveloped condition, but the lack of accord does not end here. Finer subtleties of viewpoint frequently develop, and the trend toward greater refinement of goals may become more pronounced as society's affluence and complexity are reflected by diverse pressure groups with conflicting outlooks.1 Diversity within the conservation movement which confutes its characterization as a monolithic power block was strikingly revealed in the controversy during the mid-1960's over creating a redwood national park in northwestern California . In that decade there was, to be sure, the usual difference between the "landscape converting" group, represented by the forest products industry and affiliated local people, and the "landscape conserving" group of conservation organizations. However, the two principal conservation groups, the Save-theRedwoods League and the Sierra Club, were themselves virtual adversaries whose lack of accord was instrumental in delaying the outcome and perhaps swaying it from conservationist objectives that might have been attained had those groups maintained a common front. The differing outlooks of the league * Dr. Vale is Assistant Professor of Geography at University of Wisconsin, Madison 53706. 1 On this matter see Daniel B. Luten, "Empty Land, Füll Land, Poor Folk, Rich Folk," Yearbook of the Association of Pacific Coast Geographers, Vol. 31 ( 1969) , pp. 79-89. 103 104ASSOCIATION OF PACIFIC COAST GEOGRAPHERS and the club and their contrasting strategies toward achieving a common ultimate goal of redwood "conservation" are the foci of this paper. Background and Setting As nearly all redwood lands had passed into private ownership in the give-away era of national land policy, creation of reserves has required extensive purchases. By the 1960's most of the pristine forests had already been logged or otherwise disturbed so that opportunity for true wilderness preservation was limited. Conservationist attention focused on old-growth redwood forest which occupied scattered sites in the two northwesternmost counties of California. Most of the larger stands in this region are near, or are readily accessible to, a major north-south highway which has physically harmed some trees and has improved logging access, but which has also brought travelers seeking preservation of the forest. Most national forest land in the region is confined to areas east of the redwood forest belt, despite agitation for expansion. However, 65,000 acres of state parks have been established in the two counties, encompassing four major redwood stands in whole or in part (Figure 1), but leaving other major groves entirely in private hands. Evolution of a national park proposal in the 1960's involved consideration of numerous sites and various schemes for integrating federal and state reserves. In its final stages, the question of park size and location centered upon an area between Eureka and Crescent City containing three state parks that together formed a discontinuous belt along or near the coast. The Mill Creek and Redwood Creek Park Proposals Within the area noted, the Save-the-Redwoods League supported a 43,000-acre park that was to include two extant state parks plus 25,000 acres of adjacent, privately owned land along the Smith River, its tributary Mill Creek, and a small YEARBOOK VOLUME 36 1974 105 OREGON [:??*G?'?t CiIy National Park Proposal favored by the Save-the-Redwoods League Piairie Creek?\~\-----Redwoods , Slate Park ¡ National Park Proposal > favored by the Sierra Club the north coast ofCALIFORNIA Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park k DELNORTE COUNTY De/ Norte Coast ' Redwoods [_ State Park / Eureka BuK Humboldt Redwoods State Park Figure 1. Locale of Redwood National Park. The park boundary authorized in 1968 encompasses three state parks, intervening lands, and segments in the vicinity of Mill and Redwood creeks within the outlined area. 106ASSOCIATION OF PACIFIC COAST GEOGRAPHERS acreage on Redwood Creek. By contrast, the Sierra Club advocated a 90,000-acre park that was to encompass a third state park and 77,000 acres on Redwood Creek and adjacent watersheds . Both proposals thus involved a large nucleus of already existing public reserves, plus considerable seacoast, riverine, and mountain...

Invasion of Humboldt and Del Norte Counties of Northwestern California by Porcupines

Invasion of Humboldt and Del Norte Counties of Northwestern California by Porcupines

Studies on Monogenetic Trematodes. XLII. New Species of Gyrodactylus from Amphibia

Two new species of Gyrodactylus from amphibian larvae in California are described: G. aurorae from Rana a. aurora, Del Norte County, and G. ambystomae from Ambystoma macrodactylum, Lassen County. Mizelle, Kritsky, and Bury (1968) reviewed the general occurrence of Monogenea on the classes of vertebrates and described the first species of Gyrodactylus from Amphibia. This species was recovered from the external surface of larvae of the Pacific giant salamander, Dicamptodon ensatus (Eschscholtz), from Marin County, California. Earlier, Stunkard and Dunihue (1933) reported but did not describe a species of this genus from the skin of tadpoles of Rana catesbeiana Shaw, in New York. In the present work two additional species of Gyrodactylus from Amphibia have been collected and are described below. MATERIALS AND METHODS Parasites were collected by the method of Putz and Hoffman (1963). Specimens were selected with a capillary pipette, stained in a mixture of equal parts of Gomori's trichrome stain and Ehrlich's acid hematoxylin, and mounted in Gray and Wess medium. All measurements are in microns. Gyrodactylus aurorae sp. n.

First Records of Plethodon dunni in California, and New Distributional Data on Ascaphus truei, Rhyacotriton olympicus, and Hydromantes shastae

Two new localities of Plethodon dunni in Del Norte County, California, constitute the first report of the species in the state and from redwood forest areas. Biogeographic barriers that occur along the California-Oregon border are discussed. Five Rhyacotriton olympicus found in Josephine County, Oregon, represent a new inland record for the species. Discovery of Ascaphus truei in the McCloud River region of north-central California extends the range of the frog 41 airline miles eastward. The distribution and habitat of Hydromantes shastae are reviewed, and three new localities are reported near the McCloud River USFS Station, Shasta County, California. We recommend protection of limestone outcrops that harbor H. shastae and that these salamanders be taken sparingly if at all.

Records of Snowy Owls in California

Although the 1957 edition of the A.O.U. Check-list records the occasional winter distribution of the Snowy Owl (Nyctea scandiaca) to be as far south as Los Angeles County, a search of the literature reveals only one published record of this species in California since 1916, a bird from near Davis, California, in early January 1967 (Hunter, Calif. Fish and Game 53:213-214). Grinnell and Miller (The Distribution of the Birds of California, Pacific Coast Avifauna No. 27, 1944) summarized earlier Snowy Owl records in the state, and of 17 specific records mentioned, 12 were from either Humboldt or Del Norte counties, two were from Alameda County, and one each from Santa Cruz, Sonoma, and Butte counties, and none more recent than late 1916. If this species has occurred in the state in the past 50 years, as seems likely, the records do not appear to have been published. During early 1967 we were able to obtain observations and (or) reports on several Snowy Owls in California. Archie Mossman of Humboldt State College reported a heavily barred Snowy Owl in a pasture north of Humboldt Bay and approximately three miles west of Arcata, Humboldt County, on the evening of 31 January 1967. It was observed in the same place the next day by several observers, including the authors, but was apparently gone on 2 February when a search of the area failed to reveal it. Two Humboldt State College students reported seeing a white Snowy Owl on the south spit of Humboldt Bay on 2 February, and another student reported a dark bird in the beach dunes west of Arcata on 3 February. The spits and dunes were searched repeatedly in the next few weeks, and Snowy Owls were subsequently observed in a section of large open sand dunes interspersed with small ponds of rain water directly west of Arcata. Between 12 February and 16 April, at least 18 visits were made to this area by either the authors or other competent observers. On 12 February two Snowy Owls, one white, and one barred, were observed. On subsequent visits from one to three owls, one white and two barred, were seen and photographed until 26 March, when the last known observation, of a barred bird, was made by Mrs. Violet Homem of San Francisco. These owls habitually perched on large nearly bare sand dunes 100-400 yards back from the ocean beach and flew parallel to the beach when flushed. In all, they stayed within an area no more than two miles long and one-half mile wide during the times they were under observation. It is possible that some of them may have used other areas at times because all three could not be found on every visit. The white owl seemed particularly elusive. In addition to these records, a Humboldt State College student, Perry Baycroft, reported seeing a white Snowy Owl in the hills approximately four miles southeast of Arcata on 18 February at the same time that a white owl was under observation on the beach. This means that at least four separate Snowy Owls occurred in the vicinity of Arcata during February. So far as we know, the latest date a Snowy Owl was seen in Humboldt County in 1967 was 24 April when California Department of Fish and Game Warden Terry Grosz observed a white Snowy Owl on Table Bluff approximately five miles south of Eureka. Warden Grosz also reported seeing Snowy Owls in northeastern California in April, as follows: 14 April: one bird in white plumage observed onehalf mile north of Wilson Valley, Modoc County. 17 April: one bird in white plumage eating a male Ring-necked Pheasant (Phasianus colchicus) on stateline road at Klamath National Wildlife Refuge, Siskiyou County. While he was watching this bird, two additional Snowy Owls, one white, and one barred, flew south across the highway into California, being carried along by very strong northerly winds.

Breeding Waterfowl in the Lake Earl-Lake Talawa Area, Del Norte County, California

Breeding Waterfowl in the Lake Earl-Lake Talawa Area, Del Norte County, California

The concentration of vanadium, chromium, iron, cobalt, nickel, copper, zinc, and arsenic in the meteoritic iron sulfide nodules

The concentrations (based on graphite-free nodules) of vanadium, chromium, cobalt, nickel, copper, zinc, and iron have been determined by X-ray fluorescence analysis in twenty-two troilite nodules from twelve iron and two silicate meteorites. These elements were determined, in addition, in the del Norte County, California, terrestrial troilite. It was found that the concentration ranges of the elements are extremely broad and do not differ greatly for the three types of troilites studied. The elements chromium and nickel, which are present in the largest concentrations, are distributed over the ranges which also appear to be the broadest. The copper range is the narrowest, and the cobalt range is comparable to that of nickel. Since in most cases concentrations of vanadium, zinc, and arsenic lie below the respective detection limits, the effective concentration ranges for these elements may be as broad as, if not broader than, the ranges for the other elements. The content of iron varies within wider limits than those defined by all iron values previously reported. An abundant free-iron phase which occurs in troilite nodules indicates that a complete segregation of the iron sulfide and iron phases was not attained.

Early Military Posts of Del Norte County

Early Military Posts of Del Norte County

Some New Species of Fungi on Libocedrus

Among collections of Discomycetes from California referred to the writer at various times during recent years have been several specimens of fungi growing on Libocedrus decurrens Torr. which are apparently distinct from any of the species described in the available literature and are therefore described here as new. One discomycete and an associated Sphaeropsidaceous fungus on branchlets have been collected by H. E. Parks along the Middle Fork of the Smith River, Del Norte County, several times from 1936 to 1945. Another discomycete on bark of Libocedrus has been found at various localities in the state by L. Bonar, C. R. Quick, E. P. 'Meinecke, and C. L. Shear. Specimens of these fungi are deposited in the Mycological Collections of the United States Bureau of Plant Industry, Beltsville, Maryland, and in the Herbarium of the University of California, Berkeley, California.

Notes on the Life History of the Roosevelt Elk in California

The Roosevelt elk (Cervus roosevelti) (Bailey, Proc. Biol. Soc. Wash., vol. 48, p. 187, 1935) formerly ranged throughout northwestern California from the Oregon line south to the northern side of San Francisco Bay. Today but a small group of these animals remains in this state, principally in extreme northern Humboldt County. Although this species is not uncommon in parts of Washington and Oregon, it seems worthwhile to record any information that may be obtained concerning its habits and abundance at the southernmost extremity of its present range, where it is slowly approaching extinction. The following brief notes were gathered between October 17 and December 19, 1935, while I was working for the National Park Service in northern Humboldt and southern Del Norte counties, California. Where it has seemed advisable, information is included which has been furnished by certain local residents of this region who have observed these animals for many years. Habitat.-The majority of the Roosevelt elk in California now inhabit the country within 3 or 4 miles of the coast, between the mouth of Redwood Creek, Humboldt County, and the Del Norte-Humboldt county line, some 12 miles to the northward. A small percentage of the total population occurs outside of this defined area, principally in southern Del Norte County. The occupied territory is principally forest land. Inland this cover consists chiefly of redwood (Sequoia sempervirens), Douglas fir (Pseudotsuga taxifolia), and coast hemlock (Tsuga heterophylla), while adjacent to the coast it is composed entirely of tideland spruce (Picea sitchensis). The small, forested valley of Prairie Creek, a tributary of Redwood Creek, extends through the center of the area parallel to the coast. Along the course of this stream there are a number of small, grassy clearings, surrounded principally by salmon-berry (Rubus spectabilis), which seemingly prove attractive to elk during the late spring, summer, and early autumn months. Single individuals or small groups were not infrequently observed in such situations during the latter half of October and the early part of November before the leaves had fallen from the salmon-berry. After the leaves have fallen from this dense brush and it is no longer capable of providing either food or shelter, the elk appear to move from this valley and the adjacent ridges toward the coast, where a number of individuals are reported to remain throughout the year. Here they inhabit the spruce forests and the dense coastal brush, composed mainly of salal (Gaultheria shallon) and huckleberry (Vaccinium ovatum), interspersed with occasional thickets of young spruce. Food.-No definite browsing places were observed, although this method of 62

Amphibians and Reptiles of the Rogue River Basin, Oregon

The region drained by the Rogue River includes parts of Jackson, Josephine, and Curry counties, in southwestern Oregon, and of Siskiyou and Del Norte counties in northwestern California. Roughly, it is bounded on the east, south, and north by the crests of the Cascade, Siskiyou, and Umpqua mountains. It comprises an irregular area having a maximum breadth of about 120 miles west to east and of perhaps half that distance from north to south. This area is possessed of varied climate and rough topography. The coastal belt supports dense forests of Douglas fir, coast hemlock, tan oak, California laurel, and Port Orford cedar. To the mouth of the Illinois River at Agness, for more than 40 miles the Rogue River runs through a deep gorge. The region of this gorge, and its counterparts on the tributary Illinois and Applegate rivers, is dry and rugged; Garry and golden oaks, manzanita, and buck-brush (Ceanothus cuneatus) are some of the plants most characteristic of the steeper slopes. A few miles west from Grants Pass the head of the main gorge opens out into a valley, most of which is under cultivation. The foothills around the valley include areas of dry, open grassland, as also areas of chaparral, oak, and madrone. At high altitudes this scrub type of forest grades into yellow pine and Douglas fir. Yet higher, discontinuou's belts of Canadian and Hudsonian life zones partly surround the valley, forming more or less effective barriers to some species of amphibians and reptiles. During the 25 years of my residence in this region, I gained general familiarity with its fauna. However, no specimens were preserved and no field notes were written until the summer of 1932. In the summers of 1934 and 1935 I made collections and notes on nearly all the species, and trips were made to parts of the area not previously visited, notably along the lower course of Rogue River. Most of the specimens collected, representing all the species except Batrachoseps attenuatus and Contia tenuis have been deposited in the Museum of Vertebrate Zoology, University of California. Numbers given are as of the herpetological catalogue in the Museum, unless otherwise indicated. From time to time I have kept under observation in large outdoor cages many individuals of most of the species here discussed. In the following accounts it is my aim to summarize the geographic, zonal, and ecologic distribution of each form found within the area, and to include observations on its natural history. Specific localities are mentioned for rare species represented by few localities; but for common species represented by many records, these have been summarized in general statements. All localities mentioned may be found on the U. S. Geological Survey topographic maps or on national forest maps. 634