Discussion Topic |
|
This thread has been locked |
Dr.Sprock
Boulder climber
I'm James Brown, Bi-atch!
|
|
|
Feb 18, 2012 - 04:28am PT
|
upper bidwell park near chico has some falcons,
they move the disc golf bucket on hole #3 to a slightly different location so that folks do not look for lost discs along the cliffs during breeding season,
so disc golfers co exist with the falcons just fine,
part time closure, same thing would probably work at summit,
castle rock falcons work both east and west of the ridge,
aquarian valley falcons work the east side only,
what about shangrela rock, any birds up there?
there is sandstone all over the santa cruz mountains,
google earth,
check along the trailway to the sea or what ever it is,
chico outsiders had to fight for 10 years but they won to keep the course open,
"Peregrines can be tolerant of human activity. However, especially during nesting season, disturbances can cause nest failures and injury to young and adult falcons. The best place to observe the falcons is from across the creek on the upper Bidwell Road from Bear Hole to the Fish Ladder (Do not forget your binoculars!).
How you can help!
We ask for your cooperation near the cliff edges during the breeding and nesting season (February July), please:
Do not climb cliffs in this area during the breeding season.
If you hear a Peregrine vocalize (typically is a loud "kack-kack-kack-kack"), please retreat away from the area.
Keep your group to small numbers and avoid loud noises.
Observe the seasonal placement of the disc golf course (the target at Hole 3 and tee pads for Hole 4).
Please keep discs away from the cliffs edge and refrain from retrieving errant discs that drop over the cliff face.
Your cooperation will help keep these amazing predators and their young flying the skies of Bidwell Park, and will minimize potential restrictions to recreational activities.
For additional
|
|
Bruce Morris
Social climber
Belmont, California
|
|
|
Topic Author's Reply - Feb 18, 2012 - 02:53pm PT
|
"aquarian valley falcons work the east side only"
Dr Sprock don't you mean that the Aquarian Valley falcons work the west side only? Aquarian Valley faces the Pacific, doesn't it? Can't see them flying over to the east side of the Skyline when they have all that territory to the west of their eyrie.
|
|
bluering
Trad climber
Santa Clara, CA
|
|
|
Feb 18, 2012 - 03:03pm PT
|
Dr Sprock don't you mean that the Aquarian Valley falcons work the west side only? Aquarian Valley faces the Pacific, doesn't it? Can't see them flying over to the east side of the Skyline when they have all that territory to the west of their eyrie.
Yeah, I think he meant west. He used to be a regular denizen out there until he bailed on me and went north to Chico.
|
|
Bruce Morris
Social climber
Belmont, California
|
|
|
Topic Author's Reply - Feb 18, 2012 - 05:22pm PT
|
Well, at least the good Doctor didn't migrate to Linden in California's dreaded Central Valley! Chico at least has Chico State U. to civilize it!
|
|
HighTraverse
Trad climber
Bay Area
|
|
|
Feb 18, 2012 - 06:59pm PT
|
Bruce
I notice that in one of the very early posts on this thread (ca 2010) bluering mentioned Dr Glenn Stewart from the Santa Cruz Predatory Research Group. He and his group are certainly the experts on local status of the Peregrine Falcon.
http://www2.ucsc.edu/scpbrg/aboutus.htm
As you probably know, Dr Stewart and this group were instrumental in the Peregrine's recovery on the West Coast. Have you been keeping him/SCPRG in the loop? What is their take on the Summit Rock closure? It seems to me they would be the most knowledgeable experts concerning the effects of opening the Summit Rock nesting site on the local Peregrine population.
Aquarian Valley faces the Pacific, doesn't it? Certainly. It's at the headwaters of Pescadero Creek.
|
|
Bruce Morris
Social climber
Belmont, California
|
|
|
Topic Author's Reply - Feb 19, 2012 - 12:57am PT
|
Glen Stewart is already in the loop with SC County Parks, the Access Fund, and, I believe, Prof. Clayton White as well. Don't quote me, but I think Glen Stewart and his group are the ones who are going to do the monitoring at Summit (if the project gets that far). I contacted Prof. Stewart a long time ago.
|
|
Dr.Sprock
Boulder climber
I'm James Brown, Bi-atch!
|
|
|
Feb 19, 2012 - 01:42am PT
|
yeah west side, me bad,
vultures are on the east near los trancos
|
|
Bruce Morris
Social climber
Belmont, California
|
|
|
Topic Author's Reply - Oct 19, 2012 - 04:49pm PT
|
Don Rocha, the ecologist-ranger at Sanborn County Parks, has notified the Access Fund that this year the Peregrines at Summit Rock have failed to nest and fledge any young:
"Eggs failed this year. Not sure why. Whole eggs (2) were found in the nest, 1 egg had a hole in it. We only observed this as we are not permitted to handle. I contacted USFWS who gave permission handle and gather eggs to return to USFWS and when we returned to the nest we could not find the eggs. Something or someone got to them. They were tucked away in the opening, so more fragments may have been inaccessible to humans.
Birds are still using the area and displaying the same behaviors as previously reported. Park staff is performing the monitoring. We are seeking assistance form Audubon on monitoring.
Of course, we will bring all the stakeholders into the conversation."
So, currently Summit Rock still remains closed to climbing pending formulation of a permit system to climb there. No mention, you'll see above, about Glen Stewart and his Santa Cruz Group doing any monitoring. Using Audubon Society to monitor the site seems like a clear conflict of interest since members of the Santa Clara Audubon Society also sit on the Santa Clara Parks and Recreation Commission. They are on record as opposed to allowing climbing at Summit Rock.
Yes, gang, it's still dragging on! The broken eggs Ranger Rocha found seems to be in keeping with what Prof White said originally about the Summit Rock nesting site being marginal. Would be interesting to see whether any Peregrine chicks have ever actually reached maturity at Summit Rock.
|
|
Bruce Morris
Social climber
Belmont, California
|
|
|
Topic Author's Reply - Oct 20, 2012 - 02:44am PT
|
Bump for the birds
|
|
Bruce Morris
Social climber
Belmont, California
|
|
|
Topic Author's Reply - Oct 20, 2012 - 05:13pm PT
|
However, in the same letter to the Access Fund, Ranger Rocha added:
". . . park staff are moving forward with the investigation of alternatives for limited, restricted access during the non-breeding season as directed by Mr. Courtney (i.e., permit issuance and monitoring)."
So there is at least a glimmer of hope. I think Mr. Courtney is the new supervisor of Santa Clara County Parks and seems to be a moderate regarding this issue.
|
|
Tony Bird
climber
Northridge, CA
|
|
|
Oct 21, 2012 - 11:34am PT
|
good to see you plugging away at this, bruce.
have you tried to get any of the yosemite folks involved? their resident ornithologist, sarah, would probably be a very good "friend of the court" here. ranger jesse can put you in touch.
fyi, i'm pretty sure it was a peregrine i saw near san antonio falls on mt. baldy a few weeks ago. the birds are doing well.
|
|
Bruce Morris
Social climber
Belmont, California
|
|
|
Topic Author's Reply - Oct 21, 2012 - 03:38pm PT
|
Tony 'Da Bird': The Access Fund has tried, as have others, to get Santa Clara County Parks to interface with the Rangers and naturalists in Yosemite about the Peregrine program up there. So far, SCCP has resolutely refused to do so. They won't even bring Prof Glen Stewart from the UC Santa Cruz bird group to do the monitoring at the Summit site. You can see from above that the only people County Parks wants to monitor the site are members of the local Santa Clara Audubon Society, a group that has three of its members sitting on the Santa Clara County Parks and Recreation Commission. I get a sense that they are a resolutely anti-people group that wants to severely limit visitation to all climbing sites along Skyline Boulevard. When I stare into these murky waters, I feel that they are trying to implement the concept of a 'bio-corridor' stretching from Skyline Boulevard down to the Pacific Ocean, a 'people-free zone'. There is also a shadowy group named the RAC (Resource Advisory Committee) formed at the time the Friends of Castle Rock in association with the Sierra Club sued State Parks over the 2001 Master Plan, which designated Partridge Farm at Castle Rock as the site of a walk-in campground. The anonymous RAC is supposedly composed of a group of scientists and environmentalists, who are tasked with formulating some kind of "carrying capacity" for the area. As you might imagine, climbers seem to be regarded as a fly in the ointment because of their tendency to go to new rock climbing areas. Therefore, they need to be "managed".
Actually, I've been doing very little to keep this issue alive, other than my entries here and attending a couple of meetings last year with County Parks at Lake Vasona and up at Summit. The real unsung hero is Paul Minault of the Access Fund, who keeps returning to County Parks and continuing the dialog. Have to see how the next stage turns out with the tentative plans for establishing a permit system to climb at Summit. I get a sense, though, that the Peregrines have not been able to hatch any chicks at the Summit eyrie. However, at the present moment, there are no public records to look at. Prof. Glen Stewart offered to do so over two years ago and so far, nada! Prof White said he thought the Summit site was marginal and this current business with the dead eggs seems to confirm his judgment. Did you notice though how Ranger Rocha implies in his letter that humans (i.e. climbers) may have grabbed the eggs and thrown them down the crevice? I bet the only people who have been out to Summit lately are party-ers and bottle breakers. You'll be glad to know that this issue has come to the attention of the Access Fund at the national level and they have prioritized it for action due to the dangerous nature of the precedent involved: any climbing area can be designated "habitat" and closed to public access if this precedent is allowed to stand unchallenged. Luckily for us, Paul Minault is very, very patient and keeps returning to County Parks to achieve some kind of resolution.
One thing I've always wondered about was whether the various guide services that had permits from County Parks to teach rock climbing at Summit were notified about this closure? What happened to their permits?
|
|
Tony Bird
climber
Northridge, CA
|
|
|
Oct 21, 2012 - 08:21pm PT
|
minault sounds like a decent fellow. pity we don't have someone like that in the access fund down here, where they have given us nothing but apathy concerning the williamson rock closure.
it looks like they're keeping climbers off a crag that isn't even good enough for the peregrines. the crux of the matter seems to be this audubon society-packed "commission". such commissions are usually appointive offices, appointed by elected officials, in this case i'm assuming the county board. if their advisory group is acting unfairly and contrary to such acceptable standards in this issue as are being practiced at yosemite, it would seem that your recourse ought to be to the county commissioners--and their campaigns for election. if santa clara county thinks that "purging people" is the best way to protect the environment, you ought to have many people on your side to disagree with that.
i'm assuming you have a "weird" local audubon group there. usually auduboners aren't nearly so rabid.
|
|
Bruce Morris
Social climber
Belmont, California
|
|
|
Topic Author's Reply - Oct 22, 2012 - 12:46am PT
|
. . . it looks like they're keeping climbers off a crag that isn't even good enough for the peregrines.
Prof Clayton White in his analysis pointed this out: The Summit Rock site is substandard and is basically impossible for the Peregrines to defend against predators like rats, racoons, snakes, and other birds. The egg with the hole in it that Ranger Rocha found only further confirms what Prof White told the Park and Recreation Commission and Santa Clara County Parks during our visit there last spring. Prof White thinks that first-time breeders often select such substandard sites due to lack of experience and therefore often lose their young at such places. IOWs: Summit Rock is not a good site for the Peregrines to nest in the first place.
The decision to close Summit Rock was made by Santa Clara County Parks, not the Parks and Recreation Commission, whose role is only advisory, although the majority of them do favor a closure. As you might imagine, the most vocal opponents of seasonal climbing at Summit are the Commissioners belonging to the SC Audubon Society. Parks and Recreation is appointed though by the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors, who are elected officials.
It all depends on how Byzantine a model for the permitting process that County Parks enacts (if and when they do so). Depends on how reasonable and flexible a model is implemented. Paul will be talking to them sometime in the future.
Here's what Prof. White had to say in a 3 March 2012 letter to Rob Courtney, Director of the SC County Department of Parks and Recreation:
"Based on my previous experiences over many years and in many places, the Summit Rock eyrie is a marginal peregrine nesting site easily accessed by predators. Marginal nesting sites frequently have a high turn over rate of breeding adults and frequently attract first time breeders. There is good access to the Summit site by humans during the nesting season and to the actual nesting ledge by predators. The cliff's small size with a vegetative screen over the lower portion makes it more difficult to defend adding to the concept of it being marginal. Peregrines prefer to have big open spaces around and in front of the nest site providing more defensible space and room for them to make defensive dives called stoops. Don [Rocha] pointed out the one large pothole near the ground used for nesting one year. Such sites are frequently used elsewhere but with little reproductive success."
"Don also mentioned that the [Summit] falcons have fledged young as late as September. This suggests that they are having second and or perhaps even third clutches, which is also an indicator that they are losing eggs and nestling."
In other words, the empty and cracked eggs that Ranger Roucha found provide direct prima facie evidence that what Prof White has been saying is true.
On to round 16!
|
|
Srbphoto
climber
Kennewick wa
|
|
|
Oct 22, 2012 - 12:48am PT
|
keep the info flowin'
|
|
Bruce Morris
Social climber
Belmont, California
|
|
|
Topic Author's Reply - Oct 22, 2012 - 04:17pm PT
|
Bump for text revisions and additions!
|
|
Bruce Morris
Social climber
Belmont, California
|
|
|
Topic Author's Reply - Oct 24, 2012 - 04:12pm PT
|
Bump to wonder what kind of permit process County Parks is going to develop to allow non-season access to Summit Rock in Sanborn County Park? Will it be so strict that no one will ever get to go there again?
Wait and see!
If those Peregrines don't seem to be able to nest and fledge at Summit, why don't they nest a 1/4 mile away at the Tower of Pain, which has a much better view down US 9 and is certainly more protected from predators than Summit? One of the arguments that SCV Audubon Society has put forth in their publication, The Avocet, in favor of keeping Summit closed is that there's no other place close by for them to nest. Not true! Another one they cite is that Summit is a good natural nesting site. With the high chick mortality rate, this obviously isn't true either. They're just lying to further their goal of a people-free Skyline 'nature preserve' or 'bird sanctuary' where there is no access without a docent-led tour guide tagging along.
|
|
Bruce Morris
Social climber
Belmont, California
|
|
|
Topic Author's Reply - Oct 31, 2012 - 04:48pm PT
|
Here is the article in the Avocet that records the Santa Clara Valley Audubon Society's position on the peregrines nesting at Summit Rock:
http://www.scvas.org/pdf/avocet_issues/2012_mar_apr_avocet.pdf
As you can see, many of Shani Kleinhaus's main talking points are patent nonsense. Summit Rock is not a good natural breeding site for the Peregrines. As Professor White pointed out, Summit Rock is in fact a marginal breeding site with poor protection against predators.
Does Ms Kleinhaus have some difficulty balancing her role as a so-called "Environmental Advocate" with her duties as a member of the Santa Clara County Parks and Recreation Commission? It seems there is some implicit conflict of interest going on here!
|
|
Bruce Morris
Social climber
Belmont, California
|
|
|
Topic Author's Reply - Feb 10, 2013 - 04:33pm PT
|
The Access Fund notified me the other day that there is still no word as yet about a temporary closure of Summit Rock during the Peregrine nesting season or a permitting process for climbing there during the off-season. I think that Aesop put it best at the conclusion of his tale about the wolf and the lamb:
"The Tyrant will always find a pretext for his tyranny."
The conclusion is unavoidable: there is tremendous pressure being put on County Parks as well as State Parks to keep down the numbers of climbers climbing along Skyline Boulevard (CA 35). There also seems to be a thinly disguised vengeance motiff, a way of getting even for the increasing popularity of the sport in the region. There certainly isn't any valid scientific reason for fencing off Summit Rock and environs, except to create a kind of 'nature preserve' similar to the one at Castle Rock State Park. Fortunately for us, negotiations between the Access Fund and County Parks are still in progress.
|
|
Francis
Trad climber
San Francisco
|
|
|
Aug 31, 2015 - 09:05am PT
|
Just thought I would update this thread. I have found out that summit rock is now open for climbing.
Thank you all who have worked hard to make this happen.
Here is a link to information to see if it is open when you are planning on going:
https://www.sccgov.org/sites/parks/parkfinder/Pages/Sanborn.aspx
|
|
|
SuperTopo on the Web
|
Let us know!