BHAS Program and Election via ZOOM Thursday, May 12th 7 PM

Speaker: Derek Stinson – WA Dept Fish & Wildlife

Registration Required

Washington hosts both the marine-oriented Brown Pelican, and the freshwater focused American White Pelican. Both species were state-listed as endangered but have made a come-back in numbers here in recent decades, partly as a result of banning DDT.  The Brown Pelican was de-listed in 2016; their numbers in Washington vary with the effect of ocean conditions on their prey, and time will tell how much they are impacted by climate change. The white pelican was down-listed to Threatened in 2017, and their numbers have continued to increase and they have begun affecting some listed salmonids at some certain places and times. Most breed at a single colony and they are sensitive to disturbance during nesting. Climate change is also affecting white pelicans through drought and more variable spring weather.

Derek is a Fish & Wildlife Biologist in the Listing & Recovery Section of the Wildlife Diversity Division in Olympia.  He has been with WDFW for 24 years, and has spent much of that time writing species status reports and recovery plans and facilitating species recovery activities (and, shhhh… occasionally sneaking off to net sage-grouse, collect rare alpine stoneflies, or count plovers or butterflies).  Derek has a B.S. in biology from Framingham State University in Massachusetts, and an M.S. in zoology from Washington State University.

Note:  At this program meeting we will also vote on BHAS board officers. For a list of nominees and their bios, please see Elizabeth Rodrick’s article “BHAS Board of Directors Election to be held May 12, 2021” in this issue of The Echo.

Register Here

American White Pelican photo by Mick Thompson