In this issue: Chapter News……………1-5 Upcoming Events, Workshops, and Announcements………….7-9 Past Events……………..9-12 Notices………..……….12-14 Contact Information………15

President’s Message Carlos Alvarado

The year’s end is upon us and that brings holiday festivities and

hopefully some well-deserved rest. As we close 2015 and I end

another president’s term, I would like to thank the Sacramento-Shasta

Chapter (Chapter) of the Wildlife Society Executive Board (Board) for

their commitment and hard work. At the same time, I would like to

thank departing committee chairs for their service and wish you all

happy holidays and a happy new year 2016. This is my last

president’s message, and I can tell you that the end of year crept up

on me rather fast, I feel as if was just yesterday that I was enjoying the

end of summer while fishing on the Sacramento River. Now the rain is

finally here, greening our landscape, and hopefully dumping a lot of

snow in the Sierra. We can only hope that there will be lots of water

for wildlife, but also some for our use.

Our Chapter’s accomplishments for the year have included: a Bald and

Golden Eagle Workshop in partnership with California Dept. of Fish

and Wildlife (CDFW) and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS)

in January 2015, a Sandhill Crane Workshop in partnership with the

Sandhill

Crane

Technical Advisory Committee in February

2015, several brown bag seminars, public

outreach events, social and student mixers and

outings. We have noted that interest to present

at the Natural Resources Symposium is cyclical,

and thus the Board voted to change it from a

yearly event to a biennial event, so stay tuned

for this event later in 2016! Further, our Chapter

re-vamped our scholarship guidelines this year

to clarify requirements for applications that

Volume 23, Issue 3 Winter 2015

© J.D. Garcia

The Magpie – Sacramento-Shasta Chapter of The Wildlife Society Winter 2015

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outline a contribution to our Chapter (e.g., in the form of research presentations, write-ups for our newsletters,

or volunteering for our Chapter), allowing the Chapter to better support and interact with wildlife students in our

region.

So what will next year bring to the Chapter? Well, that is where your Executive Board is actively working to hit

the year running. It would be great to let you all know that we have a full Board, but that is not the case. We

are seeking candidates for open Board and committee positions (see “Election Update” in this newsletter).

With the upcoming 50th Anniversary Celebration, Giant Garter Snake Workshop, biennial Natural Resources

Symposium, brownbag lunches and other events planned for 2016 we need all the help we can get. There are

a handful of people who work really hard to get these events to you, so when only a handful of people keep

doing all the work, we have a higher chance of Board member burn out. To counteract this, we opted for

bimonthly instead of quarterly Executive Board meetings so that there is more interaction between board and

committee chairs to divide workload (currently, committees are made up primarily of Board members). And

since our Board meetings are regularly scheduled, please feel free to join us every other second Tuesday of

the month starting January (locations vary across the Sacramento region, so check out our website http://tws-

west.org/sac-shasta/ or like us on Facebook to

join us!

With regards to our Chapter’s 50th anniversary

(2016!), we continue to look for past Board

members and are on the trail of some interesting

anecdotes that we hope to share with you soon

in order to fill the historical knowledge of the

Chapter. We hope to see you at the Western

Section meeting in Pomona with our Members

Meeting/Reunion kickoff event for our Chapter

50th Anniversary Year of 2016.

Vice President’s Message Rhiannon Klingonsmith

Another year is flying by and we are pleased to say it was another great year for events and activities! Your

Chapter thanks you for participating in our workshops, mixers, community events, our annual camping trip, and

for continuing your membership with us. Additionally, I would like to thank all of our Board and chair members

who make it all happen. We have even started planning for next year’s events, so stay tuned.

One of our first events for the New Year will be participating in the 2016 annual TWS Western Section meeting

in Pomona, CA. As usual, we will be having our Chapter meeting there, which will then turn it into a Member’s

Meeting/ Reunion to help celebrate our Chapter’s 50th anniversary. We will also be introducing your new

Over 45 wildlife and fisheries professionals joined us for a great fall mixer with Cal

Neva Chapter of AFSs, held Oct 7, 2015 at Oak Park Brewing Company in

Sacramento.

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Board members at the Chapter meeting. So, if you plan on attending the 2016 annual meeting, please join us

in our celebration. If you would like to help out while we are there, shoot us an email, at

sac.shasta@gmail.com; we always appreciate volunteers. Happy Holidays!

Executive Board Happenings Claudia Funari

The last two board meetings were September 8th and November 10th to discuss and plan Chapter events and

operations.

For those students who are interested, there is a new scholarship application located on the Chapter website.

The Board welcomes applications and would love to see more people apply. The applications can be

accessed at: http://tws-west.org/sac-shasta/home/scholarships/. In October, $250 was allocated to Justine

Smith for a travel grant to the National TWS in Winnipeg.

In December, only one student submitted an application to our Chapter for an academic scholarship for the

next school term. Unfortunately, the Board voted against awarding the scholarship to the student, and did not

feel that the application requirements had been met.

The Treasurer updated the Board with information about the current budget. The proposed budget for 2015

hadn’t been, so the 2016 budget will be approved at the January 2016 board meeting, including balances on all

accounts. The Treasurer also informed the Board that membership to the Sac-Shasta Chapter can now be

started or renewed through the Sac-Shasta Chapter website. Also new for the first time - the Treasurer and

Membership Chair have worked with our Webmaster to make membership payment and renewal available

online at: http://tws-west.org/sac-shasta/membership/.

The Professional Development Committee (PDC) chair in past years has organized both professional

development events and member mixer events, with the assistance of committee and board members. The

Board discussed and agreed that the Chair and Vice-Chair format worked in 2015, so for 2016 a chair focusing

on technical workshop planning, and an Event Coordinator would focus on organizing the social events (mixers

and brown bag seminars). The Board is looking for help in the next year to fulfill both these roles. If you are

interested, please contact Carlos Alvarado or Rhiannon Klingonsmith.

The 2016 Giant Garter Snake (GGS) workshop continues to be planned by the Professional Development (PD)

Committee. The two-day workshop will be planned with a classroom, and possibly a field component.

Workshop participants should be able to get continuing education (Professional Development) credits from

Western Section, and gain experience towards becoming a permitted individual by the USFWS to conduct

GGS surveys.

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2016 is the 50th Anniversary of the Sac-Shasta Chapter! The Board voted on a graphic image to use for the

50th anniversary. This and new graphics of wildlife were approved to be designed for use on pint glasses,

stickers, and shirts to be sold online and at events during 2016. Most importantly, the Board is still working on

putting together a list of past Board officers to be part of this historic year. Volunteers are needed to help plan

for an awesome year of celebration! If you are interested in helping, or are a past Board officer, please contact

sac.shasta@gmail.com.

The Board is working to better document board position duties to help interested Chapter member involvement

with estimation of time dedication to serve the chapter, and to promote consistency in tasks from year-to-year.

See “Elections Update” for more information!

The Board discussed the upcoming Western Section meeting in Pomona, February 22-26, 2016 (see “Western

Section Report” below). The annual raffle with the Awards Banquet will be Wed, Feb. 24th. As in past years,

the Board voted to contribute $500 to support prizes for the raffle. The Chapter Member’s Meeting will be

Thurs., Feb. 25th from 8pm until after 9:30pm at one of the conference rooms at the Sheraton Fairplex in

Pomona. Please see ““50th Anniversary” for more information. The Western Section Representative reminded

everyone that there are few food options at and around the venue, but boxed lunches will be included in the

conference. Breakfast round tables will also be occurring every day (three mornings), partly because of the

lack of food venues; help is requested to help with their planning. Contact Jeff Lincer if you are interested in

assisting with preparation of the breakfast roundtables.

In September, the Conservation Committee motioned and the Board voted to donate $500 to the 2016 Nature

Bowl, as has been done the last couple of years. In November, the Board was informed that the Western

Section matched the $500 donation given by the Sac-Shasta Chapter to help support CDFW’s K-12 Nature

Bowl. Thus, a combined donation from both the Sac-Shasta Chapter and the Western Section to the Nature

Bowl was $1,000! There was a request from Karin Petrites to help fund the Putah Creek Council Program

(PCCP), and in November the Board voted to support this effort through a donation of $500. Lastly, the Board

voted to give $500 to sponsor Creek Week, a week-long event put on by the Sacramento Area Creeks Council

(SACC), an amount higher than the $250 donated in previous years. Creek Week is a wonderful, local event

that helps clean up local creeks and educate the public about the importance of creek to humans and wildlife!

Chapter Representative to the Western Section - Report Katie Smith

On October 3 and 4 the Executive Board met at Point Bonita. We discussed lots in two days, mostly items

related to the upcoming Western Section Annual Meeting in Pomona in February 2016. Even though the call

for abstracts has closed, it’s not too late to get involved. We are still looking for folks to help out on the

Planning Committee and to help lead Sessions, workshops, and other events. If you are interested please

email Candace Renger. The 2017 Annual Meeting will take place in Reno, and there is a possibility that we

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might be partnering up with the North American Pika Consortium! We also developed criteria for a new Early

Career Professional Scholarship for the Annual Meeting! There are five scholarships available, so if you think

you might qualify, be sure to check it out!

We also discussed ongoing work related to the Operations

Plan. Excitingly, there is a possibility of the section hiring a

Workshops Coordinator. That means even more fun and

career-enhancing workshops available to all of us every

year!

There was discussion of using the Western Wildlife

publication to help disseminate some of the information that

comes out in the constant contact newsletters, and some

reorganization of how publications and other information are

presented on the website, so be on the lookout for helpful

changes in that department. Don Yasuda is leading an effort

to get the Section website updated and modernized; if you

have input or would like to help out, please contact Don.

For those of you who enjoyed the taxa derby you will be excited to hear that SF Chapter Representative

Matthew Bettelheim is working on developing an iNaturalist style smartphone app that could be used for the

Taxa Deby as well as other bioblitz type events. If you want more information about that, or would like to lend

your opinion or expertise to this endeavor be sure to contact Matthew.

Finally, we discussed the need for a Western Section membership dues increase. The section has been

running at a deficit for a few years, and all these new workshops and resources the Section is providing to the

members are going to cost money as well. A dues increase is long overdue and sorely needed. Other

comparable professional organizations can charge hundreds of dollars while our rate of $20 hasn't increased

since 1997. I am chairing a team that is developing a proposal for a dues increase. If you have input on how

much dues should be increased, when and how it happens, and where the money goes, please email me,

Katie Smith.

Membership Melinda Dorin-Bradbury

We have 287 members as we close out 2015 and start 2016. We are counting all memberships as 2016

members so anyone who signed up before the December mixer will have 2016 membership. We continue to

try and iron out issues with Mailchimp and to make sure our lists are as updated as possible. If you think you

are a member but don’t receive emails from the Chapter regularly, or want to change your email address,

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please contact me. We also added a PayPal option to our website so renewing or joining with a credit card

will be an option for 2016. Please visit the membership page for that option. A big thank you to everyone who

continues to renew as Chapter members - you keep our membership strong! If you want to be more engaged

in the workings of the Chapter, please contact a Board member.

U.C. Davis Student Chapter Update Betty Lee and Bailey Higa

The Wildlife Society Student Chapter at UC Davis started

off our fall quarter with numerous, exciting events! We

have hosted a mentor-mentee social with Wildlife and

Aquatic Animal Club at the UC Davis Veterinary school, a

presentation from Dr. Caitlin Wells on the Ecology of

Tanzania, a fundraiser at Bambu in downtown Davis, a

birding trip with Dr. Bob McLandress, and a Resume

Basics Workshop from the UC Davis Internship and Career

Center. In late November, we facilitated an overnight

camping and kayaking trip at Point Reyes and a games

night social on campus! And we finished off the quarter with a movie night showing “Kent Barnes National

Park.” Winter Quarter will start in early January and with our annual Ano Nuevo trip along with various other

events. For our upcoming winter quarter events, please keep an eye on our website, newsletter, and

Facebook. If you would like to get in touch with the student chapter, please email Betty Lee or Bailey Higa.

Scholarships Tracy Walker

Calling all students! While the deadline for academic scholarship applications closed on December 1st, 2015,

the Chapter will continue to fund travel and academic scholarships in the upcoming 2016 budget.

The next application due date for Academic / Research Scholarship applications is July 1st, 2016, and

Travel Scholarships are accepted year-round, but are due at least two months before an event. We also

have a scholarship available for TWS certification.

Our Chapter awarded Justine Smith, Ph.D. Candidate, Department of Environmental Studies, University of

California, Santa Cruz a Travel Scholarship of $250 to present her research on about human-induced trait-

mediated indirect effects in ecological communities (in particular mountain lions) at the 22nd Annual

Conference of the Wildlife Society in Winnipeg, Manitoba in October 2015. Congratulations, Justine!

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Photo by Don Preisler/UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine

Be sure to utilize the opportunity to receive funding for your projects or present at the next Wildlife Society

conference. Get your applications in if you are interested! More details here: http://tws-west.org/sac-

shasta/home/scholarships/

Treasurer’s Report

Bonnie Peterson

As of December 21, 2015, the Chapter balance was:

Capital One CD $ 10,017

Capital One Savings $ 2,093

Calfirst CD $ 6,189

B of A Checking $ 18,499

Total $ 36,798

UPCOMING EVENTS, WORKSHOPS & ANNOUNCEMENTS

2016 Nature Bowl

The Chapter is contributing $500 to the 2016 Nature Bowl, the CDFW’s environmental science competition for

students in the 3rd to 6th grades. Workshops for volunteer coaches are in January and February, and student

competitions are from March to May. If you’d like to volunteer as a judge or otherwise be involved, it’s a

wonderfully fun engagement! Contact Bruce Forman for more information.

TWS Western Section Announcements

Western Wildlife – The Journal of the Western

Section of The Wildlife Society

The second volume of the Western Section’s new journal,

Western Wildlife, was initially published in July 2015, and

additional articles were included in subsequent months.

The full 2nd volume is available at

http://www.wwjournal.org/. Please consider submitting your

manuscripts for future volumes of Western Wildlife. Western

Wildlife is an open-access, peer reviewed journal that publishes original research, reviews, perspectives, and

correspondence on the ecology, natural history, management, and conservation biology of animals. Submit

materials to Dr. David Germano at dgermano@csub.edu. Papers will be peer-reviewed and then published

on-line once accepted by the editor.

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2015 Western Section Annual Meeting in Pomona, CA

The 2016 Western Section TWS Annual Meeting will be held at the

Sheraton Fairplex Hotel & Conference Center in Pomona, CA,

which is on the eastern border of Los Angeles County, from February

22-26th, 2016.

Participants will attend concurrent technical sessions, learn about a

wide variety of studies and research projects during the poster

session, engage in a plenary discussion about “Digging into the Roots

of Conservation Conflict: Transforming the process of conservation to

create sustainable solutions,” and take advantage of the opportunity to

network with peers and experts. Francine Madden, Executive Director and Founder of Human-Wildlife Conflict

Collaboration, will lead the plenary discussion along with some other distinguished speakers.

There will be two separate pre-conference symposia on the following topics: 1) federal Endangered Species

Act Sections 7 and 10; and 2) Mohave Ground Squirrel (Xerospermophilus mohavensis) and Amargosa Vole

(Microtus californicus scirpensis) – Ecology and Conservation of Low Profile Species in the Mojave Desert.

Conference professional development opportunities include a Wildlife Biologist Construction Training (Wild

C.A.T.) and Resume workshop.

Early bird registration is open through January 8, 2016, and online pre-conference registration closes

February 12, 2016. Concurrent session abstracts will be available online soon, check it out!

Assistance sought with donations for the Annual Meeting Raffle and Silent Auction!! The raffle and

silent auction proceeds support the Section’s commitment to provide student programs and scholarships

supporting student involvement and attendance at professional development events. If you would like to

donate money or items, please contact Sandra Hunt Von Orb and Lisa Ollivier.

Natural Resources Communication Workshop

The Natural Resources Communication Workshop

will be held January 11-15, 2016 in California State

University, Chico and taught by Dr. Jon K. Cooper. This

workshop combines lecture and discussion to help

natural resource workers more effectively communicate

with general as well as technical audiences through

personal presentations using good visual aids.

The workshop focuses on the use of computer-

generated images created with Microsoft’s PowerPoint

software. The workshop is practical-oriented and

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enhances participants' communication skills in planning, preparing, presenting, and evaluating presentations.

Since many of the problems in natural resources management are people-oriented, more effective

communication can significantly improve many management programs. The initial deadline for applications

was October 30th, 2015, however late applications may be accepted, and the registration fee is $795.

For more Western Section announcements, including details on upcoming workshops, please visit:

http://www.tws-west.org/announcements.php

TWS National Announcements

The 23nd Annual Conference of the Wildlife Society is set to

occur in Raleigh, North Carolina from October 15-19, 2016.

Proposals for workshops, symposia, panel discussions, and

special poster sessions are due by April 8th, 2016. The Wildlife

Society invites proposals related to all aspects of wildlife ecology,

management and conservation. Full registration and conference

program details will be available May 15, 2016. http://wildlife.org/

PAST EVENTS

Brown-bag Seminar Series

Ona Alminas

Jamie Sherman, Ph.D. candidate with UC Davis and the CDFW presented on her dissertation work with the

UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine and the Veterinary Genetics Lab, entitled “A Multidisciplinary

Approach toward Advancing Black Bear Population Health and Management in California,” with emphasis on

zoonotics and establishment of an assay to detect trichinosis, a disease caused by Trichinella worms that can

be prevalent in undercooked meat. The brown bag was held on Thurs, November 12 at the CDFW Wildlife

Branch in downtown Sacramento. Nearly 20 biologists and agency staff attended! Stay tuned for upcoming

brown bag seminars – if you’re interested in presenting in 2016, please email us at sac.shasta@gmail.com.

Fall Mixer at Oak Park Brewing Company with Cal-Neva AFS

Randi Logsdon

The Chapter’s fall mixer, like others in the past, was a great success, with a lot of food, drinks, good

conversation, and networking between students and professionals. However, this mixer was unique from the

others in a number of aspects. For the first time in Chapter history, the mixer was a back-to-school event for

students and was co-hosted as a joint mixer with the California Nevada Chapter of the American Fisheries

Society. It’s not too often that fisheries professionals mingle with wildlife professionals. We have a lot to talk

about and a lot of things in common. Though the aquatic world of fish and the terrestrial world of wildlife are

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Ramona Swenson (ESA) Cal Neva AFS President-Elect, former Sac-Shasta TWS President Hal Holland (2009) (Westervelt), Kelly Holland (AECOM), Sac-Shasta TWS 2015 President Carlos Alvarado (Ascent Environmental), Vice President Rhiannon Klingonsmith (DWR), and Eric Olsen (CNLM) all enjoyed our mixer with Cal Neva AFS. Photo: Emily Trites, Cal Neva AFS.

technically different and sometimes

dealt with separately, both disciplines

are about research and conservation of

our natural resources. Our members

may not be aware that for about 20

years in the distant past, the Western

Section of the Wildlife Society and the

California-Nevada Chapter of the

American Fisheries Society held

combined annual meetings and

published transactions in a publication

called Cal-Neva Wildlife. The joint

meetings were discontinued in 1985

and the two societies went separate

ways.

It was a really nice day in the tiny

window of autumn between the overly

hot summer and the impending cold

winter. The mixer was held outdoors

on the patio of a new venue, the Oak Park Brewing Company in south Sacramento. The open-air atmosphere

was perfect for networking and moving about to have conversations with different groups of people. These

mixers are great, because they bring together people we know through our jobs or have worked with, people

we met at the Western Section meetings, new and long-standing Chapter members, students and early-career

professionals, and an overall cadre of very interesting people and conversation. It’s always a pleasure to see

friends, colleagues, and familiar faces, and at the same time, make new friends and contacts in the wildlife

world. This time, however, it was even more rewarding to do the same with folks in the fish world.

Many thanks go out to our Chapter’s Professional Development Chair Ona Alminas, Treasurer Bonnie

Peterson, and the organizers from the Cal-Neva Chapter of American Fisheries Society for bringing us all

together again.

Jackson Meadows Reservoir Camping Trip

Randi Logsdon

The Chapter hosted its second campout event for members who were itching to go sleep outside in the woods

for a couple of days (October 9 – 11, 2015). I was certainly one such member, ready to get away from work,

home, stress, and problems and enjoy a couple of fun days camping with my wildlife friends and colleagues.

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© Randi Logsdon

© Randi Logsdon

The event was organized by our Chapter’s

Vice President, Rhiannon Klingonsmith. The

spot she chose was the Jackson Meadows

Reservoir East Meadow campground in the

Tahoe National Forest in Nevada County.

She couldn’t have picked a more gorgeous

spot to come to for a fix of fresh mountain

air, especially for a desk dweller like myself.

A few of us drove up Friday after work and

were later joined by another member and

his family. After enjoying some warm soup

and a warm fire, we bedded down in our

cozy tents.

The East Meadow campground sits on the

eastern arm of the reservoir, and we camped a short walk away from the water. On Saturday, we walked

down to the reservoir, then hiked to the southern tip of the eastern arm where the reservoir turns into the

Jackson Meadow. With both botanists and birders in our small group of three, we saw and identified many

birds, interesting plants, and flowers. The reservoir, due to the drought, was unusually low. The meadow,

however, was still a very moist wetland that was sometimes a little tricky to navigate without sinking into the

soggy vegetation and mud from the active seeps and springs. This little hike gave me a strong déjà vu of

surveying for great gray owls here and in other nearby meadows back in ’05. Of the birds we saw, probably

the most surprising was a large congregation of grebes swimming in a dense flock formation. The water also

hosted a beautiful white pelican, which drove Rhiannon’s dog crazy.

After the hiking, birding, and looking

at plants and flowers, we were joined

by our President, Carlos Alvarado,

and Professional Development

Chair, Ona Alminas. The whole

group pitched in on a potluck camp

dinner, which was amazingly

delicious. We enjoyed another night

around the fire and then had another

delicious potluck breakfast on

Sunday morning. Although there

weren’t a lot of strenuous or planned

activities, it was a relaxing and

different way for members to

network and enjoy each other’s

© Randi Logsdon

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company. The Chapter organizes a perfect balance of indoor mixers and outdoor events, and I look forward to

attending the next outing. A big thanks goes out to Rhiannon for her efforts in making this event a very fun and

worthwhile success.

Annual Winter Mixer with local environmental planning groups!

Ona Alminas

Well over 125 members from our Chapter, the Association of Environmental Professionals (AEP) Superior

California Chapter, American Planning Association (APA) Sacramento Valley Section came out for joint annual

winter mixer at the Momo Lounge at Harlow's, 2708 J St, Sacramento the evening of Thursday, December

10th! It was a well- attended event with a hosted first beverage, tasty appetizers (mmm sliders!) and a great

ambience. We were joined by bright, young members of the Young Planners Group with the Sacramento

Valley Section of APA, and it proved to be a great venue for side conversations and networking. Donations

were accepted to support the River City Food Bank. Many thanks to AEP’s Katherine Waugh, Marieka

Schraeder, Janet Dallas for manning registration, as well as to Emily Bacchini, Tracey Ferguson (APA) for their

assistance in pulling off this popular event, yet again!

JOB and VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES

Open Exam bulletin for Environmental Scientist (multiple State agencies) at the following website:

http://jobs.ca.gov/Bulletin/Bulletin/Index?examCD=9PB01. If you are on the Environmental Scientist list, you

can check for vacancies. For the latest information on seasonal openings with CDFW, visit

https://www.wildlife.ca.gov/Employment/Seasonal.

Check out The Wildlife Society’s Wildlife Careers Online at http://careers.wildlife.org and the TWS-West job

site at http://www.tws-west.org/jobs.php. For local job announcements and volunteer opportunities, check:

http://tws-west.org/sac-shasta/home/jobs-volunteering. If anyone has job or volunteer opportunities to post in

our next newsletter, please contact the editor.

***NOTICE***

Wildlife Tours

Join Cosumnes River Preserve staff and visitors for several events this winter, from Ducks in Scopes to

Sandhill crane tours and guided hikes. Check out the Preserve’s activities page for upcoming events!

http://www.cosumnes.org/upcoming-activities/

Sandhill Crane Wetland Tour at the Woodbridge Ecological Reserve. CDFW docent-led public tours are

available to view greater and lesser Sandhill cranes at Woodbridge Ecological Reserve outside of Lodi, W

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Woodbridge Road (95242). Self-guided tours are also available and are enhanced with interpretive panels.

For more information about tour times, please visit www.wildlife.ca.gov/regions/3/crane-tour.

Guided Wildlife Tours at Gray Lodge Wildlife Area, 3207 Rutherford Road, Gridley (95948), 12:30 p.m.,

Saturday/Sunday. The 90-minute walking tour covers slightly more than a half mile through this premier

birding spot that highlights migratory waterfowl and other wetland wildlife. Tours are canceled in heavy rain.

No reservations are necessary for groups of less than 20 people. A $4.32 day use fee is required for visitors

without a valid annual CDFW pass, or California sport fishing, hunting or trapping license. There is no

additional cost for the tour. For more information, please call (530) 846-7505 or email

Lori.Dieter@wildlife.ca.gov.

Other Upcoming Events of Interest

Chapter 50th Anniversary Kickoff – Member’s Meeting & Reunion

Please join us for a grand kick-off to our 50th anniversary year of the Sacramento-Shasta Chapter at the

Annual Meeting in Pomona! On Thursday, February 25th at the Sheraton Fairplex, from 8pm until after

9:30pm, we will welcome our 2016 Chapter board with our members, and enjoy a reunion-type event with past

board and chapter members. We are ironing out the details, but are planning some fun perks. Stay tuned for

more details on this and other events we’re working on to celebrate throughout the year!

WANTED: past Board members or Chapter members to help us fill in some of our historical knowledge of

who served on our board in what positions and when, or if you have any archived newsletters, meeting

minutes, or other documentation or knowledge that might help the Board compile this historical board member

list (very much a work in progress), please contact sac.shasta@gmail.com and share your history with us!

2016 Technical Workshop – Giant Garter Snake

See our Call for speakers here!

Our Chapter is looking to host a technical workshop

covering Giant Garter Snake life history, biology, essential

habitat, genetic and population patterns as well as updates

on recovery planning and conservation. We are soliciting

presentations on the themes/topics below and will devise a

schedule based on selected proposals. See Call for

details; commitment to speak appreciated before February

15; proposals due March 15 to sac.shasta@gmail.com.

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Christmas Bird Count

Get your winter birds on! The 116th Audubon Christmas Bird Count is occurring through January 5th in an

area near you. Check out Nature Ali’s comprehensive list of bird counts across California and join up with a

local effort by emailing the count’s compiler! Happy birding!

Galt Winter Bird Festival

The City of Galt, in collaboration with the Cosumnes River Preserve and Galt Joint Union Elementary and High

School Districts, is holding the 9th Annual Winter Bird Festival on February 7th, 2015. Festival guests will

enjoy the beauty and tranquility of the Cosumnes River Preserve and take advantage of the incredible

opportunity to catch sightings of waterfowl, shorebirds and wildlife in their winter habitat. Festival headquarters

provide a starting point for exclusive preserve tours, educational presentations, wildlife shows, art displays,

wine walk, hometown history and hands-on activities. This is a winter wildlife celebration you'll always

remember!

Snow Goose Festival of the Pacific Flyway

Birders and nature enthusiasts of all ages are invited to attend the 17th Annual Snow Goose Festival from

January 27-31, 2016, one of the premier birding events in California. This action-packed five-day event

celebrates the millions of waterfowl migrating along the Pacific Flyway that call the Northern Sacramento

Valley their home during the winter months. It also gives our local community an opportunity to rediscover the

abundant treasures the North State has to offer all year round, from wholesome foods and delectable wines to

inspirational artists and gifted musicians. And with the wide variety of engaging youth activities, there truly is

something for everyone at the Snow Goose Festival!

Interested in science communication? Check out Capitol Science

Communicators for their awesome networking and engaging events!

A Science Communication Seminar is coming up in February and March 2016 in Sacramento and Lodi.

More information about this FREE seminar and great opportunity can be found here.

Other Items of Interest

Climate Agreement in Paris Justin Garcia

It is clear that the Earth’s climate is being changed because people are adding greenhouse gases to the

atmosphere through the burning of coal, oil and natural gas, and now climate disruption is the greatest

existential threat to the future of humanity. In early December, the leaders of nearly two hundred countries

around the world came together in Paris and unanimously agreed to leave most of the remaining fossil fuels in

the ground. The Paris Agreement aims to increase the shift to clean energy, and keep global warming trends

The Magpie – Sacramento-Shasta Chapter of The Wildlife Society Winter 2015

15

from increasing more than 2 degrees Celsius compared to pre-industrial temperatures. Given we’ve recently

reached the high-water mark of a 1 degree Celsius increase in temperature, the climate movement must

remain strong and countries need to keep the promises made in the Paris Agreement, if we are serious about

avoiding the worst impacts of climate disruption. Even best case scenarios project the Earth will be hotter than

the human species has ever seen by the year 2070, possibly sooner. The United States needs to lead the

world in reducing emissions of greenhouse gases substantially and quickly.

Remember By National membership vote and a change in bylaws, Associate Wildlife Biologists and Certified Wildlife Biologists must minimally be members in good standing of The Wildlife Society to retain their Certifications. An updated certification directory is available by contacting Shannon@wildlife.org. The Sacramento-Shasta Chapter welcomes comments and input from our members. If you have suggestions for articles, questions you want answered, things you’d like to see us do, or events to announce, please let us know! Contact any one of the Board members.

The Sacramento-Shasta Chapter of The Wildlife Society 1017 L Street #245, Sacramento, CA 95814 Past President – Lily Douglas (ldouglas14@gmail.com) President – Carlos Alvarado (cal.alvarado@gmail.com) Vice President – Rhiannon Klingonsmith (rklingonsmith@hotmail.com) Treasurer – Bonnie Peterson (Bonnie.e.Peterson@gmail.com) Secretary – Claudia Funari (cfunari@gmail.com) Chapter Representative to Western Section – Katie Smith (ratsmith@ucdavis.edu) Newsletter Editor – Justin Garcia (jdgarcia6687@yahoo.com) Membership Chair – Melinda Bradbury (melindabradbury@sbcglobal.net) Professional Development Committee Co-Chairs – Ona Alminas (osv.alminas@gmail.com), Breanna Duplisea (Breannaduplisea@gmail.com) Scholarship Chair – Tracy Walker (twalker76@hotmail.com) Representatives for UC Davis Student Chapter – Betty Lee (BeLee@ucdavis.edu) and Bailey Higa (brhiga@ucdavis.edu)

© Randi Logsdon