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  • About:
    • Two Organizations in One:
      • Wild Willpower PAC – America’s first “Civil PAC”
      • The Peaceable Assembly
    • Our Code of Ethics
    • Endorsement Letters:
      • Co-Founder & Former President of the California Lichen Society, Bill Hill
      • Richard Lonewolf, Ethnobotany and Wilderness Survival Expert
    • Special Thanks:
      • Kevin Ray Byrd
      • Jason Baker, Tech Support
      • Environmental Studies Professor Frank Schiavo, M.M.L. (1939-2010)
      • Bill Hill & The California Lichen Society
      • Ashawna Hailey (1949-2011)
      • Samaritans of the USA
      • To All the Tech Nerds
  • Our National Plan:
    • Right to Homestead Act:
      • “Who Owns Ames, Iowa?” – upcoming documentary
    • Civilian Restoration Corps:
      • Ecological Restoration:
      • Sustainable Cities
      • ** History & Purpose of the Civilian Conservation Corps
    • Justice Accessibility Act:
      • Teach Jurisprudence in High Schools
      • Mandatory Minimum Sentences for Color of Law Crimes
      • Government Officials Must Provide Email Addresses
      • Additional Justice Reform Solutions
    • Weaning off fossil fuels
    • Education Reform:
      • Offer Local Native Language Courses in All U.S. School Systems
      • Sponsor Native Teachers to Train Wildharvesting Cooperatives
      • Teach Accurate, Non-Bias History in Schools
      • Teach Sustainable Gardening and Applied Ethnobiology in Schools
      • Sponsor Native Teachers to Teach via The Wild Living Skills Database & Smartphone App
    • Swords to Plowshares Act (international policy)
  • Current Projects:
    • Wild Living Skills Database & Smartphone App
      • Donate a Book – Help Build The Wild Living Skills Database & Smartphone App
    • “Civil Rights Self-Defense” legal self-help website
      • Stop Courtroom Abuse!
    • Resources to Help You Live Sustainably:
      • Ecological Restoration:
      • Homesteading Starter Kits:
      • Highly-Efficient Gardening Techniques:
      • Clean Energy Inventions:
      • “Simple-Tech” DIY Home Improvement Techniques:
  • Cases in Progress:
    • Ames Resident Seeks to Improve Iowa’s Justice System (Iowa Cases):
      • Transgender Iowan, arrested for going in the women’s restroom in 2006, still seeks justice (2022)
      • Following an unjust court ruling, officer warns Ames resident to “leave the state” for her safety (2009)
      • City of Ames obstructs Citizens from Petitioning (2018)
      • Transgender Woman Claims Nonprofit “Reliable Street” Retaliated Against Her for Filing a Civil Rights Complaint:
    • California Cases:
      • Robbed by Kern County Sheriff’s Deputies
      • Homeless woman charged >$600 for sleeping outdoors (Marin County, CA)
    • Standing Rock Class Action
  • Publications:
    • “More Valuable Than Gold” Ethnobotany textbook
    • “The Hidden History of Law” textbook series
    • “How to Legally Claim Abandoned Real Estate”
  • Join the Cause

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  • January 2023

Categories

  • Cases in Progress
  • Ethnobiology
  • Legal
  • Our Mission
  • Wild Willpower
Wild Willpower
  • About:
    • Two Organizations in One:
      • Wild Willpower PAC – America’s first “Civil PAC”
        • Sondra Wilson, Founder and Executive Director
      • The Peaceable Assembly
    • Our Code of Ethics
    • Endorsement Letters:
      • Co-Founder & Former President of the California Lichen Society, Bill Hill
      • Richard Lonewolf, Ethnobotany and Wilderness Survival Expert
    • Special Thanks:
      • Kevin Ray Byrd
      • Jason Baker, Tech Support
      • Environmental Studies Professor Frank Schiavo, M.M.L. (1939-2010)
      • Bill Hill & The California Lichen Society
      • Ashawna Hailey (1949-2011)
      • Samaritans of the USA
      • To All the Tech Nerds
  • Our National Plan:
    • Right to Homestead Act:
      • “Who Owns Ames, Iowa?” – upcoming documentary
    • Civilian Restoration Corps:
      • Ecological Restoration:
        • Native Animal Cooperatives
        • Oceti Sakowin Heritage Trail
        • Wildharvesting Cooperatives
          • Kern River Wildharvesting Cooperative
            • Bulk Native Foods and Herbs, and Backpacking Mixes
            • Our Commitments:
              • Coordinate Respectfully with Forest Officials
              • Uphold The Zero Trash Commitment
              • Use Positive-Impact Harvesting Techniques
              • Wildfire Prevention
        • Paid for by gradually transferring livestock subsidies
          • The Devastating Ecological Impacts of Non-Native Animal Industries
          • Animal Abuse & Subjugation in the Current U.S. Economy
      • Sustainable Cities
      • ** History & Purpose of the Civilian Conservation Corps
    • Justice Accessibility Act:
      • Teach Jurisprudence in High Schools
      • Mandatory Minimum Sentences for Color of Law Crimes
      • Government Officials Must Provide Email Addresses
      • Additional Justice Reform Solutions
    • Weaning off fossil fuels
    • Education Reform:
      • Offer Local Native Language Courses in All U.S. School Systems
      • Sponsor Native Teachers to Train Wildharvesting Cooperatives
      • Teach Accurate, Non-Bias History in Schools
      • Teach Sustainable Gardening and Applied Ethnobiology in Schools
      • Sponsor Native Teachers to Teach via The Wild Living Skills Database & Smartphone App
    • Swords to Plowshares Act (international policy)
  • Current Projects:
    • Wild Living Skills Database & Smartphone App
      • Donate a Book – Help Build The Wild Living Skills Database & Smartphone App
    • “Civil Rights Self-Defense” legal self-help website
      • Stop Courtroom Abuse!
    • Resources to Help You Live Sustainably:
      • Ecological Restoration:
        • Native Animals, & Organizations Involved in Their Restoration:
          • Plains Bison & Wood Bison Restoration – Get Involved
          • Elk Restoration – Get Involved
          • Pronghorn (Antelope) Restoration – Get Involved
          • Woodland Caribou Restoration – Get Involved
          • Bighorn Sheep Restoration – Get Involved
          • Mountain Goat Restoration – Get Involved
          • Porcupine Restoration – Get Involved
          • Prairie Dog Restoration – Get Involved
        • Native Prairie History, Ecology, & Restoration – Organizations (& Processes) Involved
      • Homesteading Starter Kits:
        • “Cold Frame Plants”: Broccoli, Cabbage, & Cauliflower
        • “Full Sunlight, Low Water”: Eggplants, Okra, Sunflowers
        • “Ideal For Raised Beds”: Asparagus, Carrots
        • “Leafy Greens” (& Spices of similar care)
        • “The 3 Sisters”: Corn, Beans, & Squash
      • Highly-Efficient Gardening Techniques:
        • How To Propagate Fruit & Nut Trees From Cuttings
        • Yard & Soil Preparation
        • *Wise* No-Chem Pest Control
        • Glass Jar Seed Starters
      • Clean Energy Inventions:
        • Ingenius Wind Energy Inventions
        • Innovative Solar Solutions
        • Water-Powered Energy Inventions & Purification Systems
        • Charge Your Electronics Using The Heat of A Campfire
        • Inventions That Clean Up &/or Process Trash
      • “Simple-Tech” DIY Home Improvement Techniques:
        • 7 Ingenius Uses for Salt
        • Vegetable Storage- for Best Results
        • Cob Housing- mixing mud to work like clay for walls, etc
        • Join ‘The Zero Trash Commitment’
        • Build Your Own Low-Cost Swimming Pool
  • Cases in Progress:
    • Ames Resident Seeks to Improve Iowa’s Justice System (Iowa Cases):
      • Transgender Iowan, arrested for going in the women’s restroom in 2006, still seeks justice (2022)
      • Following an unjust court ruling, officer warns Ames resident to “leave the state” for her safety (2009)
      • City of Ames obstructs Citizens from Petitioning (2018)
      • Transgender Woman Claims Nonprofit “Reliable Street” Retaliated Against Her for Filing a Civil Rights Complaint:
        • Legal assistance extremely difficult to find in Iowa
          • Attorney’s I’ve contacted for help
          • NGOs I’ve contacted for help
          • Wilson’s daily log ‘trying to get justice”
    • California Cases:
      • Robbed by Kern County Sheriff’s Deputies
        • California Man faces Fabricated Charges used to Further County Fraud
        • If an Officer violated your rights – who would you report the incident to?
        • Involved Parties
          • Record Owners – John and Cheryl Ross
          • Kern Cty. Sheriff’s Deputies – trespassing, forcible entry and detainer, constructive fraud
          • Neighbors who Robbed Us following the Ouster
        • Our Redress of Grievances
      • Homeless woman charged >$600 for sleeping outdoors (Marin County, CA)
    • Standing Rock Class Action
  • Publications:
    • “More Valuable Than Gold” Ethnobotany textbook
    • “The Hidden History of Law” textbook series
    • “How to Legally Claim Abandoned Real Estate”
  • Join the Cause

Woodland Caribou Restoration – Get Involved

     The woodland caribou is one of the most critically endangered mammals in the U.S., with only a few woodland caribou found south of the Canada border each year. [1]  Historically they were also present in northwest Montana and central Idaho.  [2]  There are seven subspecies of caribou, totaling approximately 5 million individuals.  Two subspecies have already been driven to extinction. [3]

Above photo from National Park Service utilized respectfully in accordance with Fair Use.

Distribution Map:

Population:

   Today caribou can be found in parts of North America, Russia and Scandinavia.  In the United States, two subspecies can be found.  Rangifer tarandus granti or barren ground caribou, more well-known due to their long-distance migrations, total 950,000 and occur throughout Alaska and northern Canada.

     There are two ecotypes within the Rangifer tarandus caribou, or woodland caribou, subspecies: mountain woodland caribou and northern woodland caribou.  This distinction is based largely on habitat use and behavior.  Woodland caribou have been reduced to one tiny population in the U.S., in far northern Idaho and northeastern Washington.  This population, known as the International Selkirk population, is extremely rare, with only about 27 individuals left. These last caribou in the continental U.S. are a type of woodland caribou known as mountain caribou because they migrate to high alpine peaks in the winter. The worldwide population of mountain caribou has plummeted recently to fewer than 2000, in small, isolated populations at severe risk of elimination.

Threats:

     Caribou are facing multiple threats from climate change.  Historically the very cold air of the arctic holds little moisture, but warmer temperatures caused by global warming increase the amount of moisture the air can hold, so the region now sees more snow and freezing rain, which cover the ground with a thick, icy crust, making it difficult to reach the lichen they depend on for survival.

     Climate change is also increasing summer droughts, leading to a higher risk of fire. Since the lichen caribou feed on takes 60+ years to grow, this can have a dramatic affect on their winter food supply.

     Caribou are also threatened by a phenomena known as trophic mismatch.  Plant growth is brought on by warming temperatures.  However caribou begin their spring migrations based on the lengthening of days.  As temperatures increase plants are blooming earlier.  Now when caribou reach their typical spring birthing grounds they are finding plant life past its prime nutritional value and have to extend more energy for foraging.

     Woodland caribou have been pushed toward extinction by poaching, and by logging and roads, which fragment and damage caribou habitat and bring increasing numbers of predators and motorized vehicles into caribou country. Snowmobiles pose a particular threat to the few remaining mountain caribou given their improved capacity to penetrate remote areas at high speeds, running caribou out of their last remaining habitat south of Canada. [3]

Restoration:

     Conservation Northwest is a leading organization in the fight to save the critically endangered caribou of the Inland Northwest.  Learn about the collaborative Mountain Caribou Project and the new Mountain Caribou Initiative. [2]

Diet

     They primarily eat ground and tree lichens.  It takes 80 to 150 years for a forest to grow enough lichens for caribou.

     Woodland caribou are also known to eat shrubs, grasses and willows.

 

Products

     Caribou are the only deer species in which both sexes grow antlers.  Every year they shed their antlers and the next year they grow new ones!

Height: Average 4 feet (1.2m) tall at the shoulder
Length: 6 feet (1.8m)
Weight: 250-700 pounds (113-318 kg); males are larger than females
Lifespan: 10-15 years in the wild.
Range

     Historically, woodland caribou inhabited the forests of the Northern United States from Maine to Washington State, but have been reduced to one small herd in the Selkirk Mountains of northern Idaho, eastern Washington and southern British Columbia. This last U.S. herd is reduced to approximately 40 members that tend to stay mostly in the Canadian part of its range.

     Worldwide, mountain caribou are found only in northern Washington and Idaho and British Columbia. The northern ecotype of woodland caribou have a broader distribution in Canada. 

Behavior

      Caribou are well-known for their ability to use tree growing (arboreal) lichens as a major food source. As a result they are most often associated with mature coniferous forests that provide substantial quantities of tree lichens.

Reproduction

Mating Season: Early to mid-October
Gestation: October to early June
Number of offspring: 1 calf [3]

References:

[1]:  Defenders of Wildlife, “Basic Facts About Caribou”:  www.defenders.org/woodland-caribou/basic-facts

[2]:  Conservation Northwest, “Mountain caribou Rangifer tarandus caribou”:  www.conservationnw.org/what-we-do/wildlife-habitat/woodland-caribou

[3]: Defenders of Wildlife, “Threats (to Caribou)”:  www.defenders.org/woodland-caribou/threats

Archives

  • January 2023

Calendar

January 2023
M T W T F S S
 1
2345678
9101112131415
16171819202122
23242526272829
3031  
     

Categories

  • Cases in Progress
  • Ethnobiology
  • Legal
  • Our Mission
  • Wild Willpower

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