Attempts to save martens from extinction may include U.S. Highway 101 warning signs on the Oregon coast

 

By DANA TIMS/YachatsNews

For decades, scientists assumed that trapping and loss of critical habitat had led to the extinction of the marten population that once inhabited much of Oregon’s central coast.

In recent years, however, painstaking, on-the-ground surveys have shown that two subgroups of martens are alive and well on the coast. They are separated by the Umpqua River and live almost exclusively in the densely thicketed pine forests of the Oregon dunes.

Now, efforts are underway to protect coastal martens from what may be their final, largest threat – vehicle strikes on U.S. Highway 101.

“This species is absolutely amazing, but vehicle strikes are taking a toll,” said Frank Weaver, a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service biologist. “The population is so small that any loss whatsoever makes a big dent.”

Only 71 adult martens are known to exist on a coastal habitat range stretching from Cape Perpetua just south of Yachats to the North Spit of Coos Bay. In the past two years, at least three martens – believed to be young juveniles striking out in search of new territory – have been hit and killed by vehicles.

The effort has a formal name – the Highway 101 Coastal Marten Initiative. It aims to identify where martens live, where they are most likely to cross the highway and how solutions such as improving existing culverts or constructing new ones could help them travel without being exposed to the dangers of vehicular traffic.

“If we can figure out how to let them cross without having to go over the highway,” Weaver said, “their chances of survival will obviously be much, much greater.”

Small, ferocious, voracious

Martens are small carnivores, about the size of kittens but far more ferocious. They are currently listed as “threatened” by the federal government, and could still become extinct in the next three decades unless steps are taken to preserve their numbers.

A recent paper published in a national journal asserted that just two or three human-caused deaths could be sufficient to drive Oregon’s central coast population toward extinction.

Multi-agency efforts to address threats to coastal martens got underway about three years ago, said Tim Greseth, executive director of the Oregon Wildlife Foundation. That effort, fueled by a private donation and a $50,000 grant, is now focused on questions such as, are existing culverts large enough to accommodate martens and other animals? And, what modifications can be made, such as fencing, to route martens toward those under-highway crossings?

Although no time frame has yet been set to actually begin construction of any help, Greseth added, “The extremely low numbers of martens we have right now create such an urgency to try to do something as quickly as we can.”

To date, all of the state’s central coast martens have been found living in the dense pine forests of the Oregon dunes, said DeAnna Williams, wildlife program lead for the Siuslaw National Forest.

Contrary to the idea that martens normally take up residence deep in inland forest areas, she said, there have been no indication so far  that any of this population resides in forests on the east side of Highway 101.

The Forest Service also said last week that June marks the beginning of their breeding season and that males are searching far and wide for a mate.

Williams, working with noted marten researcher Katie Moriarty, has trapped some martens and fitted them with GPS tracking collars. Those efforts helped determine that the coastal martens have the smallest home range of any martens in the world, meaning they have everything they need close by in terms of food and shelter.

Researchers have also worked out a formula to show how many calories these voracious eaters must consume daily to maintain their extremely high metabolisms.

“It’s equivalent to an adult woman who is five-foot-five eating 125 double cheeseburgers every day,” Williams said. “It’s just jaw-dropping.”

• Dana Tims is an Oregon freelance writer who contributes regularly to YachatsNews.com. He can be reached at DanaTims24@gmail.com