on the cover / By Heidi Walters

Fixing the World

Every piece is important, said McConnell. “In today’s world, humans see almost everything as subordinate to themselves,” he said. “And in the past, we Yurok didn’t see ourselves as that. We saw ourselves as one piece of this greater picture. And our duty was to conduct ceremonies, and pray for balance, and pray for good things to happen like a good harvest of food, whether it be acorn or salmon or deer. But a lot of that has been lost.

“We as Yurok are looking to restore our culture, and to restore our culture we need to have a healthy ecosystem. And to have a healthy ecosystem you’ve got to have all the participants, and the condor certainly was one. He’s one of the big missing pieces.”

Condors, as carrion-eaters, have to check out everything. Which often puts them in harm’s way. European settlers shot at them, thinking erroneously the birds could carry off children and pets. Or the birds died after eating strychnine-laced meat intended for wolves or other predators — or after eating the poisoned predators themselves. Some Gold Rush miners used condor feathers, for which the birds were killed, to store gold dust. Museum collectors killed some condors. Then DDT, lead shot and even overhead wires practically finished them off.

Today, lead poisoning may be the biggest threat to California condors. When an animal is shot, the impact scatters lead throughout the animal. Condors will ingest the lead-ridden gut piles left behind, or the remains of an animal that was shot but got away then died. Since 1992, says the Center for Biological Diversity, at least 15 condors have died in California from exposure to lead, while dozens of others required de-leading treatment.

A movement to ban the use of lead in hunting and even fishing is gaining momentum. The 2007 Ridley-Tree Condor Preservation Act banned hunting of big game like deer and elk, as well as coyotes, with lead ammunition where condors currently range in California. The California Fish and Game Commission wants to extend the ban to the hunting of small game like rabbits and birds. And the National Park Service announced this spring that it has banned its staff from using lead ammunition to cull wounded or sick animals, and said it hopes to ban all use of lead bullets and fishing tackle by the end of next year.

The National Rifle Association isn’t pleased. But not all hunters are opposed to a lead ban. A recent call to a local hunter hangout, Bucksport in Eureka, caught Reed Gatton working his part-time shift. He said he’s observed that about half the hunters he talks to who come through the shop are worried about a lead ban. But the other half thinks it’s worth a try.

“Personally, I think it’s not a bad idea to not use lead,” Gatton said. “But the biggest problem is a lot of people have ammo stacked up. For myself, I’ve stocked up 200 rounds. And I only shoot 20 rounds a year.”

Plus, the alternatives — bullets made of copper, or alloys of other metals — can cost twice as much as lead bullets. But they work really well, said Gatton. And with time, their price would come down if they became the standard.

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