Hello friends, this is the Night Owl writing to report that Coho Pete and myself have just returned from another fact-finding mission to the deindustrialized timberlands of the South Coast.  We met some very nice people down there, including the robust scion of a clan with a title deed to five miles of riverfront property signed by the hand of President U.S. Grant.  He told us we could catch a mess of fish with a turkey tail and a garden gasket, but to the trained eye of Coho Pete the stream looked beat down and fished out.  Afterwards my colleague asked me this:

"What incentive does a rancher have to care for his riparian community, given the day to day needs of a dairy farm?"  In other words is it unrealistic to expect someone working the land to focus his attention on maintaining a diverse ecological community?  And if not how can we as restorationists advocate to make it a higher priority?  Email your thoughts to tom.botanist@gmail.com and see them up in lights on this very blog.

Also the Night Owl wants to send a special shout out to Victoria at the Radio Shack in Coos Bay.  When our technology was crashing and threatened our mission, your outstanding customer service allowed us to carry on.  Cheers.

Until next time friends, keep hooting.

-Tom Ward a.k.a. the Night Owl