Reports of snowy owl (SNOL) sightings have been coming in by the hundreds from all over the Northwest, Midwest and East Coast. My pal from the old OMSI days, Bart Butterfield, who is now in charge of the GSI Division of Idaho Fish and Game, sent me an email the other day with an attached map of all the SNOL sightings in the U.S. and Canada.

But the first report I received came from Sisters photographer and Kestrel volunteer, Dick Tipton, last week. He found that beautiful female at the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge feasting on rodents.

Snowy owls are the largest of our owls, both in weight and size. The great gray owl of our boreal forests is big, but it weighs only a fraction of our local great horned owl, and compared to the SNOL, they're both lightweights.

Back in 1949, Oxford University Press published a remarkable book that changed the way conservation education is being taught, and in doing so, left behind a solid base for everyone wanting to see the conservation of our natural resources. That book, A Sand County Almanac, was written by Aldo Leopold, a man who many consider to be the father of wildlife management and conservation education.

Leopold's legacy is found in his statement regarding habitat management, based on ecological interactions and education: "This science of relationships is called ecology, but what we call it matters nothing. The question is, does the educated citizen know he is only a cog in the ecological mechanism? That if he will work with that mechanism his mental health and his material wealth can expand indefinitely? But that if he refuses to work with it, it will ultimately grind him to dust? If education does not teach us these things, then what is education for?"

“Tis the Season...” for the Christmas Bird Count (CBC), in addition to giving and getting gifts, of course. The CBC is more than a birding ritual, even though it’s been going for over 100 years throughout the U.S.

The count period for this 112th Christmas Bird Count will begin on December 14 and you’re invited. All you have to do is grab your binoculars (and/or spotting scope) and be in Drake Park at 7 a.m. on the count day (to be announced soon—watch for it on the East Cascades Audubon Society website: ecbcbirds.org).

Each of the citizen scientists who annually braves snow, wind or rain to take part in the CBC makes an enormous contribution to conservation. Audubon and other organizations use data collected in this longest-running wildlife census to assess the health of bird populations, and to help guide conservation action and look for “new” birds. With climate change affecting habitat worldwide, all forms of life, from butterflies to birds, are on the move.

Early last Thursday morning, Bess Ballantine, field manager for Wolftree, an Oregon-based ecological education outfit and her side-kick, Rachel Manzo, met with mentor Ed Brown, a plant specialist with the USFS Chemult Ranger District.

But that’s not it. Also on hand were wildlife biologist Hailee Newman from the USFS Bend office, Cassandra Hummel, from the BLM office in Prineville, Tom Walker with the USFS, and Jennifer O'Reilly with the USF&WL; Service—both fishery biologists. This seemingly all-star assembly met with La Pine Elementary teacher Anna Bajorek, and her fifth-grade class.

After a holy-cow-gee-whiz get-acquainted time, Bess explained the Scientific Method of conducting research to the class, and each student was given a field journal with instructions on how and why to record accurate field notes. They then broke up into groups of five, each group with a mentor (and parent) and headed out to explore the natural history of Prairie Creek.

Last Monday was an up-and-away day for the Sisters School District. Oregon's Governor, Dr. John Kitzhaber, and first lady Cylvia Hayes were on hand to officially open a forest steward and biomass project that will pay off big for parents and students in Sisters High School: They're going to stay warm in winter the way our pioneers did—by burning wood.

A wood-burning stove doesn't sound like a master of efficiency, but when you get right down to the nitty-gritty of using today's technology, it is, and in more ways than one. The correct term for wood-burning heat in this magnitude is "biomass fuel" and the benefit of using this heating method is that it saves a lot of money for the school—which then goes directly into student education. That also leads to everything about the project being local, from biomass, boiler design, employment and back out into the forest.

It all begins with the Forest Service (USFS) and "stewardship projects," which supplies the wood to burn. Various stewardship projects throughout the Sisters District are designed to help a forest become—and remain—healthier; the healthier a forest, the more biodiversity and the less it is susceptible to wildfire. But to operate a true stewardship program in the forest, a lot of pieces of the biological, mechanical and economical puzzle have to fit together smoothly.