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Keep an Eye Out for Tagged Monarch Butterflies
Idaho Fish & Game Late summer marks the beginning of the monarch butterfly’s epic migration to wintering grounds in coastal California and central Mexico. In the western U.S., hundreds of these magnificent orange-andblack butterflies will be sporting white tags — each the width of an M&M and bearing an email address and serial number — in an effort to track the direction, route, and destination of their migratory movements. Researchers are enlisting the help of the public to spot and report these tagged migrants en route to their wintering grounds. Monarchs can travel 100 miles a day during migration. This tagged monarch from southwest Idaho may provide answers to Idaho’s monarch flyway. This monarch tagging program is the brainchild of Dr. David G. James, a professor of entomology at Wash-
ington State University. He launched the program in 2012 to focus research and conservation attention on monarchs in Oregon, Washington, Idaho, and British Columbia, a region underrepresented in the monarch world. A particular area of interest for Professor James is monarch migration biology. “There is a lack of information on the migration of the monarch in the Pacific Northwest,” James said. Efforts to better understand the migration corridors and flyways of the western monarch population are timely given a 74 percent decline in the California overwintering population in less than 20 years. Tagging information can help to effectively target conservation actions, such as milkweed plantings and development of nectar-rich corridors needed for breeding and migrating monarchs. In collaboration with Professor James’s program, biologists and citizen scientists in Idaho captured, tagged, and released about 300 monarch butterflies this summer. Tagged monarchs from Idaho have been recovered in California, but there is also intriguing evidence of a southward trajectory towards Mexico. cont. page 10...
, 2016
Volume 40 ~ Number 40 News from the Heart of Idaho Camas • Lincoln • Gooding
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Health Warning for Magic Res.
South Central Public Health District, in cooperation with the Idaho Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ), has issued a health advisory for Magic Reservoir. The DEQ confirmed the presence of unhealthy levels of Microcystins. Microcystins are the toxic product of certain species of blue-green algal blooms, often referred to as Harmful Algal Blooms (HABs). Balthasar Buhidar, Water Quality Manager with the DEQ, reports that sample taken on September 9, 2016 at Lava Point in Blaine County indicate an average Microcystin level of 136 µg/L or 136 micrograms per liter of water. According to the World Health Organization, a Microcystin level higher than 20 micrograms per liter of water From Highway 46 south of Gooding, presents a “high risk” for turn west on 2100 south road, go 4 1/2 recreational water users. miles to 1600 east. From Highway 26 west Health officials will of Gooding, turn south on 1500 East, goto post advisory notices in the area of Lava Point; 2000 South and turn east. For more information go to highdesert- however, recreational waspeedway.com or call Mitch (431-9596) ter users should take preJodie (650-9730) or Marissa (650-3626). continued on page 7 .....
Final Month of High Desert Racing
This Saturday and Sunday is the final weekend of Class Racing (final points) at Gooding’s High Desert Speedway. On October 22 & 23 they will host their Halloween Havoc Race. 27 cars will compete for the “Top 8” payout each night. There will also be a costume contest and a Chili Cook-off.
October 5