Peter Paquet ('75 MS, '79 Ph.D.) feels at home on the rivers of Oregon. Akm8 the banks of the WiliameUe River at Oregon City, where yet another dam and power project are being proposed, Paquet's family settled on a donation land daim in the 1850s. Peter is the elder of the two Paquet brothers, so perhaps it is fining that he has the comfortable office in a renovated building in downtown Portland while Paul hunkers in the brush of Manitoba. But as a senior planner for the Northwest Power Planning Council, Peter looks for any excuse to get out on the rivers whose fish he helps protect. Most of the time, however, Peter Paquet ('75 MS, '79 Ph.D.) is in his office, making sure the 200 fish and wildlife-related measures of the Pacific Northwest Electric Power Planning and Conservation Act of 1980 are being implemented. That federal act created the 8-member Council (representing Washington, Oregon, Idaho and Montana) and empowered it to develop a 20-year electric power plan for the Columbia River basin and a program to "protect, mitigate and enhance" the region's fish and wildlife. One of the unique aspects of the Act is that it "treats conservation as a resource," says Paquet. "There's tremendous waste out there," waste that can be trimmed with model building codes and industrial sector conservation. "Saving megawaHs will prevent having to build neYI plants," explains Paquet. And, of course, that would be ideal for the ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ 8 f ~ ~ 0 ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ I ~ ~ ; e : : ~ ~ b ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ a ~ n e d . As long as humans want lights and power, the wildlife will need the power planning act; its measures are intended to "correct existing problems at the mainstem Columbia River dams and ensure that future projects meet certain standards for {ish and wildlife," says Paquet, whose focus is Ihe anadromous fish of ihe Columbia River system. It is part of Paquet's job to work with agencies on eliminating barriers to the successful river to ocean migration of the once-plentiful salmon. Paquet is currently pouring a lot of his energy into the "water budget," a plan 10 alter the flow of the Columbia to 8 more closely resemble the natural seasonal fluctuations, Spring freshets, which help young salmon along their journey to the sea, have been stored to use during times of high energy demand, critically slowing the salmon's downriver passage. Paquet is working with Indian tribes and water users to release artificial freshets at appropriate times. "It's a trade-off," admits Paquet. "We sacrifice 500 megawatts and give it to the fish." There is a certain justice, in Paquet's eyes, in "the ratepayer subsidizing the fish instead of the fish subsidizing the ratepayer." Other possible solutions to the passage problem are the barging of steelhead and the installation of screens or bypass systems at the dams, where turbines destroy untold numbers of fish. Paquet's " It's a trade-off. We sacrifice 500 megawatts and give it to the fish." program also addresses Ihe issue of propagation, favoring natural rather than hatchery rearing for greater survival success. At the other end of the life cycle, the fish and wildlife program seeks the enforcement of reasonable harvest regulations. Although the Northwest Power Planning Council has no jurisdiction over the harvest, "it won't approve the funding of propagation facilities if adequate controls over ocean and river fishing are not exercised," said Paquet. Paquet helped design the fish and wildlife program for the Council while "on loan" from the Siting and Regulation Division of the Department of Energy in Salem, where he had reviewed the environmental impact of proposed energy projects statewide. He officially joined Ihe NPPC in August of last year. Fifth generation Oregonians Peter and Paul Paquet carryon a long family tradition of working close to the land. But unlike their fishing and trapping forebears, who were among the early waves of white people to come and exploit the vast resources of the northwest, the Paquet brothers have committed themselves to conserving the natural environment. Peter has focused on the fish of the Columbia River system and Paul is studying the wolf population in Manitoba, Canada. Their devotion to the environment brought them together at Portland State for a time and then put 7,500 miles between them, but they remain Biological Brothers Stories by Cynthia D. Stowell , I The fish advocate was once nearly as involved with Oregon's timber as he now is with its fish. In his doctoral research on dwarf mistletoe, Paquet identified a hormonal change that takes place in host trees when the parasite mistletoe is present. He laughs when he reads Ihe ponderous title of his dissertatioo-"Seasonal Variation in Cytokinin Adivity and Content in Two Species of Dwarf Mistletoe and Their Hosts"-but the seemingly arcane topic is quite relevant to the Northwest. where timber loss and resulting financial losses from mistletoe infestation are high, said Paquet. The graduate of PSU's Environmental Sciences and Resources Ph.D. Program felt that the plight of the anadromous fish was even more critical. "Fish seemed to be the big problem in this area, with 80 percent of the energy hydroelectriC," said Paquet. So, his mistletoe research completed, Paquet went with the flow. It was not the big leap one might expect. "The PSU program is multi-disciplinary, so we were prepared in the areas of energy and environment," explained the biologist. "We learned to communicate with other disciplines; physicists, for example, can be real people, too," he laughed. Although PSU's Environmental Sciences program is not at all politically oriented, Paquet found himself well-equipped temperamentally for the sensitive politics of the Columbia River. With the Council, he must reconcile the divergent interests of state and federal agencies, Indian tribes, utilities, and individual fishermen. "I enjoy that aspect of it," he admitted. As a longtime board member for Ihe Portland chapter of the National Audubon Society, Paquet is accustomed to dealing with humans and beasts alike. And one of his most memorable environmental experiences was hiking the entire 1,000 miles of the Pacific Crest Trail with four Continued on p. 12 Out in the aspen parkland of Manitoba, on the southern edge of Ihe boreal forest, a couple of wolves snarl at a coyote that gets 100 close to their elk carcass. The coyote turns tail and runs, and the wolves return to the fresh meat. They are aware of another presence-a human, watching. But there is no threat from this quarter. The man is a friend, and they sense it. They fill their bellies, and leave. Paul Paquet, ('82 MS) doesn't want the wolves' kill, nor does he want their hides. He just wants to know more about the misunderstood animals so humans will save some space on the planet for them. Riding Mountain National Park in Manitoba, Canada is one place that wolves are welcome. And that's why Paquet is there, far from his Oregon home, and why he will probably be there for another few wolf generations. "It's this type of research that we hope will lead to the preservation of the wolves worldwide, II he said by telephone recently. "This park provides valuable information for other countries that want to set up preserves." for the last two years, Paquet has been working on Canada's only longterm research project on wolves, started in 1974 by the Canadian Wildlife Service and continuing now with the help of the University of Alberta and numerous private foundations, including the National Geographic Society. "Canada probably has the largest population of wolves in the world, but they still exist pretty much worldwide," said Paquet, who is co-editor of a book entilled Wolves of the World, a scholarly compilation of current research. "Most people don't realize it, but the wolf was almost cosmopolitan in its distribution at one time. But in a lot of these areas they're simply remnant populations and they're Quickly diminishing." Paquet feels the world would be a less desirable place without wolves. "There are a number of reasons (why wolves should be preserved), Paul Paquet ('82 MS) welcomed a new Alukan wolf pup to the Washington Park Zoo in 1977 while he was studyins the soci411 behavior of wolves in captivity. beginning with philosophical, ethical and moral viewpoints. And there's also the ecological aspect-they're an integral and valuable part of the environment and they contribute to its health." He paused, and then spoke from his heart. "There's also a number of people, including myself, who just like to know they're there." It's easy for Paquet and other humans to like wolves. "They're very intelligent animals," he explained. "In many ways they reflect our own behavior because they are social animals. They live in family groups, or a pack, and they all contribute to the social welfare of their family unit. They display a high degree of social cooperation." "I've always had an intense interest in dogs." Paquet's own interest in wolves is one of those lifelong affinities that is hard to document. "I've always had an intense interest in dogs," he offered. As an adult, Paquet has studied both the wolf, the progenitor of the domestic dog, and the coyote, a cousin. And now he's looking into how all three are related. "We're trying to find out if there is any hybridization that's taking place between wolves and domestic dogs. Because if in fad you are going to preserve the species, you don't want it to be polluted by domestic genes." With the help of PSU biology professor Deborah Duffield. who is running blood and tissue analyses for Paquet, the researchers are "hoping to be able to find a genetic marker distinguishing wolves from domestic dogs and coyotes," he said. The confirmed dog lover is most excited about his observations of wolf and coyote interaction at Riding Mountain, where the lerritories of the natural enemies overlap. "Coyotes usually bounce off wolf territory like a balloon, but here they occupy exactly the same area," said Paquet. "The wolves don't have any love at all for the coyotes and they do kill them. But t have observed the coyote following fairly closely behind the wolves and the wolves don't seem to respond." AI Riding Mountain, the wolves and coyotes have an interloper in common: the human. "One of the interpretive programs in the national parks is to bring people out and have them howl," reported Paquet. "The wolves and coyotes respond and it's a direct method of involving the public." So Paquel is observing their howling behavior to help determine whether there might be harm in this rather desultory style of inlerspecies communication. Paquet's research also includes observation of predation patterns, consumption rates and territorial configurations, and how they relate to pack size and environmental changes. He also does some den site observation to record social and familial behaviors. This can get a little touchy. The wolves surrounded their tent, barking and howling for hours. One day last summer, Paquet and his wife Jenny startled a pack of wolves at their den site when the couple "snuck in without their knowing." The wolves surrounded their tent, barking and howling for hours. "ThaI was a new experience. I've never seen them behave in that manner," he said, sounding a little hurt. '" think we had set up camp in one of their normal runs and they were just surprised." The next day, Paul (by then alonel located the wolves' new den site and, throwing his sleeping bag down within 20 feet of the den, he received not even a growl. "I would wake up occasionally and they'd be staring at me," said Paquet, "but from that time on they paid very little attention to me." Jenny and Paul are sometimes out for days at a time watching wolves, although this year the den sites are close enough to reach on day trips from their rental home, situated on about 500 acres just outside the park. Jenny, a native southern Californian, is apparently a good sport about their frontier life, and has found her own niche in the sparse but art-oriented society of Wasagaming, Manitoba. When she's not stalking wolves with Paul, she plays harmonica in a rock band and coaxes vegetables out of ground that is frost-free for less than 60 days a year. If anything brings the Paquets back to "civilization," it might be Paul's interest in the social behavior of wolves, which is much easier to study in captive populations. For six years, Paquet observed a pack of Alaskan wolves at Washington Park Zoo in Portland, gathering data about mating, pup rearing, and other social behaviors, which he wrotp about in his master's thesis for PSU. '" still miss those particular wolves," he said. "I gal really close to them. I know if I went back to visit them, they'd get right up when 1whistled." While in Oregon, Paquet spearheaded support for the controversial statewide ballot measure banning the use of leghold traps. The measure lost, the vote was challenged in court, and even now the case is in an appeal process. Meanwhile, Ihe descendant of French fur trappers reluctantly uses traps for tagging subjects and never traps or hunts for sport. It's inevitable that a friend of wolves would find himself bucking popular opinion. The wolf seems Continued on p. 12 9
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy NTc4NTAz