I mentioned in my last opinion piece that the city made a good start by banning the feeding of deer within city limits. In speaking with the city, and state fish and game representatives, it seems that there is more to come. Expect a long process involving public input.
What none of us should want is an expensive process. I have a concern with the recent history of the City Council acting “in good faith” to solve a problem with a solution that seems like a bargain, only to have the price balloon to an extraordinary amount with little or nothing to show for the effort. (See Cherry Street Affordable Housing Project)
In the meantime imagine my surprise when, in the process of researching human/deer conflicts, I discovered that Western Washington is home to the black-legged deer tick that carries Lyme disease. Adding to my newfound knowledge, I stumbled across at least one Port Townsend resident who contracted Lyme disease in the last couple of years from a tick bite received while working in their yard.
Scientists believe the pipeline for Lyme disease operates as follows: As black-legged tick larva mature into nymphs they feed on mice carrying the infectious bacteria, Borrelia Burgdorferi. As the nymphs mature into ticks they feed on larger animals, primarily deer. Deer bring the nymphs and ticks into proximity to humans when they browse through our landscaping and pause for a siesta under the camellia bush. The deer wander off. Nymphs, the size of a poppy seed, and ticks, slightly larger, are left behind to find a human or pet host. This might be you, your kids, or the dog playing in the yard. The ticks find their way onto your skin, latch on in search of a blood meal, and pass on to you the infectious bacteria that causes Lyme disease.
Lyme Disease is a serious, potentially debilitating illness.
The Washington State Department of Health recommends that the best way to protect yourself is to reduce your exposure. If staying indoors doesn’t suit your plans, know that ticks need to be attached for at least 36 hours to transfer the bacteria. You should inspect yourself and your children for evidence of ticks and remove them immediately.
There is no vaccine yet. If you are infected, symptoms usually appear in three days to three weeks. If identified early, Lyme disease can usually be cured with anti-biotics. If you miss the symptoms and discover you have the disease a year later, there is no effective treatment. Arthritis, fatigue, mental issues, and severe headaches are long-term side effects.
The disease is rare in Port Townsend, for now. The County Health Department tells me there have been ten cases of Lyme disease reported in the last ten years, only two of which were verified as originating in Jefferson County. Some experts say climate change could make our region more favorable to deer ticks. The Jefferson County Health department has begun discussing what that may mean for Jefferson County residents. Regardless, if we reduce the number of deer, we reduce the number of tick transports that can spread infection to humans. Yes, Lyme disease rare, perhaps that is reassuring. But what if it is your child an infected tick finds? That one case could mean the world to you and your family. It will not seem like an outlier to you.
It is not just the threat of diseased ticks that pose real hazards. Deer can be killers.
A dog was killed by a deer in November 2019 in Uptown Port Townsend on Clay Street a block from my house. I have learned that it was on a long retractable leash, and was killed by a buck. The local Fish and Game wardens were unable to do much because they could not identify which of the many bucks in this neighborhood might be responsible. Even if they could locate the exact animal they would need evidence of continued aggressive behavior towards the public to justify any action.
Bucks are aggressive during the rut in the fall. Does can be very aggressive in the spring when they have their fawns. Deer kill dogs in urban neighborhoods just about every year. The dog does not have to be aggressive towards the deer to warrant an attack. If you try to protect your dog you may become a target as well.
I welcome the public process and a healthy debate, but I don’t believe we should spend time or money on half measures like deer sterilization or air gun administered birth control. The most immediate and cost effective solution is to harvest these deer on an annual basis. If we had feral dogs wandering around town, they would be removed. If we had wild cows grazing on the courthouse lawn, they would be removed. Feral dogs and cows are not tolerated in Port Townsend. Let’s add deer to the list as well.
Jefferson County will be just fine even if the models predicting global warming prove accurate. We will face no inconvenience other than more rain.
Don’t take it from us. Listen to University of Washington meteorologist Cliff Mass. He has been working with a team of very able and qualified researchers, using the best computers, running the most reliable climate change models. He has found that Jefferson County, along with much of Washington State, will be in a “sweet spot” even if the most realistically dire computer scenarios come to pass. “A compelling case can be made that the Pacific Northwest will be one of the best places to live as the earth warms,” he and his team of researchers have concluded. Read their conclusions in more detail here and here.
Mass believes the earth is warming and that increased warmth in the atmosphere will induce a changing climate. But he has stated repeatedly that “we do not face an “existential threat” and that there is no scientific basis for raising alarms about a “climate emergency.”
“There are so many local politicians, media outlets and activist groups painting a depressing, fearful picture of our future regarding global warming. They are wrong.” Dr. Cliff Mass, University of Washington meteorologist
What about dreaded sea level rise? Not a problem for the Olympic Peninsula or most of Washington, the UW team has concluded, except for the area around Long Beach. To the contrary, much of the Washington coast is RISING as we continue to emerge from the last Ice Age and the land springs back.
What about increasing drought and water scarcity? The opposite, increased flooding due to increased precipitation, is what the UW researchers predict. Mass and his team are urging better storm water channeling and construction of larger reservoirs.
What about increasingly “extreme weather”? Not to worry, Mass and his team of researchers assure us. We should not even worry about significantly worse wind storms.
Heat waves and more destructive wildfires? Governor Inslee has raised alarms about the state burning up as it dries out due to runaway temperature spikes and heat waves. But the scientists don’t see what Inslee sees. A cooling Pacific Ocean (it has been cooling for 35 years) will continue to produce moderate temperatures for the Pac NW. Increasing fires are likely only on the eastern slopes, and there the solution, according to Mass & Co., is reversing decades of forest mismanagement and discouraging building close to or within forest boundaries.
Mass and fellow researchers do see temperatures very slowly rising, but not rapidly and only noticeably towards the end of the century.
Local climate alarmists (dare we say, climate alarm manipulators and exploiters) who sit on the Jefferson County Climate Action Committee and the Public Health Board are talking about declaring a “climate emergency.” An emergency declaration could be used to restrict just about every personal and commercial activity, to increase taxes and fees and impose a wide array of regulations on land use and energy consumption.
The City of Everett is considering declaring a climate emergency as a prelude to draconian and unprecedented regulatory measures. Mass has criticized that effort on the grounds that Everett, like all of the Puget Sound, does not face a climate emergency, at least if you bother to consult the best science coming out of the University of Washington’s Department of Atmospheric Sciences.
In 2017 the Jefferson County Commission declared a “housing emergency” as an excuse to seek a property tax increase for the alleged purpose of providing affordable housing. Voters saw through that ruse and soundly defeated the scheme, known as “Prop 1.”
County Commissioner Kate Dean, who pushed the “housing emergency” and Prop 1 campaigns, is playing a central role in promoting a “climate emergency.”. Kees Kolff, chair of the Climate Action Committee, a hospital commissioner and member of the Public Health Board along with Dean, may be pushing even harder in order to accelerate implementation of strict measures called for in a climate action plan he helped draft.
Dean and Kolff intend to roll out their effort over coming months, perhaps culminating about the time of Earth Day with public hearings, a “charette,” that Dean discussed at the last Public Health Board meeting. Even though climate science is against them, they and local activists still seek to use their political power to achieve declaration of a climate emergency, followed by implementation of restrictions on the use of fossil fuels, wood burning, construction, vehicle choice and usage, the mill and marine industries, and a wide range of personal and commercial activities.
We will continue to follow their effort to declare a “climate emergency” in Jefferson County.
In the meantime, it is worth noting that Dr. Mass is not alone in decrying political maneuvering to declare a climate emergency. On September 29, 2019, 500 scientists delivered a letter to the United Nations very clearly stating, “There is no climate emergency.” You can read about that at this link. For the letter itself and list of signatories, click here.
