50¢
ESTABLISHED
An Independent Weekly Newspaper Serving the Backcountry Communities of Julian, Cuyamaca, Santa Ysabel, Shelter Valley, Mt. Laguna, Ranchita, Sunshine Summit, Warner Springs and Wynola.
(46¢ + tax included)
Periodical • Wednesday
1985
Time Sensitive Material
June 8, 2016
Julian, CA.
Volume 31 - Issue 44 ISSN 1937-8416
www.JulianNews.com
Onward And Upward
Services Saturday For Dr. James Ketcherside
Julian Jr. High Graduation - Portraits Page 8
Services will be held on June 11,2016 at 11 am in the High School Gym. Reception following in the multi purpose room. If you would like to help we would love it if you would bring your favorite dessert or bake some peanut butter cookies, they were Jim's favorite.
In The Shadow Of A Great Pioneer
Dr. James Carlin Ketcherside PHD EED was truly a man ahead of his time. Born to Paul Jenner Ketcherside and Jean Vivian Gregory Ketcherside on August 4, 1924. He had delicate continued on page 5
Fiddlers Heat Up Town Hall All Weekend
A packed Town Hall Saturday Night for judges Matthew Hartz and Luke Price, both National Champions and they showed their stuff.
The PeeWee champions(under 8 years old) Brie Dietrich(1st), Adam Shaheen, Aspen Dietrich, Yosif Shaheen, Ranelle Dietrich.
First Time entering a contest, Natalie Clarke of Ramona was a big hit with the crowd, and won the category. more on page 9
Protecting Your Small Livestock In Mountain Lion Country
On Saturday, June 11, mountain lion conservationists will join the Santa Ysabel and Julian 4-H Club to build a lightweight and inexpensive pen designed to protect goats, sheep, pigs and other domestic animals from mountain lions. Keeping livestock enclosed in a safe barn or pen from dusk to dawn is the best protection from wildlife conflicts. The Mountain Lion Foundation (www.mountainlion.org) points to the town of Julian as a "hot spot" for losses of livestock and mountain lions alike. "The vast majority of domestic animals killed by lions in Julian are kept on very small acreages associated with a home or cabin, not part of a large ranching operation. Specific situations require specific solutions," said Foundation Director Lynn Cullens. "We're hopeful that the expertise of the local 4-H Club will lead the way to model the best deterrents so that Julian residents can enjoy livestock and pets without creating attractants to mountain lions. Wildlife is an essential part of what it means to live in the mountains, and safeguards can become meaningful community traditions." Dr. Winston Vickers, principal investigator for the University of California Wildlife Health Center's Southern California Puma Project, explains that “When you add the ongoing loss and fragmentation of habitat by development and increasing wildfire frequency to the negative effects of genetic restriction and high mortality rates, it is easy to see why we feel that some local mountain lion populations could be facing too many challenges to persist long term. We are in the process of working with other collaborators to define how severe that risk is.” The study has analyzed the more than 257 mountain lion deaths in the region over the past 30 years that were reported to the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW). In addition, the Southern California Puma Project collected data from 93 lions captured more than 150 times and fitted with GPS collars. These collared lions have shown that in the Santa Ana Mountain
Range west of I-15, the majority of lion deaths are due to collisions with cars. But in the mountains of San Diego County, lions die most frequently when they prey on unprotected domestic animals and are subsequently killed on state-issued depredation permits. Other lions are illegally killed for trophies or unknown reasons.
Jane Santorumn, the local volunteer who established the town's Julian Mountain Lion Project early this year, points out that "some of our neighbors have regretted requesting a permit once we let them know that lions are killed rather than relocated. Others have expressed surprise that our local mountain lion population may not survive the next few decades without human help, and are motivated to take steps to avoid future conflicts." Since January, Santorumn and other volunteers have teamed up with the 4-H Club, the Mountain Lion Foundation, University of California Wildlife Health Center, the UC Extension Service, Wildlife Research Institute and other organizations and agencies to conduct a groundbreaking long-term conservation program in the Julian area. The goal is to resolve conflicts and save lions. The five year project begins in earnest with an effort to learn from those families who have already experienced lion problems in small livestock situations. This collaboration is intended to generate ideas to reduce the increasing number of avoidable livestock and mountain lion deaths in the area. The model pen will be constructed on a property where lions have killed domestic animals twice just this year. The two mountain lions were killed as a result. During the Saturday pen construction Fauna Tomlinson – one of the nation's most well-informed experts on new technologies designed to deter wildlife – will demonstrate some of the world's newest designs for frightening deer, foxes, coyotes, bobcats, mountain lions and other wild animals away from rural properties. Local contractors will be on hand to learn to provide services and products for animal owners who would like to have a pen and frightening devices but
who would prefer not to build their own. An hour and a half northeast of San Diego, Julian is a small but growing rural town that is well known for its apple pies. The area is dotted with homes, cabins, orchards and small farms, tucked into a patchwork of parks, forests and conservation areas. Just a little over an hour from the San Diego metropolitan area, it is a favored recreational getaway. Natural features of the landscape and the obstacles of roads and human occupation tend to direct mountain lions repeatedly through particular rural neighborhoods. Gardens, vineyards and orchards attract deer, the lions' preferred prey. For all these reasons, mountain lions are spotted more often than in decades past. There seem to be more lions than there actually are. The territory of a male mountain lion commonly spans 200 square miles. Conserved lands in Southern California mountain ranges tend to be scattered, unconnected, and small relative to the land required by lions. This forces the few big cats across busy roads and through narrow corridors heavily used by people and their pets. "As the population of California grows and development expands into mountain lion habitat, conflicts are bound to occur. Detailed knowledge of potential conflict points is essential to avoiding tragedies for humans, livestock, pets and wildlife," said Vickers. Research into the big cats by Vickers and other scientists suggests that the Southern California mountain lion population may be declining. The researchers have tested DNA, studied disease, and accounted for mortality due to human interaction. They have followed mountain lion movements throughout mountain ranges in Orange, San Diego, and Riverside Counties. The genetic diversity, health and viability of the breeding populations of mountain lions in Southern California is very low relative to lions in other western states. Dr. Holly Ernest, a geneticist from UC Davis and the University of Wyoming, has said that her findings of low genetic diversity combined
Julian High School Scholarship Night Wednesday June 8, 2016 Graduation Thursday June 9, 2016 Warner High School Graduation Friday June 9, 2016
Town Hall Meeting “Bringing A Bank To Town” Julian's Chamber of Commerce is hosting a meeting to discuss the possibility of a new bank opening in town. On Tuesday, June 14 at 6PM, please come and meet with Jon Edney, President and CEO of Community Valley Bank in El Centro. The meeting will be upstairs at the Town Hall. Mr. Edney is prepared to answer any questions and concerns we have, and will present CVB's plans for a potential Julian operation. He will address services they can provide, the background and history of Community Valley Bank, and timeline or scheduling options for the opening. A good turnout and good questions from the Julian community are important as we proceed down this path, which was initiated by Mr. Edney last month. with high mortality rates in the local mountain lion population “raise concerns about the current status of the Santa Ana Mountains puma (mountain lion) population, and the longerterm outlook for pumas across Southern California”. On May 10, the Julian Library hosted Vickers and representatives of the Mountain Lion Foundation to showcase "Julian's Lions" in a two hour program. A record 220 concerned citizens crowded the library to learn about local lions. The presentation focused on threats to the very existence of the small population of lions residing nearby. Vickers’ research shows that a potentially dangerous level of inbreeding may be due in part to the tendency for depredation permits in San Diego County to be issued for male lions. Young males are critical to the genetic health of the entire population because they spread their genes broadly when dispersing to find a territory. Killing older and well-established males can also be counterproductive, if young males crowd in and compete for the vacant territory. Lion populations dominated by young males may actually increase the chances of another depredation event in the near term. "While habitat conservation and corridor protection are critical to mountain lion survival," says Cullens of the Mountain Lion Foundation, "protecting people and domestic animals is also essential to ensure longterm mountain lion survival." The Wildlife Health Center (ht tp:// w w w.vetmed.ucdavis. edu/whc/programs/californiaconser vation/mountain-lions. cfm) advises that "Avoiding backcountry trails after twilight, protecting pets and livestock from potential attacks and learning to see the world through the eyes of wildlife are some basic safety tips." More information is available at www.mountainlion.org
Chamber of Commerce
Networking Breakfast, June 15 - Board of Directors Meeting, June 16 www.visitjulian.com