Swan Song and Dance
I cannot dispute that the CdA River Basin contains varying amounts of historic mine waste.
The News Press this year: “Each year, on average 80 to 100 swans die in the CdA River Basin because their food source is contaminated by a century of mining waste.” Every year since at least 2009 the paper has cited 150 annual tundra swan deaths for the same reason. When I asked Toni Davidson at FWS in early 2015 how many tundra swans have been autopsied recently, her response was "We have not conducted Swan necropsies (autopsies) for some time now. We do not have any necropsy reports for 2010 to the present.” I am waiting for an update from FWS, but expect no change.
Let’s look at excerpts from a July 2018 IDFG White Paper I found on-line, titled “Proposal for a Swan Hunting Season in Northern Idaho”. (This paper was the basis for the 2020 HB 545, which is now law.) “The Idaho Department of Fish and Game (Department) proposes a 3-year experimental swan hunting season in the Panhandle Region of northern Idaho to commence October 2020 because of waterfowl hunter interest. General swan hunt in northern Idaho would be directed towards tundra swans, and designed to minimize take of trumpeter swans. Proposed hunt area boundaries include the four most northwestern counties (Benewah, Bonner, Boundary, and Kootenai) of Idaho. The proposed number of swan permits would be 50. Heavy metal contaminants found in the Coeur d’Alene River Basin, from historic metal mining, cause fatal lead poisoning of tundra swans every spring (average 35 swans/year; Unpublished data: USFWS).”
The writer fails to mention IDFG’s total of 35 per year, that hunters can kill 50 per year and whether autopsies have been performed to defend his statements. “Disinformation” is false information deliberately and often covertly spread (as by the planting of rumors) in order to influence public opinion or obscure the truth. (Merriam-Webster)
According to the 1997 Ely study, the tundra swan spring migration starts around mid-February and ends around May 1 st. (2 ½ months) They start in the Sacramento Valley/San Joaquin Delta in California and settle in on the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta in northwest Alaska. The first swan arrived around here on March 20 and the last one left on March 24. None stay here all 4 days.
A 2019 ABC news article quoted a Washington State Dept. of Natural Resources employee: “It takes three to four weeks for symptoms of lead poisoning in the birds to show up, according to Zimmerman. By the time the birds are dying, it’s not clear where the lead came from.” https://abcnews.go.com/US/lead-possibly-blame-deaths-60-swans/story?id=62139326
Since the swans are here up to 4 days, how is it scientifically possible for them to ingest and die from Silver Valley lead?
Logic dictates they were poisoned elsewhere and died here. Where were they 3-4 weeks before? The Klamath Basin, from February 28 to March 18 (up to 18 days). Per FWS, that Basin is home to 3,032 FWS-documented mines, including lead.
The take away: a lot less tundra swans are dying here than perennially claimed, it’s not an issue for even more to die from lead shot, they aren’t here long enough to die from our mining waste, they spent almost 3 weeks prior to here in an area with thousands of mines. Where is current science that proves “our lead” is killing the swans?