Olympia Field Station Records--

The Olympia, WA, Field Station was established in the late 1950s to study forest wildlife ecology. Demand for forest products increased in the post-war years, creating a need for management techniques to reduce wildlife damage to timber crops. Wildlife such as rodents, deer, beaver, elk, and bear inflict damage on forest resources through seed destruction, foliage clipping, browsing, and root and bark injuries. Consequences of wildlife damage include low seedling survival, the need for additional reforestation efforts, and reduced growth rates.

Nelson B. Kverno was appointed the station’s first leader. Early studies were geared towards damage assessments as well as discovering a rodenticide or repellent that could be applied directly to seeds. In 1962, Wendell E. Dodge became Station Leader. The main focus of the station in the early 1960s remained on chemical screening, but now included enclosure studies with black-tailed deer and snowshoe hares to evaluate the effectiveness of several repellent compounds, including their effects on non-target species.

Wildlife biotelemetry studies were initiated at the Olympia Field Station in 1964. The data collected was used to determine the success of specific control methods. By the late 1960s, aerial radio-tracking had become a major part of wildlife research at the station. Unfortunately, in August 1969, field station biologist Paul Martin (who was also considered a pioneer in telemetry at Olympia) was killed in a plane accident while radio-tracking elk.

In 1970, James Evans became Project Leader at Olympia. The same year a satellite station was established in Bend, Oregon, to study pocket gophers. Vic Barnes served as the first station leader at the Bend Field Station. The field stations at Olympia and Bend formed the Forest-Animal Research Project. The Bend substation was housed in the U.S. Forest Service’s Silviculture Laboratory and mainly focused on reforestation problems in eastern Oregon, western California, southern Idaho, and other parts of the West.

The enactment of three federal laws from 1970 to 1976 changed the science and practice of forest wildlife management in the Pacific Northwest in many significant ways. The National Environmental Policy Act of 1970 (NEPA) required all federal agencies to evaluate the environmental consequences of their programs and to include plans for mitigating adverse environmental effects. The Endangered Species Act of 1973 (ESA) required all federal agencies to protect habitat critical to the survival and recovery of species listed as threatened or endangered. And the National Forest Management Act of 1976 (NFMA) required the Forest Service to maintain viable populations of all existing native and desirable non-native vertebrate species on National Forest lands, to protect the resources and habitats upon which vertebrate populations and endangered species depend, and to preserve and enhance biological diversity in each management area so that it is equal to that of a natural, unmanaged forest.

These changes in the law steered the direction of new research projects at the station, with more efforts now geared towards evaluating non-lethal chemical repellents, mechanical barriers, and cultural practices. Researchers developed new nontoxic treatments for seed. To reduce gopher problems, researchers experimented with habitat modification as well as habitat improvement with native forbs, which proved effective in reducing deer damage to Douglas-fir plantations. Researchers also tested numerous odors to repel deer. Synthetic egg products testing led to the registration of Big Game Repellent (BGR) - Deer Away animal repellent. Studies on the use of Vexar and increased stocking of pine to minimize gopher damage were also started.

Between 1973 and 1984, the Center successfully fought off numerous efforts to cut funding for the field stations in WA and OR. Both stations were nevertheless closed in 1985, but by 1986, funding was again made available and the field station in Olympia was reopened. New studies included evaluating mountain beaver burrow and nest modifications to reduce conifer damage, aversion conditioning of mountain beavers to repellents, and testing of plastic bags to prevent deer browsing on Douglas-fir seedlings.

By the late 1980s, scientists at Olympia were studying mountain beaver grooming and feeding behavior. They utilized radio-telemetry to determine ways of inducing mountain beavers to handle and move various control measures into underground nest systems and chambers. This data was used for research on fumigants, long-lasting baits, contact poisons, surfactants for control and nest contamination, and materials for nest and burrow destruction. Studies on the effects of BGR aversive conditioning on mountain beavers and black-tailed deer, as well as the effectiveness of plastic bud caps on Douglas-fir seedlings were also conducted.

Dan Campbell became the Olympia Field Station Leader in 1990. During the 1990s increased emphasis was placed on studies aimed at preventing damage by evaluating characteristics of animals and habitats to avoid damage problems. Researchers also continued evaluating selective chemicals, such as Denatonium benzoate, which was evaluated as a systematic repellent to reduce damage to conifers by black-tailed deer and mountain beaver as well as to reduce seedling damage by pocket gophers.

Also in the 1990s, environmental activists/extremists (the Animal Liberation Front (ALF) and its sister organization, the Earth Liberation Front (ELF)) carried out an arson campaign against those they viewed as the earth's enemies: lumber and construction industries, mink and fox farmers, bioengineering companies and laboratories that do tests on animals. Consequently, in December 1997, a pipe bomb was discovered at the field station before it was ignited. Then in June 1998, the Olympia, WA, field station's office and laboratory spaces were heavily damaged by arson. A second fire was set at the APHIS Animal Damage Control Field Office in Washington on the same day. Fortunately, no researchers or animals were inside the facilities at the time of the fires. ALF claimed responsibility for setting the fires. The same organization firebombed the Center’s Logan, Utah, Field Station in 1992.

In 1994, Dale Nolte became Field Station Leader. Emphasis on new, alternative, nonlethal approaches to wildlife damage management led researchers at the station to develop a textured repellent using sand in an acrylic paint base for beaver and other gnawing animals. Supplemental feeding as a tactic to deter bears from seasonal damage to timber stands was also investigated.

By the early 2000s, researchers at the station were working to identify methods such as alternative fence designs to exclude ungulates from target sites. In addition, they routinely evaluated efficacy of marketed repellents and conducted parallel behavioral and chemical assays to identify potential natural aversive agents for new repellents. In 2006, Jimmy Taylor became the Olympia Field Station Leader. During this time, researchers utilized recent advances in radio-telemetry technology to study both wild mountain beavers— captured, collared, and released—and captive animals in large open pens, which were designed to simulate wild conditions. This research created a new understanding of mountain beaver mobility and food preferences that provided new insights into methods of controlling their damage to young trees, thus enhancing reforestation efforts.

In 2009, the decision to close the Olympia Field Station was made once again. The research studies conducted at the station were so valuable, however, that the NWRC transferred its studies to its field station in Corvallis, Oregon.