At an open house hosted by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to gather input on the possible reintroduction of sea otters to parts of their historical range from the Bay Area to Oregon, a phrase repeated often was the process was still "on the ground floor."The informal Sunday event on the Cal Poly Humboldt campus — one of 16 to take place in West Coast coastal communities from Astoria to Emeryville — saw USFW staff, including sea otter experts, manning a series of tables with presentations on everything from the endangered species' biology and role as a keystone species to previous reintroduction efforts and potential socio-economic effects on local communities, as well as next steps.While the staff was there to answer questions, one of the key points of the sessions, they said, was to listen and take in feedback as the service begins the information-gathering portion of an extensive process that will be years in the works before any decision on whether to proceed is made."We are interested in hearing a range of perspectives," said Lilian Carswell, USFW's southern sea otter recovery and marine conservation coordinator, adding that includes people's thoughts on reintroduction and their concerns, especially on the socio-economic front. "We are way at the beginning and we want to hear from people and really want to understand their perspectives."Read More
