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Southwest Washington
Wildlife Reports
November
24, 2008
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| Heavy
rains and snow in the higher elavations caused soil erosion and bank losses
on the Toutle River. |
Region
5 Wildlife Areas
Mt. St. Helens Wildlife Area Flood Damage: Heavy rains on top of snow
in the higher elevations earlier in November caused the Toutle River to rise
dramatically. As has occurred in past years during high flows, some erosion
of elk forage habitat occurred. The most significant damage during the high
water occurred to two of the woodpile structures that were placed to prevent
some of the erosion losses. Although one of the structures was severely impacted
and another appears to have a hole in it, bank losses in the vicinity of the
structures were not as significant as in some other areas. The image at left
illustrates the significant damage to the row of wood pilings. This event will
be useful in designing future similar projects, including one that we are working
on getting under way in the near future.
Shillapoo Wildlife Area Wetland Water Management: The water system that supplies water to wetland basins on the Vancouver Lake Unit of the Shillapoo Wildlife Area and adjacent County Park land has been operating for about a week and basins are beginning to fill slowly. We have also been able to pump water on the South Unit as well but, with a recent drop in flows in the Columbia River, we have not been able to pump enough to get significant water into the wetlands yet. With improved water management capabilities on the South Unit we have continued to see improvement in the abundance of native seed producing wetland plants, which should mean better waterfowl hunting as the basins fill.
Firearms Found: Wildlife Area Manager Calkins recently found two firearms by one of the access sites on the Shillapoo Wildlife Area. It is presumed that hunters left these behind accidentally as they were leaving the area. Both guns were turned over to the regional enforcement program and have yet to be claimed.
Klickitat Wildlife Area - Swale Creek Unit: Manager VanLeuven and Program Manager Jonker walked the Swale Creek Unit. While there, progress of the boundary surveying effort was checked and fencing needs were evaluated. Three groups of deer (2, 7, and 11) as well as 7 grouse were observed.
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| Columbian white-tailed deer herd composition surveys began this week. |
Wildlife
Diversity Division
Colombian White Tailed Deer: Biologists Miller and Prince began the herd
composition surveys on CWTD this week. We are surveying both Puget Island and
Willow Grove this year, aided by a local volunteer. The surveys contribute to
the fawn: adult ratio information for the state and federally listed deer in
SW Washington. Data will also be recorded to help locate areas for possible
transplant deer sources.
Program Manager Jonker and Biologists Miller and Prince attended a CWTD meeting in Vancouver with ODFW and USFWS. Survey plans, translocation, and a Recovery Plan review were discussed. Region 5 will play a major role in surveys this year with ground and FLIR camera work on the islands in the Columbia River near Longview as well as ground surveys on Puget Island. FLIR technology will be used to estimate numbers of deer in heavily vegetated areas and tests of FLIR effectiveness are planned.
Game Division 2009-11 Three-Year Hunting Season Setting Process: Regional wildlife biologists and Program Manager Jonker met to discuss the next steps needed to continue the process of developing Regional Big Game hunting regulation recommendations for the next three years. Aspects of big game hunting regulations under consideration for Regional changes include: changes to several Game Management Unit boundaries, modifications to antler-point restrictions for deer, methods designed to address agricultural and urban elk, adjustments to muzzleloader deer hunting opportunity, etc. Those interested in reviewing the results of WDFW's issue scoping survey (from September 2008) should check the WDFW website soon as the results of this effort will be posted there shortly.
Pheasant Hunter Car Counts at Shillapoo and Woodland Bottoms: Wildlife Area Manager Calkins conducted the periodic car count of pheasant hunters on the Shillapoo Wildlife Area on November 22nd. A total of 112 cars were tallied during the count, including 45 on the Vancouver Lake Unit and 67 on the South Unit. Wildlife Area Assistant Manager Hauswald counted 24 cars at the Woodland Bottoms release site. The counts are done periodically at all release sites in Western Washington during the season as a mechanism to measure use of the sites. The information is used to allocate birds between sites in future seasons.
Meeting with Puyallup Tribe and WDFW: Olympia and Region 5 Wildlife Program staff met with representatives from the Puyallup tribe and had a productive meeting discussing several topics including the recently completed WDFW Game Management Plan, the 2009-2011 hunting package proposals, current and future research efforts, status and trend reports, and hunting co-management agreements.
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