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Scotch Creek Wildlife Area
All
of the properties for the Scotch Creek Wildlife Area
units were purchased by the Washington Department of
Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) with funds provided by the
Washington Wildlife and Recreation Program (WWRP). These
funds are provided by the Washington State legislature,
in response to the rapidly expanding human population
in Washington State, to protect critical wildlife habitats
and recreation areas. In the first year of this program,
Okanogan County received funding for approximately 12,000
acres of critical shrub-steppe habitat, for the protection
of Sharp-tailed Grouse (STG) and other obligate species.
This was the beginning of the Scotch Creek Wildlife
Area (SCWA), which has expanded with this funding program
to the present size of 16,560 acres in three geographic
locations of North Central Okanogan County.
At the time of acquisition in 1991, the Scotch Creek
Wildlife Area units were complexed with the Sinlahekin
wildlife area to the north and the operation and maintenance
funding provided for the Sinlahekin was shared between
all areas. Operations and maintenance funding at that
time was from Federal Aid in Wildlife Restoration Funds
(PR), with state general funds providing a 25% match
for Federal Aid dollars. Funding was tight in those
days, however the WWRP provided stewardship money for
the first three years after acquisition, which covered
weed control and boundary fence construction and survey.
Also the DFW Upland Restoration program was very active
at that time and provided much needed upland and riparian
restoration to the area.
A huge change occurred in 1997 when the Bonneville
Power Administration (BPA) accepted full management
responsibilities of the Scotch Creek properties. This
contract with BPA would partially meet BPA’s mitigation
obligation to compensate for wildlife losses resulting
from the construction of Grand Coulee and Chief Joseph
hydroelectric dams. By funding the habitat enhancements
and operations and maintenance (O&M) for the life of
the project, BPA will receive credit towards their mitigation
debt. The budget for the 2006 fiscal year is $289,225,
which supports all operations and maintenance including
salaries on the area. This increase in funding allowed
the DFW to separate the Sinlahekin and Scotch Creek
Wildlife Areas. New staff was hired and all equipment
for field and office was purchased. A new wildlife area
was created.
Staff at the Scotch Creek Wildlife Area includes:
- Wildlife Area Manager, Fish & Wildlife Biologist
3
- Wildlife Area Assistant Manager, Maintenance Mechanic
- 9-month career seasonal, Maintenance Mechanic
- 6-month seasonal Washington Conservation Corp (crew
of 4)
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Funding
