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An Interview with Mike Davison, Wildlife Biologist A Skagit Valley native, Mike Davison is a wildlife biologist based in the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife's (WDFW) district office in La Conner. He has been with WDFW for over 25 years, starting as a seasonal employee, then working as damage control officer in the Longview-Kelso area before moving to a biologist position. Since 1980 he has worked in the Skagit Valley. Mike graduated from Washington State University in 1972 with a degree in wildlife biology.

Q: What is the most unique aspect of your work? A: If there was one thing I would say stands out about this station it's the shear wildlife diversity. It's what makes the job special to me. Obviously the Skagit Valley is a major waterfowl area, with trumpeter swans, tundra swans, snow geese, brant, dabbling ducks, diving ducks. We also have big game animals, eagles, peregrine falcons, shore birds, owls, hawks, and whales and other marine mammals. Q: A lot of people come to the Skagit Valley to view wildlife; what do they need to know to have a good experience? A: The sheer volume of people who come from the metropolitan area is the signature of this region. We enjoy people coming up and interacting with the wildlife here, but we also want them to be aware that their activities as wildlife viewers impact not only the wildlife but local community members and the general public as well. When they come they need to be respectful of the people who live here -– don't park in driveways; don't litter; don't trespass. Treat the local landowners and community the way you would like to be treated yourself. Keep in mind that the hundreds of thousands of people who come to this valley to watch wildlife can harm the wildlife. Birds are trying to survive in the winter by feeding and foraging without burning energy needlessly. If they are repeatedly chased out of the field that has a biological impact. You can as effectively kill something by harassing it as you can by pulling a trigger. Q: Can you describe the scenario here during wintering bird season? A: It's not uncommon to have 40,000 to 50,000 snow geese along a major road. And that can result in 30, 40, 50 vehicles at a time trying to pull off where there aren't shoulders, people trying to get access to those birds and, in the process, creating dangerous situations by blocking the road. There is a real risk of personal injury. The majority of those viewers will stay in their vehicles, be respectful of the wildlife, not scare them or haze them from the field. But if even 5 percent of them leave their vehicles and deliberately flush the birds that can be a lot of time the birds are burning energy they need to survive the winter. And it can actually result in the death of those birds. Even if it doesn't directly harm them, it can affect those birds by lowering their general physical condition so they may not arrive on their nesting grounds back in the Northern Territories in good enough condition to breed successfully. So, directly or indirectly, those people can cause the death of the birds they are here to admire. Local landowners also have problems when their gates are left open by visitors; they've got garbage or litter on their property; their cattle or livestock are scared out of the fields by people trespassing; their driveways are blocked, and their farm equipment is obstructed. The landowners are tolerant of the wildlife, but if the birds draw a lot of attention that creates disturbance for landowners, the way some deal with it is to chase the wildlife off their property. Ultimately, if viewers create a problem for property owners, the wildlife population suffers. Q: What is the Department of Fish and Wildlife doing to improve the situation? A: We are on a mission not to discourage people from coming up but to provide opportunities that allow them to enjoy wildlife; to have quality experiences. The strategy for accomplishing that is to establish designated viewing sites that can accommodate large numbers of people without damaging habitat or the wildlife. There are enough of these potential sites throughout the area that we could take what is now 500,000 to 600,000 visitors a season and disperse them so they aren't creating problems with landowners or the wildlife resources. With the population growth in Snohomish and King counties, the number of visitors in the next 10 years is likely to grow to something in excess of 1 million people annually. As large as the crowds are today, the situation will be much worse in the future if we don't engage and aren't successful with a long-term strategy. Q: How many designated viewing sites need to be created? A: We need 20 to 30 sites spread over a three-county area, where we have wildlife resources. You can't just establish a site anywhere, and sometimes the logistics of a site are such that you couldn't create a parking situation or viewing opportunity that doesn't disturb the wildlife or habitat. On the other hand, we think we can find that many opportunities. The limit isn't the number of sites and the diversity of wildlife, it's the financial resources needed to set them up. Q: Have you been able to establish these viewing areas without disrupting the agricultural activity in this area? A: Preserving agricultural land is very important locally and something we've been very aware of and sensitive to in creating wildlife viewing areas. Not all these areas are on agricultural lands, but some of them are. So it's important that we set them up in a manner that the farming operations are not eliminated and the ag land is preserved over time. We've done that by leasing these lands back to the farming community to grow seasonal crops. This generates revenue that actually supports the operation and maintenance of the winter viewing sites. This way, we can operate programs for wildlife and we can maintain the agricultural base and we generate revenue that pays for the maintenance and operation of those sites, as well as adjacent lands and other programs in some cases. This approach has been very effective. Q: And the department also pays taxes on these lands as well? A: Yes, that's another important issue. Local governments, particularly the counties, have concerns when the state or other agencies come in and buy local lands and take lands out of the tax base. The Department pays taxes on lands used for wildlife purposes. We do that either in straight fee- title taxes based on total acreage or by offering the county the option of taking a percentage of the citations that are issued through Department enforcement activities. In either case the counties are compensated. Q: Who does the Department work with to get viewing sites established? A: There is a stewardship group that works with us on the implementation, management plans and the maintenance. That's how the agency joins with the community in the operation and function of these sites; it's a mechanism for providing community involvement. The group is pretty diverse and includes the Audubon Society, Ducks Unlimited, Washington Waterfowl Association, the Trumpeter Swan Society, state Department of Natural Resources employees, the Skagit Land Trust and wildlife rehabilitators, as well as our Department. Q: How did the stewardship group help in the creation of new viewing sites such as the Johnson/Debay Swan Reserve? A: Ducks Unlimited was involved in the acquisition portion of the projects; the other groups mainly participated in planning for the development of the site. They reviewed the plans for the parking areas, had input on signage and how it will be used. We'll be putting together a formal management plan for the site and those individuals all will have the opportunity to participate in creating the plan and then implementing it. A lot of the cleanup is done through their volunteer sources, they draw on their own membership and local communities to get volunteers for garbage cleanup, maintenance, clearing and all of that. It's been a good working relationship between a state agency and the local community. Q: If local landowners are concerned about the number of visitors up here, what benefit can they derive from wildlife viewing sites– what's in it for them? A: If we can establish these sites so that large number of people can come up here without creating associated problems then residents can focus on the benefits of having wildlife in the community. There's economic potential associated with wildlife– wildlife viewing is a multi-million dollar industry in Washington with the potential to grow in the future. When wildlife viewers come here from outside the county, they spend money here– they buy gas, they go to the grocery store, they eat in the restaurants. The money spent by people who come here specifically to interact with wildlife is money that otherwise would not be here. Local communities and governments are beginning to recognize that wildlife viewing isn't just a recreational issue, it's also a monetary issue. As more residents recognize the economic value of their wildlife resources and habitat I think they will become more active in protecting them. The economic potential can be developed, without aggravating problems, if there are sites for visitors to go.