Managing Wildlife Populations
Dead Columbia River Bull Elk: District 4 Wildlife Conflict Specialist Hand, Scientific Technician Werlau, and Detachment 33 enforcement responded to a very large bull elk that died and washed up on a gravel bar in the Columbia River near Hanford. They were unable to confirm why the elk died because the only injury observed was a broken front tine on one of his antlers. The antlers were removed.
Modern Firearm General Deer Opener: District 4 Wildlife Conflict Specialist Hand patrolled game management unit (GMU) 372 for the opener of the modern general deer season. Hunting pressure appeared to be up from past years. Hand made several contacts with hunters. No deer were checked, although most hunters reported seeing deer, mostly antlerless or non-legal bucks.
Bighorn Sheep Survey: Natural Resource Technician Blore and Natural Resource Scientist Nass aided in bighorn sheep surveys on the Cleman Mountain and Yakima Canyon herds.
Yakima Canyon Sheep Survey: District 4 Wildlife Biologist Fidorra joined other Region 3 staff members on a land-based survey of the Yakima Canyon bighorn population. Several groups surveyed side-canyons for sheep to estimate age and sex classes. This work was conducted as part of monitoring success of management actions aimed at reducing long term herd impacts from MOVI (Mycoplasma ovipneumoniae), a respiratory bacterium often fatal to bighorn sheep. Several groups were counted on a perfect weather day in the canyon.
Oak Creek Wildlife Area Bighorn Sheep Survey: Oak Creek Wildlife Area Assistant Manager Charlet and Natural Resource Technician Boggs assisted with a bighorn sheep survey on the Yakima Canyon herds.
Providing Recreation Opportunities
L.T. Murray Wildlife Area Trails: LT Murray Wildlife Area Manager Morrison and National Motorcycle Association President Toenyan reviewed a proposed single-track trail reroute along the south fork of Manashtash Creek. The original trail is very old, degraded, and is currently contributing to bank erosion and sediment loading into the creek.
Colockum Headquarters Parking Lot Improvements: Colockum Wildlife Area staff members finished up improvements to the headquarters parking lot with the installation of heavy duty, 1700 lb. picnic tables. These tables were chosen for their resistance to vandalism and theft.
Windmill Ranch Field Hunting: Corn harvest in the Windmill Ranch Unit of the Sunnyside/Snake River Wildlife Area has opened up fields for waterfowl hunting. Small sections of standing corn were strategically left to provide cover for field hunters.
Providing Conflict Prevention and Education
Rattlesnake Hills Elk: District 4 Wildlife Conflict Specialist Hand monitored elk activity and assisted damage permit holders with hunt coordination. Additional damage permits were issued and delivered to one landowner. Trail cameras were maintained along heavily used trails near the Hanford boundary.
Plymouth/Paterson Area Deer Damage: District 4 Wildlife Conflict Specialist Hand monitored deer activity at a wine grape vineyard that was receiving substantial browsing from deer. In addition, damage permits were developed and issued to assist a neighboring large farm with row crops, orchard, and vineyards to address deer damage impacts. Five youth hunters from the Horse Heaven Hills special permit hunt were contacted and offered hunting opportunities at the farm during the general deer season.
West Richland Deer: District 4 Wildlife Conflict Specialist Hand continued to coordinate with an owner of several small corn fields that have been damaged by deer near the Yakima River. Three additional Master Hunters have been deployed from the Region 3 list and two were successful in removing a deer.
Kahlotus Deer Damage: District 4 Wildlife Conflict Specialist Hand prepared Damage Prevention Permits for several landowners in the Kahlotus area. These permits, as well as youth and Master Hunter deployments will be used to haze deer out of winter wheat crops in GMU 381 along the Snake River. The permits will be dispersed to landowners after general deer season concludes.
Possible Finley Cougar Complaint: District 4 Wildlife Conflict Specialist Hand and Detachment 33 enforcement responded to a call concerning a possible cougar that scared some horses through a fence in the Finley area. The area was canvassed, and no signs of cougar presence or activity was determined. Some evidence of coyote or domestic dog digging was observed, and the owner will be installing trail cameras for continued monitoring.
Conserving Natural Landscapes
Shrubsteppe Conservation through Land Protection: District 4 Wildlife Biologist Fidorra joined a team from the regional office to speak to the seller’s agents and tour a large property that holds strategic value for shrubsteppe conservation. They have a long way to go to determine if acquisition could be a potential outcome. Partners and potential buyers would be needed to help secure funding. The property is valuable for ferruginous hawk, ground squirrels, burrowing owls, and other shrubsteppe species and holds great recreation potential for the public.
L.T. Murray Weed Control: Natural Resource Technician Blore continued spraying weeds on the L.T. Murray Wildlife Area including Himalayan blackberry.
Prescribed Burn at Oak Creek: LT Murray Wildlife Area Manager Morrison, Natural Resource Technician Blore, and Natural Resource Scientist Nass, and Prescribed Fire Program Manager Eberlein shuttled vehicles and equipment to a prescribe burn location on the Oak Creek Wildlife Area.
L.T. Murray Vantage Highway Fire Restoration: The L.T. Murray crew took a delivery of around 3,000 sagebrush and rabbitbrush plugs that will be planted this fall on the Whiskey Dick Unit portion of the 2022 Vantage Highway fire area.
Colockum Cattleguard Installation: Colockum staff members facilitated the installation of two new cattleguards on Ingersoll Road. The existing cattleguards were damaged during a Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife timber thinning project. New cattleguards needed to be installed to restrict livestock from the adjacent Department of Natural Resources grazing allotment.
Bailie Youth Ranch Mowing: Sunnyside/Snake River Wildlife Area Manager Kaelber used the marsh master to mow ponds in the Bailie Youth Ranch Unit. Mowing greatly improved wetland conditions by providing more open water for waterfowl, as well as improved waterfowl hunting conditions near the fence post blind.
Mesa Lake Mowing: Sunnyside/Snake River Wildlife Area Manager Kaelber and Assistant Manager Jahns mowed portions of the 7-acre pond in the Mesa Lake Unit. The area had dense stands of cattails and phragmites prior to mowing.
Wenas Wildlife Area—Hoover Wire Removal: Wenas Wildlife Area staff members rolled and removed almost 4,000 pounds of barbed wire from the Hoover portion of the wildlife area. The wire was both hand-rolled and rolled using the wire roller built by Wenas Wildlife Area staff members. The wire was taken to Pacific Steel to be recycled.
Wenas Wildlife Area—Black Canyon Planting: Wenas Wildlife Area Habitat Specialist Miller and Natural Resource Technician Stoltenow planted plugs of native species around the water trough in Black Canyon. This area was burned in the Evan’s Canyon fire. The species planted included quaking aspen, Woods rose, ocean spray, and Douglas hawthorn.
Wenas Wildlife Area—Water Troughs: Wenas Wildlife Area Natural Resource Technician Stoltenow, Habitat Specialist Miller, and Natural Resource Specialist Frame replaced old water troughs in Ladybug and Little Pine canyons with new troughs and plumbing at existing spring sites. Both canyons showed a lot of signs of wildlife use and the troughs will likely be well used by wildlife. In addition, Wenas Wildlife Area staff members scouted more canyons in the wildlife area for potential future trough replacement projects.
Providing Education and Outreach
Safari Club International Pronghorn Presentation: District 4 Wildlife Biologist Fidorra was invited to give an update on pronghorn to Safari Club International at an event in Yakima. The event was a joint meeting of the Yakima and Tri-Cities chapters. Fidorra gave an update on pronghorn numbers, pronghorn distribution, and WDFW-Yakama Surveys. The event was a success and recruited new volunteers for Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife surveys and made new connections with the local non-profit organization who assisted the Yakama Tribe with the first successful reintroductions of pronghorn in Washington.
Oak Creek Wildlife Area School District Outreach: Oak Creek Wildlife Area staff members coordinated with a local high school to have old elk feeding signage redesigned and constructed by local students. Staff members also worked to coordinate volunteer opportunities for local high school seniors.
Other
Oak Creek Wildlife Area Elk Fence: Oak Creek Wildlife Area Natural Resource Technician Boggs begins maintenance on the elk fence at the headquarters manager residence. Boggs also rechecked various sections of the Oak Creek Unit elk fence. He ensured elk were unable to pass through any holes or downed fencing.