Managing Wildlife Populations
Distance Sampling Training: Biologists Sage and Technicians Trautmann and Leipold attended a distance sampling training session ahead of the Taylor’s Checkerspot survey season to practice estimating distances. Estimating abundance using distance sampling for the butterflies requires the ability to accurately estimate distances out to 12 meters.
Conserving Natural Landscapes
North Olympic Invasive Species Management: Wildlife Area Manager Laushman and Technician Morgan treated invasive plants at the Bell Creek Unit in Sequim.
Discovery Bay Student Volunteer Day: Wildlife Area Manager Laushman helped with the North Olympic Salmon Coalition’s Real Learning Real Work field trip with middle school students who had designed native planting plans. Students planted native shrubs and trees to continue the restoration of Snow and Salmon creeks at the Discovery Bay Wildlife Area Unit.
Conducting Business Operations and Policy
Firefighter Refresher Training: Wildlife area manager Bechtold and Technician Martinez attended the annual firefighter refresher course at JBLM and passed the arduous work capacity test. Trainings like these are required for wildland and prescribed fire duties.
Oregon Silverspot Butterfly Working Group: Technician Martinez attended the Annual Working Group meeting for the recovery of the Oregon Silverspot Butterfly (OSB). Purpose of the meeting was for researchers, field practitioners, and resource managers to discuss the current condition of OSB recovery and current habitat restoration efforts across the butterfly’s native range. WDFW team members were recognized for conducting the first prescribed burn at Milepost 6 in the fall of 2024.
Dan Kelly and Eden Valley Habitat Management: Biologists Sage and Ament met with Diversity Program Restoration Coordinator Munes, Westside Butterfly Lead Winton, Washington Department of Natural Resources, and Center for Natural Lands Management to discuss future habitat restoration needs and funding opportunities for the Dan Kelly and Eden Valley sites.
Other
Poster Presentations: Technicians Leipold and Trautmann presented posters at the joint Wildlife Society, Society for Northwest Vertebrate Biology, and Northwest Partners in Amphibian and Reptile Conservation Conference. Technician Leipold presented "Under the Bridge: Factors Influencing Bat Roosting Under Western Washington Bridges." She found that bats were more likely to use bridges in the following order from most likely to least likely: expansion joints, concrete bulb-T beams, concrete I-beams, rectangular beams, timber beams, steel girders, flat bottoms, and arches. She did not find significant differences in temperature between bridges or bat use but recommends exploring microhabitat differences in the future. She recommends bridges be designed with bat use in mind noting that they prefer concrete beams that form interior structures.
Technician Trautmann presented "Evaluating the Effects of Microhabitat and Landscape-scale Factors on Western Snowy Plover Nest Success in Washington." She found that nest success was higher with closer nearest active neighboring nests (e.g., nest density increased success). Microhabitat features, such as whether the nests were concealed or exposed by beach debris or vegetation, did not have a significant impact on success; but the small number of nests, particularly those that hatched, limited power to detect differences. These covariates will be included in the daily nest survival model that Research Scientist Amburgey uses to monitor snowy plovers.