Managing Wildlife Populations

Pikas: Biologists Lowe and Brinkman had a meeting with an employee of Washington State Parks to discuss American pika on Mount Spokane. We discussed previous survey efforts and identified locations where pika have been observed on the park in the past 20 years. The park is evaluating the potential for implementation of a volunteer survey effort to search areas of suitable habitat for pika. 

Chronic Wasting Disease Sample: Natural Resource Technician Harris collected a Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) sample from a cow elk that was harvested in Game Management Unit (GMU) 121 with a depredation kill permit.  

Chronic Wasting Disease Operations: Natural Resource Technician Heitstuman checked local pits for CWD samples. A sample was collected from the Clarkston pit. The laptop for sample data malfunctioned and another is being ordered. 

Grizzly Bear Survey: Wildlife Biologists Prince and Turnock picked up one hair corral in Pend Oreille County. Only black bears were detected. In addition, they deployed a new corral in the same general area.  

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Photo by WDFW

Bat Survey: Wildlife Biologists Prince and Turnock conducted an exit count bat survey in Ferry County this week. The homeowner reported the colony through Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife’s (WDFW) online reporting tool and biologists followed up to determine species using the space and number of bats present. Only 26 bats were observed. However, the week prior the landowner observed 148 using the same technique.

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Photo by WDFW

Elk Calf Survival Study: Biologist Vekasy worked with field crews coordinating mortality investigations and updating tracking spreadsheets. With a number of failed transmitters and shed collars again being an issue, particularly in GMU 175. Active collars are now down to 58 from a total of 115 deployed. As in the past, cougar predation has been the main cause of mortality, running slightly lower than previous years at 66% of all mortality causes.  

Bumble Bee Surveys: Biologists Wik and Vekasy completed bumble bee surveys in a high priority cell in north Walla Walla. Although floral resources were still available at the selected survey locations, bumble bees were scarce, with only one seen at the first sight and seven captures or seen at the second sight. Vekasy also completed a survey at another partially sampled cell and found an assortment of species using a community garden in the Walla Walla area. 

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Photo by WDFW

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Photo by WDFW

Small Bat in a Tight Spot: On Thursday, Aug. 10, Sherman Creek Wildlife Area Manager Anderson heard a thunk on an office window, as something small and dark hit the metal grid over the window. Inspection found a bat (appeared to be a little brown bat) had crawled through the grid and wedged itself between the grid and the window. Sherman Creek Wildlife Area Natural Resources Technician Zueger assisted Anderson to loosen the bolts holding the corner of the grid to the window, and propped it open a bit. The bat dropped down below the sill to hang, still behind the grill. They left the grid corner propped over the weekend for the bat to easily escape. 

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Photo by WDFW

Chronic Wasting Disease Samples: Natural Resource Technician Harris collected a CWD sample from a roadkill deer in GMU 121.  

Acting Private Lands Biologist Nizer took samples from two roadkill mule deer in Whitman County.   

Natural Resource Technician Heitstuman checked local pits for CWD samples. Two samples were collected. Better notification was discussed on sampling opportunities.    

Providing Recreation Opportunities

Trail Clearing: Sherman Creek Wildlife Area Assistant Manager Palmer and Natural Resource Technician Zueger used a mini-excavator, power tools, and hand tools to clear out portions of the Columbia River trail that runs south from Sherman Creek Wildlife Area headquarters past Sherman Creek Hatchery and down to Haag Cove.   

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Photo by WDFW

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Photo by WDFW

Blue Green Algae Blooms: Rainbow Lake is currently having a blue green algae bloom. Wildlife Area Manager Dingman is working with the Columbia County Health Department to get the water tested for toxins. Warning signs were posted at all access points to the lake. Watson Lake and Spring Lake are experiencing algal blooms and are being monitored for blue green algae.   

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Photo by WDFW

ADA Hunting Access: Natural Resource Technician Harris spoke with a disabled hunter looking for ADA hunting access for moose hunting in GMU 117. Harris provided the hunter with information about the Mitchell Mountain disability hunter access and contacts for Colville National Forest and Inland Northwest Wildlife Council Disability Access Committee. Upon request, Harris forwarded the hunter’s contact information to district biologists for more information regarding moose populations in GMU 117.  

Turnbull Hunt by Reservation: Acting Private Lands Biologist Nizer coordinated with the Turnbull Wildlife Refuge by getting the agreement signed for this upcoming season.   

Terminally Ill Hunter: Wildlife Conflict Specialist Kolb conducted coordination with a terminally ill hunter issued a permit from WDFW for the GMU 149 Prescott. Kolb spoke with landowner on behalf of the hunter who will be traveling from out of state to conduct the hunt.    

Youth Mentor Hunt: Acting Private Lands Biologist Nizer coordinated with Jason Cushman with Pheasants Forever to coordinate the youth mentored hunt that will be taking place this fall for the youth opening weekend hunt. Properties in the reservation program are being coordinated to be reserved for this hunt. 

Providing Conflict Prevention and Education

Depredation Investigation: WDFW staff members responded to a report of a dead calf being found on a United States Forest Service allotment. The calf was located partially submerged in a pond. WDFW staff members documented the area and removed the calf carcass from the pond to conduct a necropsy. They documented injuries constituent with a probable wolf depredation. Wolf tracks were documented roughly half a mile from the carcass and collar data showed that the collared animal from the 139 group had been in the area for several days. The investigation determination was probable wolf depredation

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Photo by WDFW

Potential Contract Range Rider Calls: Wildlife Conflict Specialist Wade reached out to two potential contract range riders this week. Both said they would call back to discuss the program and their potential interest when time allowed. 

Conserving Natural Landscapes

Bureau of Land Management/Ducks Unlimited Project Tour: On Wednesday, Wildlife Area Manager Finch met with staff members from the Spokane District Bureau of Land Management (BLM), Ducks Unlimited (DU) Engineer Heck and DU Biologist Blewett at BLM’s Oliger property along Telford Road to discuss opening up a wetland area with a concrete flood control structure that was built around 2000 but had silted in to just a small stream running down the property. The discussion was to determine where to stack the spoils that had been already culturally cleared by the BLM archologist. The other discussion was to use the Swanson Lakes Wildlife Area staff members, already funded through an existing BLM agreement, to accomplish the work.

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Photo by WDFW

Conservation Reserve Program: Acting Private Lands Biologist Nizer assisted Rock Lake Conservation District in mowing a site for weeds next to a creek area. This site was recently planted with native shrubs this last fall by WDFW staff members and seeded with perennial grasses. 

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Photo by WDFW

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Photo by WDFW

Turkey Proposals: Private Lands Biologist Hadley received information for project proposals from WDFW and the National Wild Turkey Federation to pass on to partners that may be interested. Hadley discussed a potential project partnership with the Corps of Engineers and will follow up next week with more details.   

4-O Ranch Wildlife Area Bucannon Field Restoration: Biologist Woodall spent the week traveling to the 4-O Ranch and mowing weeds out of the Bucannon field. In spring 2023, this field was planted with orchard grass. This field has been a hotbed of weed infestations. We chose orchard grass to compete against weeds and provide good forage for elk. 

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Photo by WDFW

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Photo by WDFW

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Photo by WDFW

Habitat Improvement Planning: Natural Resource Technician Harris met with a Hunting only by Written Permission cooperator to discuss potential habitat improvement projects for waterfowl, deer, and upland game species.   

Sourcing Seed and Plants: At the request of the Private Lands Biologist Baarstad, Natural Resource Technician Heitstuman was able to source and secure a minimum of 200 pounds of fall canola seed for planting. The seed will be delivered to the St. John office on Aug. 15 where it will be picked up and taken to the Swanson Lakes Wildlife Area for planting. 

Providing Education and Outreach

Hunter Education: Wildlife Conflict Specialist Kolb set up venue locations for a September Hunter Education traditional class and a separate online class field day.  

Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation 2023 Rendezvous: Wildlife Area Manager Dice put together a Power Point presentation on Lick Creek fire recovery projects and past Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation (RMEF) volunteer activities on the Asotin Creek Wildlife Area and presented it to RMEF members at their 2023 Rendezvous at White Pass on Saturday. The presentation went well and was appreciated by the members.   

National Hunting and Fishing Day Preparation: Wildlife Conflict Specialist McCarty assisted with organizing presenters for the National Hunting and Fishing Day that will be held in District 1 per request of Volunteer Coordinator Dazey.

Conducting Business Operations and Policy

Pasture Ride Along: Wildlife Conflict Specialist Kolb conducted a ride along with a producer on private pasture in Touchet pack territory. Kolb assisted the producer with trail camera set up as well as documenting wolf signs in different areas of the pasture.     

District 3 Draft Lethal Removal Recommendation Meeting: Wildlife Conflict Supervisor McCanna facilitated a meeting to start the draft lethal removal recommendation process for the WA139 wolf group. McCanna made assignments for staff members to start filling in portions of the recommendation. McCanna will call another meeting if we have another confirmed wolf depredation.  

Cattle Producers of Washington Board Meeting: Wildlife Conflict Supervisor McCanna attended a special board meeting to discuss the new Department of Agriculture grant received. We then met with the range riders to review and sign new contracts, discuss WDFW expectations for their handwritten logs, and install the new software upgrade on their InReach devices.   

Other

Weather Event: On Monday, a severe thunderstorm rolled through the area and knocked out the power for over four hours and dropped rainfall over one inch. In some locations, rainfall measured closer to two inches. 

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Photo by WDFW

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Photo by WDFW

Managing Wildlife Populations

Tucannon Bighorn Sheep Herd: Wildlife Area Manager Dingman located the Tucannon bighorn sheep herd this week and found all 12 sheep, including 3 lambs, that make up the majority of the herd. 

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Chronic Wasting Disease: Dingman sampled a roadkill white-tailed doe along Patit Road on one of her morning commutes this week. Dingman contacted the new owners of the Last Resort Campground regarding collecting Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) samples there again this fall. They are on-board to allow us to collect samples from harvested deer in the cooler, as hunters allow, and to set up a check station during general deer season. 

Chronic Wasting Disease Operations: Natural Resource Technician Heitstuman checked local pits for CWD Samples. Local Department of Transportation (DOT) employees have noticed a drop in numbers of road kills. Heitstuman discussed DOT participation and tag supply with District Biologist Wik. 

Chronic Wasting Disease Sample: Natural Resource Technician Harris collected a CWD sample from a roadkill deer in GMU 117. Natural Resource Technician Janowski collected a CWD sample from a deer in GMU 121. The deer had been struck by a vehicle and survived but was euthanized as a result of the injuries. 

Providing Recreation Opportunities

Trail Clean-up: Wildlife Area Assistant Manager Palmer and Natural Resources Technician Zueger spent the morning of July 20 clearing pinecones off the hiking trail along the Columbia River, between Sherman Creek Headquarters and Haag Cove to the south. They used a motorized “flapper-wheel” attachment on a weed whacker pole, that pushes the cones off the route of travel. 

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Photo by WDFW

Access Program: Acting Private Lands Biologist Nizer corresponded with the Turnbull Wildlife Refuge about the upcoming contract for 1,800 acres on the refuge that would provide turkey hunting in the Hunt by Reservation program. The contract is in the hands of the United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) and should be ready for signatures in the coming weeks. 

Cooperative Road Management Agreement: Natural Resource Technician Harris visited several timber parcels enrolled in the Cooperative Road Management Agreement (CRMA) program and checked for proper signage and recreation activity. 

Recreation Access Closure: Natural Resource Technician Janowski coordinated with Communications Specialist Lehman to relay information to other WDFW staff members regarding private and industrial timber access closures. Several timber companies who typically allow public access had decided to close lands due to the fire danger. A timber company in Stevens County is participating in this closure. 

Grande Ronde River Access Sites: Heimgartner and Nielsen graveled one of the driveways at the Faha access site. They hauled two, three dump trailer loads of rock on the road and smoothed it with their John Deere tractor and land plane. 

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Horseshoe Lake Jersey Barriers: Earlier this year, someone hit the concrete jersey barriers at the Horseshoe Lake access area with a vehicle. One barrier was dislodged from its position, another was dragged into the driveway that leads to the parking area, creating a hazard for visitors’ vehicles. This week, Sherman Creek Wildlife Area and water access area staff members coordinated to remedy the situation using a mini-excavator, truck, chains, and hand tools. A line of jersey barriers separated the county road from the access area parking lot, but they were originally set haphazardly with large gaps in between. Rather than just moving and turning the dislodged barriers upright, the four employees reinstalled them correctly. Wildlife Area Assistant Manager Palmer used the mini-excavator to move the barriers out of the way so the team could prepare the ground. As Palmer pushed gravel out of the way, Natural Resource Technicians Brant and Zueger used hand shovels to flatten the site. Once the prep work was done, the dislodged barriers were righted and installed properly. With a deft touch, Palmer got all the barriers set back in place, bumped up against each other and straight. This reduced the length the row that stuck out too close to the entrance of the access area by the length of one barrier. The shorter row should help prevent anyone from running into them in the future as they turn into the parking area. Having them linked together will reduce the chances of damage from barriers being pushed into parked cars or being left in the middle of the driveway if they are hit again. This repair is a great example of different work groups joining to get a big job done.

Providing Conflict Prevention and Education

Bear Trap: Wildlife Conflict Specialist Kolb picked up a new bear trap and capture tarp from the Wenatchee office. 

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Photo by WDFW

Conserving Natural Landscapes

Asotin Creek Wildlife Area Spalding Catchfly Surveys: Woodall and the University of Idaho interns recently completed eight Spalding catchfly surveys for the year. There are two more to go, that they can finish next week. 

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Photo by WDFW

Reardan Audubon Access Work: Access Manager Dziekan and Natural Resource Technician Brant painted the parking areas on the access sites.

Habitat Site Evaluation: Acting Private Lands Biologist Nizer and Natural Resource Technician Rumiser checked a 20-acre site that was seeded in spring as a cover crop to see how it looked. The landowner recently mowed it, but everything looks like it grew at a good rate. Site will be planted again in the fall for a pollinator crop. 

Guzzler Repair: Private Lands Biologist Hadley worked with members from the Richland Rod and Gun Club to rebuild a wildlife watering facility (guzzler) roof and posts. 

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Photo by WDFW

Cultural Review: Private Lands Biologist Hadley worked with WDFW Landscape Conservation Section Manager Gorrell as well as the Walla Walla Conservation District habitat planner regarding obtaining Cultural Reviews of upcoming habitat plantings projects. 

Sourcing Seed and Plants: Natural Resource Technician Heitstuman conducted a field inspection on the Smoothing Iron Wildlife Area to help consider options for field food plots to support deer and elk through the winter as well as to try to keep the elk off surrounding private lands. 

4-O Ranch Wildlife Area Grass Planting: Dice looked at orchard grass seeded on 53 acres on the 4-O Ranch Wildlife Area on Monday. The grass is looking good. Unfortunately, the weeds are thriving as well, and the field needs mowed as soon as possible. We are planning on moving a tractor along with a 15-foot mower from Joseph Creek to the 4-O Wildlife Area soon to mow the fields. 

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Photo by WDFW

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Photo by WDFW

State Lands Restoration - Little Walla Walla River Restoration Project: Wildlife Area Manager Dingman started working on the United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACOE) Nationwide Permit application to obtain the necessary permits to complete the habitat restoration project on the Swegle Unit of the W. T. Wooten Wildlife Area. She also started working on the Cultural Resources desktop review request. 

Providing Education and Outreach

Bear Airbnb Pamphlet: Wildlife Conflict Specialist McCarty began discussions of a guidance pamphlet of leaflet to provide Bear Aware information to Airbnb tenants in high tourism areas. This pamphlet can be provided by the property manager or owner in the welcome packet at each Airbnb location. 

Wolf Presentation: Wildlife Conflict Supervisor McCanna and Wolf Biologist Roussin did a public PowerPoint presentation in Greenbluff. Biologists Lowe and Brinkman attended the presentation. The informal program provided information on the ecology and management of wolves in Washington to folks living in the area of the new Mt Spokane wolf pack. Around 80 people attended, and the information was well received. 

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Photo by WDFW

Conducting Business Operations and Policy

Employee Evaluations: Private Lands Supervisor Earl worked on the Region 1 private lands team evaluations this week. Earl also travelled to meet with Biologist Baarstad to complete his evaluation. 

Regional Meeting: Private Lands Biologist Hadley attended the Service and Regional Awards Meeting held at the Region 1 office with updates from directors and program breakout meetings.

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Managing Wildlife Populations

Western Grebes: Biologists Lowe and Brinkman conducted western grebe surveys on two lakes to document nesting activity and count the total number of western grebes observed on each lake. The grebe nesting colony on Long Lake has grown again since the last survey was conducted in 2021. Sprague Lake was surveyed for nesting western grebes for the first time this year, and although no nests were discovered there were unusually large numbers of grebes observed which is what prompted this initial survey. The emergent vegetation looks too dense for grebe nests so this lake may just provide suitable summer habitat for non-breeding birds. 

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Photo by WDFW

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Photo by WDFW

Chronic Wasting Disease: Natural Resource Technician Janowski collected a Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) sample from a roadkill deer in GMU 121.

Grizzly Bear Hair Corral: Wildlife Biologists Prince and Turnock took advantage of the cooler weather and deployed a hair corral in Pend Oreille County for grizzly bear monitoring. They also checked an established rub tree and were delayed by road destruction and maintenance. 

Providing Recreation Opportunities

Hunt By Reservation Only: Natural Resource Technicians Nizer and Rumiser created hunting calendars for the Whitman County landowners. These calendars will be given to the landowners with the dates blocked out marking the agreed days which can be hunted throughout the upcoming hunting season. These dates can be viewed on the WDFW Private Lands Hunting website. 

Natural Resource Technician Nizer created a draft Hunt by Reservation Only contract for Mica Peak and sent it to the Director of Spokane County Parks Chase for reviewal. Once Spokane County Parks reviews and agrees with the draft contract, it will be signed off by both parties and deer and turkey hunting access will be allowed for 2023-2028 hunting seasons. 

Loon Lake Dock Repair: Water Access Area taff members Dziekan and Brant fixed the broken section of the gangway adjacent to the WDFW boat ramp at Loon Lake. Dziekan had stashed some old boards at his office after an earlier project. He and Brant cut some to size and replaced the broken plastic tread area of the dock. Ingenuity in action!

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Photo by WDFW

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Photo by WDFW

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Photo by WDFW

Master Hunter Selection Letters: Wildlife Conflict Specialist McCarty sent out letters of success and expectations documents to selected Master Hunters in Region 1.

Turnbull Turkey Access: Interim Private Lands Biologist Nizer coordinated with the Turnbull Wildlife Refuge to allow turkey hunting access for fall of 2023. Nizer coordinated with WDFW staff members to create a memorandum of agreement. Nizer created the maps for the turkey site and wrote up the legal description of the property.

Providing Conflict Prevention and Education

Livestock Direct Loss Claims: Wildlife Conflict Specialist Wade met with one producer this week to assist with completing their direct loss claims packet for a confirmed wolf depredation. Wade also assisted a producer with initiating a direct loss claim for a confirmed cougar depredation that occurred this week. Wade also followed up with Statewide Wildlife Conflict Analyst Todd on the claims. 

Bear Damage: Natural Resource Technician Harris picked up an electric fence deployed at a property to prevent a black bear from getting into a porch freezer. Harris discussed permanent solutions for preventing future bear damage with the landowner and provided them with informational materials to build their own electric fence. 

Wildlife Conflict Specialist Kolb has been working with a Walla Walla County producer the last couple of years to address black bear damage in mountain commercial strawberry fields. Last year was especially bad in terms of crop damage, and with the elimination of spring black bear season, there was essentially no pressure on the bears. Furthermore, a producer cannot submit a commercial crop damage claim for black bear damage since compensation for crop damage caused by black bears is not covered in existing rules, laws, and regulations (i.e., WACs & RCWs). This year, the producer installed a carnivore specific 5-wire electric fence incurring a significant out-of-pocket-cost to the producer. WDFW provided some material support, specifically a high-powered energizer. Last year the field yielded 15 flats of strawberries (due to extensive bear damage), and this year the field yielded 450 flats of strawberries. The producer is very happy with the result of this year’s yield, the effectiveness of the fence design, and they are appreciative of the limited support WDFW was able to provide. 

Conserving Natural Landscapes

Revere Wildlife Area: Natural Resource Technician Wagner finished spot spraying Scotch thistle and Rush skeleton weed at the Revere Wildlife Area. The Scotch thistle was dying slowly but was already beginning to flower, so Wagner decided to spray it again to prevent the weeds from going to seed. 

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Photo by WDFW

Eloika Lake: After performing routine field work at the Eloika Lake access site, Brant noticed that the ADA paint of the concrete parking area was faded beyond recognition and needed to be addressed. Brant was able to round up the supplies he needed, and he painted ADA parking spots. 

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Photo by WDFW

Providing Education and Outreach

Seasonal Fire Restrictions: Sherman Creek Wildlife Area and North Region 1 Water Access Area staff members posted new seasonal fire restriction posters at entry points to our lands on Thursday, July 6. Activity restrictions started on Friday, July 7. 

Spokatopia: Access Manager Dziekan worked a booth at Spokatopia, an outdoor activity focused event held on the banks of the Spokane River. Dziekan set up the booth on Friday and staffed it on Saturday. Spokatopia is geared towards mountain bikers and paddle boarders, but the WDFW booth stayed busy. It was very popular with the kiddos, who enjoyed touching the pelts and skulls. Dziekan had some good conversations with attendees, even though the group was a bit different from our usual shows where WDFW has a presence. Overall, a good show. 

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Swanson Lakes Wildlife Area Kiosk: Wildlife Area Assistant Manager Rimmelspacher and Natural Resource Technician Wagner worked on the renovation of the kiosk located on Swanson Lakes. The kiosk and the signs that were hung on it were in poor shape. After a new layer of paint, new signs, and clean plexiglass the kiosk looks brand new. 

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Photo by WDFW

Conducting Business Operations and Policy

Annual Evaluations: Wildlife Conflict Supervisor McCanna spent three days meeting with Private Lands Supervisor Earl, Wildlife Conflict Specialists Kolb, McCarty, and Wade at their offices to perform annual evaluations. McCanna worked with staff members on expectations for the upcoming year. 

Managing Wildlife Populations

Bumble Bees: Biologist Brinkman, with cross-program assistance from Habitat Biologists Westerman and Kinnick, conducted follow-up bumble bee surveys in Lincoln County as part of the PNW Bumble Bee Atlas Project. These surveys were conducted in the same two locations as the surveys conducted earlier in June to provide information about changes to the flowering resources available and any changes to the diversity of bumble bee species captured. Several different species of bumble bees were captured at both survey locations. 

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Photo by WDFW

Golden Eagles: Biologists Lowe and Brinkman assisted District 3 Biologist Vekasy, Research Scientist Watson, and two technicians with capture and marking of two golden eagle nestlings at a nest site near Central Ferry along the Snake River. One of these nestlings was fitted with a backpack GPS transmitter to monitor movements after fledging and track survival of this individual.   

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Photo by WDFW

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Ferruginous Hawk: Private Lands Biologist Hadley assisted Wildlife Research Scientist Watson and Assistant District 3 Wildlife Biologist Vekasy with tagging a ferruginous hawk fledgling, banding it for identification and then fitting one of the fledglings with a transmitter. 

Providing Recreation Opportunities

Campsite Maintenance: Sherman Creek Wildlife Area Natural Resources Technician Zueger and Wildlife Area Assistant Manager Palmer felled a dead Douglas fir that was a hazard to a campsite at Sherman Creek, off Trout Lake Road. Palmer cut the tree down, and Zueger limbed it, gaining chainsaw experience. 

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Photo by WDFW

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Photo by WDFW

Tree Removal at Clear Lake: Brant used his new chainsaw training to take down a dead Ponderosa pine at the upper Clear Lake parking lot. A perfect cut dropped the tree where they wanted it! The pair bucked up the trunk and removed limbs, and will remove remaining debris later, after the trunk rounds have a chance to “walk away.”

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Photo by WDFW

Vetter Farm Work Party: Natural Resource Technicians Harris and Janowski attended the Stevens County Conservation District (SCCD) Vetter Farm work party. Natural Resource Technicians Harris and Janowski assisted SCCD with building fence and planting a pollinator garden. 

Habitat Work: Natural Resource Technician Nizer and Natural Resource Technician Rumiser mowed noxious weeds at a feel free to hunt property. Weeds will be evaluated and sprayed in the following weeks.  

Providing Conflict Prevention and Education

Asotin County Elk: Natural Resource Technician Heitstuman conducted an early morning patrol in the Cloverland area. Several small groups of elk were in summer fallow fields. A large group was hazed out of a growing field. This field is due to be renewed for hunter access, contact was made with the listed owner. 

Wolf Activity: Wildlife Conflict Specialist Kolb was visiting with a producer about elk damage when the producer mentioned that he observed seven wolves in a cattle pasture recently. Kolb contacted the producer and additional non-lethal deterrents were deployed across the pasture site.   

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Livestock Depredation: WDFW Enforcement and Wildlife Conflict staff members investigated a domestic livestock mortality in Columbia County resulting in a confirmed cougar depredation. A male cougar was removed because of the confirmed depredation in close proximity to an occupied dwelling with children present.   

Reported Possible Depredation in 139 Pack Territory: WDFW staff members responded to a report of a dead 2-year-old heifer being found by a producer who believed that it was likely a predator depredation. WDFW staff members investigated the depredation site and conducted a field necropsy. Staff members confirmed that it was a wolf depredation.  

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Turkey Feeding, Spokane Valley: Wildlife Conflict Specialist McCarty discussed concerns about neighbors feeding turkeys in a residential neighborhood and the potential for increased aggression toward humans if the birds were continually fed.  

Outreach and Teamwork: Biologist Baarstad met with small forest landowners in Stevens and Pend Oreille counties to tour their properties and provide land management advice for forest stewardship and wildlife benefits. Baarstad worked with the Inland NW Wildlife Council, WDFW volunteers, and Technician Wagner to clear disabled hunter access routes on U.S Forest Service lands in Stevens and Pend Oreille counties. 

Conserving Natural Landscapes

Habitat Coordination: Private Lands Biologist Hadley met with a Walla Walla Conservation District Voluntary Stewardship Program Coordinator to discuss areas of project coordination and focus areas. 

Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation Grant: Natural Resource Technician Janowski completed a final project completion report and submitted the document to the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation (RMEF). RMEF provided funding for a conifer tree planting in Stevens County and the organization requires a project report for their records. 

Habitat Coordination: Private Lands Biologist Hadley met with a Walla Walla Conservation District and members of Blue Mountain Pheasants Forever Chapter to discuss coordination of future projects. 

Providing Education and Outreach

Conservation District Partnership: Natural Resource Technician Nizer met with Whitman Conservation District to partner with a mowing project on a restoration site of theirs.  

Conducting Business Operations and Policy

Budget: Wildlife Conflict Supervisor McCanna put together budget allotments for all Region 1 wildlife conflict and private lands staff members. McCanna sent to Budget Analyst Quinton to plan for the 23-24 fiscal year.

Hunt by Reservation Renewal: Natural Resource Technician Nizer and Natural Resource Technician Rumiser met with Spokane, Park, Recreation, and Golf Executive Director Chase to discuss renewing the reservation for Mica Peak for an additional five years. Chase was pleased with the last contract period and is interested in joining for another five years.  

Wolf Advisory Group Meeting: Wildlife Conflict Supervisor McCanna attended the Wolf Advisory Group (WAG) field trip on Monday, in Clarkston looking at several different grazing allotments and their challenges. They then met with several producers in the 139-wolf pack territory in the Anatone area to hear their challenges with the recent confirmed and probable wolf depredations. Tuesday and Wednesday, McCanna attended the in-person WAG meeting in Clarkston. 

Managing Wildlife Populations

Bat Acoustic Monitoring: Biologists Lowe and Brinkman deployed acoustic monitoring equipment to survey for bats at four locations in the Mount Spokane area as part of the Pacific Northwest North American Bat Monitoring Program.

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Bat Maternity Colony Monitoring: Biologists Lowe and Brinkman, WDFW staff members DeVivo, Westerman, Mackelvie, Wagner, and Lehman, Bureau of Land Management Biologist Lowe, and Washington State University Intern Walters conducted evening emergence counts of four bat maternity colonies in Whitman, Spokane, and Lincoln counties this week.

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Photo by WDFW

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Bumble Bees: Biologists Lowe and Brinkman conducted a second bumble bee survey in Lincoln County as part of the Pacific Northwest Bumble Bee Atlas project. Several different species of bumble bees were captured at the site on Hawk Creek, and most were found using the flowers of hairy vetch.

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Elk Calf Survival Study: District 3 biologists wrapped up elk calf captures on June 12, having captured 115 elk calves from the ground and helicopter. Numerous other agency staff members and volunteers assisted in this effort that focused on three game management units (GMU) with three capture crew leads continuously working across the landscape. We captured 51 calves during the ground phase of capture operations. District Biologist Wik supervised aerial captures with Leading Edge Helicopters, and they captured 64 calves. 

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Ferruginous Hawk Monitoring: Assistant District Biologist Vekasy continued the monitoring of historic and recently installed hawk nest platforms for productivity assessment. Vekasy also joined with Research Scientist Watson to radio-tag a ferruginous hawk fledgling. Two transmitters were donated by Northwest Wildlife Consultants, and the Woodland Park Zoo is providing funding for data acquisition. We plan to deploy the 2^nd transmitter at a different nest site in the coming week. 

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Bat Bridge Monitoring: Assistant District Biologist Vekasy retrieved bat guano collection devices from two bridges in the vicinity of Bureau of Land Management parcels as part of an ongoing bridge monitoring project. One bridge was a repeat sample from last year that was used by bats as a day roost. The newly added bridge had day-roosting bats during the first visit but appeared to be used as a maternity site with hundreds of bats present during sample collection visit. 

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Chronic Wasting Disease: Wildlife Conflict Specialist Kolb collected chronic wasting disease (CWD) samples at roadkill pits in District 3.

Natural Resource Technicians Nizer and Rumiser sampled two roadkill deer in Whitman County for CWD. Samples were taken off Highway 195.

Chronic Wasting Disease Operations: Natural Resource Technician Heitstuman checked local pits for CWD samples.

Bighorn Sheep Survey: Wildlife Biologist Prince and a volunteer surveyed the Vulcan bighorn sheep herd this week. Unfortunately, despite the cool weather, no sheep were observed. Additional surveys will be conducted this summer to, hopefully, observe lambs. It is suspected that this herd declined following the 2021 summer, potentially due to blue tongue.

Bumble Bees: Biologists Lowe and Brinkman conducted another bumble bee survey in Lincoln County as part of the Pacific North West Bumble Bee Atlas project. Several different species of bumble bees were captured at the site near Keller Ferry Campground, and most were found using the flowers of lupine.

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Photo by WDFW

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Providing Recreation Opportunities

Trail Maintenance: Sherman Creek Wildlife Area Natural Resources Technician Zueger inspected and mowed the trail that runs from Sherman Creek Wildlife Area headquarters south along the Columbia River towards Haag Cove. She found two downed trees blocking the route on Thursday. Zueger and Wildlife Area Assistant Manager Daro Palmer will remove them next week. 

Cooperator Outreach: Natural Resource Technician Harris mailed out pre-hunting season letters to all District 1 private lands hunting access program cooperators. 

Access Area Maintenance: Water Access Area Manager Dziekan picked up his repaired water tank and truck with the fixed tire on June 12, and visited his most used water access areas along the Highway 2 and Highway 395 corridors. He found that the Waitts and Loon lakes sites were in dire need of cleaning. Otherwise, the sites were generally in need of cleaning but curiously, relatively trash-free. Dziekan also noted a few sites will need roadside mowing in the near future. 

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Photo by WDFW

Providing Conflict Prevention and Education

Electric Fence: Wildlife Biologists Prince and Turnock met with a winner of an electric fence giveaway. They took measurements of the fence and decided on materials to be used. WDFW is paying for the fence in an effort to raise awareness for electric fencing for deterring bears with an emphasis on grizzly bears. The winner of the fence attended a WDFW electric fencing clinic at North 40. The clinic was a partnership between the Department, Defenders of Wildlife, Gallagher Fencing, and North 40 Colville.

Asotin County Wolf Activity: Natural Resource Technician Heitstuman went with Area Manager Dice to look at an elk depredation issue in the Chief Joseph Area and to review cattle grazing operation where wolf activity may be occurring. This opportunity was also used to learn the areas where habitat and forage crops for elk are being planted in rotation.

Elk Damage and Hazing: Wildlife Conflict Specialist Kolb and Statewide Human Wildlife Conflict Analysist Todd conducted elk hazing and conflict mitigation in Walla Walla and Columbia counties. Dispersing elk from agricultural crops is nearly impossible until the calves can keep up with the cows.

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Photo by WDFW

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Conserving Natural Landscapes

Turkey Habitat Project: Private Lands Biologist Hadley performed a site visit to a turkey habitat project to spot mow areas of weeds around planted cottonwood trees and then followed up with hand watering the planted cottonwood trees. 

Habitat Coordination: Hadley met with a Walla Walla Conservation District planner to discuss continuing a habitat project started last spring in planting additional shrubs as well as having discussions on additional locations of habitat projects. 

Providing Conflict Prevention and Education

Creston Junior High School Environmental Science Grant: This week in the local Wilbur Register, an article came out in the paper showing the Keller Grade School class coming to the Swanson Lakes Wildlife Area in this year’s Lake Roosevelt Forum Discovery Zone. The Swanson Lakes Wildlife Area has been hosting the annual Discovery Zone for many years. 

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Educational Presentations:Natural Resource Technician Heitstuman attended the Getting Outdoors Educational Day to assist Supervisor Earl in presenting five, 30-minute sessions to groups of 7^th and 8^th grade students. The interaction Supervisor Earl was able to create with the students was appreciated by all. 

Dayton School Gear-Up Program: Wildlife Area Manager Dingman, Natural Resource Technician Tritt, and Natural Resource Worker Jensen spent time with a group of 9^th graders from the Dayton School Gear-Up Program. They talked about their educations and their current jobs, then talked about the wildlife found on the wildlife area and looked at hides and skulls. The kids then planted pine trees and mock orange shrubs in a habitat plot, and each of them got to build a birdhouse to take home with them. 

Conducting Business Operations and Policy

General Facilities and Equipment Maintenance and Repairs: Wildlife Area Assistant Manager Palmer took delivery of a used 2755 John Deere tractor and loader attachment, transferred from the Private Lands section. Palmer fixed a faulty clutch and then used the tractor to fertilize the food plots on Sherman Creek Wildlife Area. 

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Utility Task Vehicle Training: This week Safety Specialist Mundy came out from the WDFW safety office to teach utility task vehicle training to most of the staff members at Swanson Lakes Wildlife Area and other WDFW staff members within the region. The training was an excellent course to teach skills needed for safe operations. Prior to the class each student had to complete and pass the Recreational Off-Highway Vehicle Association online class and print their certificate. 

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Liberty Lake Senior Fishing: Officer Beauchene hosted a fishing day at the Liberty Lake access area for seniors at a local assisted living home. Dziekan didn’t participate in the event however Dziekan did go out and pick up the area and clean the restrooms to help give them a positive experience. Officer Beauchene has been doing this for a few years now and the folks living at the home look forward to it all year.

WDFW Senior Staff Field Tour: This week, WDFW senior staff met at the Revere Wildlife Area as one of the group’s many stops for the day. One of the highlights of the tour was with Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Spokane District Biologist Lowe explaining the Elk Migration Project. WDFW has been working on the project, for the last couple of years, with the Rock Creek Conservation District and BLM. The goal of the project was to improve the upland and riparian habitat conditions for Rocky Mountain elk and mule deer in the Rock Creek corridor by reducing weeds and establishing vegetation used by big game for forage and cover on 265 acres of the Bureau of Land Management land and 90 acres of WDFW land.

Other

All-Terrain Vehicle Training: Natural Resource Technician Nizer and Natural Resource Technician Rumiser completed an all-terrain vehicle training put on by WDFW at the Chief Joseph Wildlife Area. The training lasted three hours, and there was a field course and a guided ride afterwards.

Gaston Leaving the Agency: Natural Resource Technician Nizer and Private Lands Biologist Gaston organized the office and transferred information that is needed to know for Gaston’s departure from the agency. Nizer and Gaston communicated what needs to be completed in his absence and Nizer will be taking on Gaston’s duties while he is gone. Gaston will be missed dearly by the agency as he was a huge asset to the private lands program in Region 1. His drive and love for hunting access will be missed. 

Managing Wildlife Populations

Sharp-tailed Grouse: Biologists Atamian, Lowe, and Brinkman set and monitored traps on a sharp-tailed grouse lek in Lincoln County to capture and deploy a GPS transmitter on an adult male bird. This grouse will be used to monitor locations and movements and will hopefully assist us in identifying winter habitat being utilized by other sharp-tailed grouse in this region.

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Photo by WDFW

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Elk Fence: Natural Resource Worker Jensen and Natural Resource Technician Tritt checked the elk fence between Bakers Pond and Stevens Ridge. They found a tree over the fence and two holes in the fence. Everything was repaired. While they were up on Mountain Road, they checked the elk fence north of Bakers Pond.

Chronic Wasting Disease: Natural Resource Technician Nizer sampled a whitetail deer in Unit 142 for Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD). The deer was roadkill that died on Highway 195. The deer is one of three roadkills in the last week, probably due to deer moving around more during the early summer months. The deer was sampled and then taken to the Pullman Department of Transportation pit where it will decay.

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Chronic Wasting Disease Operations: Natural Resource Technician Heitstuman checked local pits for CWD samples. The text tree system for getting the closest employee to recover a sample is working well.

Wildlife Conflict Specialist Kolb collected CWD samples at roadkill pits at the request of Assistant District Biologist Vekasy who was tied up with elk calf captures.

Natural Resource Technician Nizer sampled a mule deer doe that was hit on Highway 195 and was dropped off at the Colfax Department of Transportation pit. Roadkill deer are starting to become more prominent during these warmer months. Sampling will continue throughout the summer months leading up to deer season.

Grizzly Bear Rub Posts: Biologist Turnock checked rub posts in Pend Oreille County for grizzly bear hair. A few samples were likely grizzly bear and will be sent in as part of the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) monitoring program within the Selkirk Recovery Zone.

Providing Recreation Opportunities

Mica Peak Hunt by Reservation Only: Private Lands Biologist Gaston spoke with the director of Spokane County Parks, Recreation, and Golf to discuss renewing the Hunt by Reservation Only Program contract for Mica Peak Conservation Area. A meeting later in June will be needed to discuss additional details about the project.

Hunt by Written Permission Property: Natural Resource Technician Nizer coordinated with a local gravel company to drop off gravel for a new parking spot at a Hunt by Written Permission property.

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Waikiki Springs Volunteer Project: Access Manager Dziekan worked with the Inland Northwest Land Council (INLC) to recruit volunteers. They held a volunteer trash pick-up day at Waikiki Springs this past weekend. Dziekan had nine volunteers show up that walked the switchbacks and into the bushes to gather any litter that was left since the last volunteer work party a few years ago. Dziekan was very happy to report that the volunteers had almost no success finding litter. Over the two hours they scoured the hillside, a grand total of one trash bag was collected. Dziekan doesn’t know what exactly changed, but the property was spotless. Dziekan couldn’t be more pleased that the volunteers had nothing to do.

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Coordination: Private Lands Biologist Hadley coordinated with members of the Blue Mountain Pheasants Forever and an employee of the Walla Walla Conservation District to discuss working as collaborating agencies and volunteer groups. Their goals include enhancing existing habitat by identifying property landowner objectives and criteria including funding sources, site preparation, seeding specification operation and maintenance.

Providing Conflict Prevention and Education

Camp Reed: Wildlife Biologists Prince and Turnock each provided one day of outreach to Spokane County Odyssey Program students. The biologists talked to the students about bear biology, bear identification, and bear safety. The students got to end their lesson by practicing with inert bear spray.

Asotin County Commissioners Meeting: Wildlife Conflict Specialist Wade attended an Asotin County Commissioner meeting where Wildlife Conflict Supervisor McCanna and Wolf Biologist Spence answered questions from the public in attendance.

United States Air Force Training School Bear Spray Presentation: Wildlife Biologists Prince and Turnock provided the head trainer of the United States Air Force Survival Training Program the presentation on bear spray and staying safe in bear country. The trainer will take our presentation and deliver the information to trainers as they rotate through the Survival Training Program.

Conserving Natural Landscapes

Wildlife Habitat and Water Guzzlers: Natural Resource Technician Heitstuman spent three days on the Swanson Lakes Wildlife Area performing field preparation work, planting food plots, and moving equipment from other areas as needed. This was an opportunity to share skills and provided an opportunity to learn how things are done differently across the state. Private Lands Biologist Baarstad was instrumental in the work and in showing the different habitats and wildlife in the area.

Photo Points: Biologists Brinkman and Lowe began taking pictures at a series of photo points in Lincoln County to document current habitat conditions and compare them with similar photos taken at those sites in previous years.

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Photo by WDFW

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Revere Wildlife Area Inspection: This week Wildlife Area Manager Finch and Natural Resource Technician Wagner went to the Revere Wildlife Area so Finch could go over all the pending projects with Wagner. They inspected the shrub plots that were planted on the Revere Wildlife Area on April 1 and April 2 by Pheasant Forever and other volunteers. There were 25 enclosed shrub plots planted and out of over 750 shrubs only two small shrubs appeared to be struggling. When the new Swanson Lakes, Revere, and Reardan Audubon Assistant Manager Rimmelspacher starts work on June 5, Wagner will be able to show Rimmelspacher the wildlife areas and go over each individual project.

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Asotin Creek Wildlife Area Spraying: Woodall and Rimmelspacher spent quite a bit of time this week spraying agricultural fields at Smoothing Iron Ridge. Blade sprayed fallow fields with the Case 4490 tractor and 50-foot sprayer while Woodall primarily sprayed weeds out of winter wheat fields. They also used one of the 5-ton military trucks with an 1,800-gallon water tank for rapid refills. Having a ready supply of water available made spraying go much faster.

Sandygren Property: This week Wildlife Area Manager Finch, Natural Resource Technician Wagner and Bureau of Land Management Spokane District drove around the parcel that is targeted for restoration to double check the field boundaries. Finch ordered the herbicides and together with Wagner moved and setup the equipment to spray approximately 70 acres for full native grassland restoration. Wagner started spraying the field on Thursday until an electrical issue with the tractor. Wagner drove to the John Deere dealer in Coulee City for a new battery.

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Access Areas District 2: Access Manager Dziekan and Natural Resource Technician Brant worked on several access sites in District 2 this week. Dziekan is busy getting Brant familiar with all the sites and their duties such as weed trimming, litter pickup, toilet cleaning, blowing off asphalt parking areas, and many more chores to help keep the sites clean and presentable.

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Providing Education and Outreach

Hunter Education: Wildlife Conflict Specialist Kolb assisted with teaching 11 hours of Hunter Education to students in the Walla Walla Valley.

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Chief Joseph Wildlife Area Weed Control: Woodall led an outreach event for the Lewis & Clark All-Terrain Vehicle Club with a ride out to Shovel Creek. Former Owner Tippett was present to talk about his family’s history of owning the land and running livestock on the former cattle ranch. They saw elk and deer as well as abundant wildflowers.

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Kids in the Hills: Biologists Lowe and Brinkman participated in the first three days of the annual Kids in the Hills event at Dishman Hills Natural Area, leading classes of 3^rd and 4^th graders on hikes in the natural area while teaching them about local wildlife. The event will reach nearly 500 students over five days this year.

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Lake Roosevelt Forum Discovery Zone, Swanson Lakes Wildlife Area: Wildlife Area Manager Finch and Natural Resource Technician Wagner hosted the 2023 Discovery Zone Home on the Range Tour at Swanson Lakes on Wednesday. Wildlife Officer Beauchene came out later to talk to the kids about her job. Towards the end of the tours, while watching Officer Beauchene’s presentation, a thunderstorm with rain and hail came over for about 30 minutes leaving the parking area full of water. The nature walk that was taken earlier was planned perfectly. The tour included a GPS course to teach how to use and find coordinates. Wildlife area staff members had hidden flags and marked them on the GPS for the students to find. Finch showed the kids how the wildlife area personnel use drone technology to search and monitor projects and how to preprogram the drone to fly and measure its own area without the drone pilot flying the actual drone. The kids seemed to be amazed with the autonomous fly program.

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6th Grade Camp at Camp Wooten Environmental Learning Center: Wildlife Area Manager Dingman and Private Lands Biologist Thorne-Hadley spent a day teaching a class about predators and prey to the Dayton, Waitsburg, and Touchet 6^th graders at Camp Wooten Environmental Learning Center.

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Photo by WDFW

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Overflow Parking at Horseshoe Lake: Sherman Creek Wildlife Area Assistant Manager Palmer received a complaint from a resident near Rustlers Gulch Wildlife Area and Horseshoe Lake Access Area, complete with a video recording. The complainant noted that overflow parking for Horseshoe Lake over Memorial Day weekend spilled out onto the county road, causing safety and passage problems. Wildlife area and access area staff members worked with Public Affairs Officer Lehman to publicize the need for vehicles to park off county roads, and if parking areas are full, to find another place to recreate. Lehman provided a brief summary that can be used by local media outlets to get the word out.

Conducting Business Operations and Policy

Kettle River Access Area: Natural Resources Technician Zueger inspected the Kettle River access areas. The south site had been largely under water a couple weeks ago, but with the Kettle River starting to settle down after heavy snow melt, the site is dry again. Both sites’ restrooms appeared to have had little to no use since the last check.

Damage Permit System Meeting: Wildlife Conflict Specialist Wade participated in a Damage Permit System meeting. The outside vendor gave a demonstration of what their program does and how it could be useful for creating and issuing damage and kill permits.

Other

Private Lands and Conflict Land Access: Wildlife Conflict Specialist McCarty held a meeting with Private Lands Biologist Gaston, Private Lands Technician Nizer, Conflict Specialist Earl, District Biologist Lowe, and District Biologist Assistant Brinkman regarding the efforts in place to gain public hunting access on private lands for turkey hunting in northern Spokane County and discussed the opportunity to expand that effort to elk and deer hunting access due to increased damage over the last several years to farmed crops.

Managing Wildlife Populations

Golden Eagle Survey: Wildlife Biologists Prince and Turnock checked on two historic golden eagle territories and one potential new territory. A single historic territory had an adult eagle sitting on a nest and likely incubating eggs or newly hatched chicks.

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Bats: Biologists Lowe and Brinkman captured bats to collect samples to test for presence of the fungus responsible for white-nosed syndrome, a disease linked to large bat die-offs throughout the United States. The capture was conducted at a maternity colony of Yuma myotis (Myotis yumanensis) in Whitman County with assistance from WDFW Private Lands Technician Nizer, two biologists with Bureau of Land Management (BLM), and a professor from Eastern Washington University with three of his students.

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W.T. Wooten Wildlife Area Elk Fence: Wooten Wildlife Area personnel checked the elk fence from Mountain Road to the Wooten Headquarters. Wildlife Area Manager Dingman found a large hole in the fence that required Natural Resource Worker Jensen and Natural Resource Technician Tritt to return the following day with supplies to repair it.

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Photo by WDFW

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Providing Recreation Opportunities

Terminally Ill Hunter: Wildlife Conflict Specialist Kolb worked with an out-of-state hunter granted a terminally ill elk permit for later this summer. Kolb will try to ensure the hunter has property to hunt due to the game management unit (GMU) permitted being almost entirely private property.

Landowner Contact: Natural Resource Technician Janowski spoke with a landowner enrolled in Hunting Only by Written Permission regarding the spring turkey season and parking. The landowner received concerns from their neighbors regarding so many vehicles parked on the property and wanted a way to know if somebody is a hunter or not. Janowski informed the landowner to give hunters an extra blue slip with a cut notch to slide in the window visor to indicate to neighbors of who is a hunter or not. The landowner liked this idea and will implement this going forward.

Turkey Hunters: Private Lands Supervisor Earl discussed hunting opportunities with several people this week. One individual was out here from back East. He is trying to be the youngest person to complete the U. S. Super Slam. Earl was able to get him on some birds and he harvested a nice tom. His 44^th state harvest. The following day he traveled into Oregon and harvested an Oregon tom which was #45 for his super slam. Earl also received a call from a successful hunter that harvested her first ever tom on a newly planted food plot that Earl seeded last year.

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Photo by WDFW

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Mississippi Turkey Hunter: Wildlife Conflict Specialist Wade assisted a hunter who traveled from Mississippi to Washington to hunt turkeys. Wade as well as other WDFW staff assisted the hunter with finding locations to hunt. Wade followed up with the hunter who reported that he was able to fill both of his Washington turkey tags. The hunter was very thankful for the assistance from Wade and other WDFW staff members.

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Providing Conflict Prevention and Education

Pend Oreille County Library Grizzly Bear Aware Events: Wildlife Biologist Turnock presented at a bear aware event hosted by the Pend Oreille County libraries that was coordinated by the Kalispel Tribe. The event taught participants about bear biology, how to tell the difference between grizzly and black bears, how to avoid negative interactions with bears, and how to use bear spray. There was a hands-on bear spray training taught by a U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service grizzly bear specialist and every participant went home with a free can of real bear spray at the end of the day. The events totaled over 50 participants and was put on in collaboration with the Kalispel Tribe, Defenders of Wildlife, WDFW, and the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

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Asotin County Wolf Activity: Wildlife Conflict Specialist Wade continued to have check-ins with the Asotin County Cattleman’s Association president and multiple producers in the area of recent wolf activity. Wade traveled to the Anatone area to look at a cow that had died after falling off a bluff. Wade and the producer determined that the carcass could not be removed from the site. Wade provided the producer with lime to put on the carcass, which should discourage scavenging. While in the area, Wade checked the area of continued wolf activity near Anatone. Wade also worked with a producer to get access to their property so Wolf Biologist Spence could survey an area of dense wolf activity.

Bear Damage: Natural Resource Technician Harris followed up on a report of a black bear repeatedly getting into garbage. Harris received a phone call from a landowner in Stevens County that had a black bear get into her porch freezer. Harris deployed a game camera and electric fence around the porch.

Conserving Natural Landscapes

20^th Annual Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation Work Party: Volunteers from the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation gathered at Smoothing Iron Ridge on the Asotin Creek Wildlife Area for the 20^th annual work party this weekend. There were 35 volunteers working on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. Many traveled from Western Washington to participate. Even though the weather was wet, and mud prevailed, they were able tear out quite a bit of barbed wire fence destroyed during the 2021 Lick Creek Fire. They also removed hog wire from two burned enclosures used during pilot grazing 15 years ago. Additionally, several water troughs and springs were cleaned, one water trough was replaced, and salt blocks were placed at various locations for elk and deer. Assistant Wildlife Area Manager Woodall coordinated work activities this year. Also attending from WDFW was Wildlife Area Manager Dice and Natural Resource Technician Rimmelspacher.

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Tree Planting: Natural Resource Technician Janowski picked up 1,500 conifer trees for a planting project on a Hunting Only by Written Permission property. Janowski, Harris, Conflict Specialist Samsill, Inland Northwest Wildlife Council, and the Stevens County Conservation District all were able to plant 1,100 trees this week. Janowski will plant the remaining 400 trees early next week.

Wildlife Food Plots: Private Lands Biologist Gaston, Natural Resources Technician Nizer, and Natural Resources Technician Rumiser all finished installing wildlife food plots on private lands enrolled in the WDFW public access programs. Food plots were varied with some including alfalfa and clover, while others were more of an annual food plot mix.

Turkey Habitat Project: Private Lands Biologist Gaston and Natural Resources Technician Nizer worked with volunteers to finish planting trees on a project funded for turkey habitat restoration. The area is on private property enrolled in the WDFW Private Lands Access Program in the area recovering from the 2020 Babb-Malden fire.

Invasive Grass Species Test Plots: This week private contractor and former Bureau of Land Management employee Lorna Emerich and her husband Jim Emerich came out to start the pre-herbicide application data collection for the three invasive grass test plots that are already in place and measured out. Lorna is collecting the plant identification of species in each of the plots where five different herbicides will be tested. Lorna will be back in mid-July to repeat the data collection post application. Wildlife Area Manager Finch took photos on the ground and by using the drone for documentation.

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Hartsock Garbage Dump: Natural Resource Technician Tritt and Natural Resource Worker Jensen cleaned up approximately 40 tires that had been dumped in the ditch along Hartsock Grade. Access Tech Heimgartner hauled the tires to the Asotin County landfill for disposal.

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Photo by WDFW

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4-O Ranch Grass Seeding Project: Wildlife area staff members moved our seed drill from Smoothing Iron to the Bucannon Field on the 4-O Ranch Wildlife Area on Wednesday. Wildlife Area Manager Dice moved a John Deere tractor from Joseph Creek to the 4-O to pull the drill. Dice began seeding on Friday and ran out of seed late Saturday afternoon with about six acres left to go in the 53-acre field. We are planting the field to orchard grass as a lure crop to hold elk on the wildlife area.

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Smoothing Iron Ridge Spraying: Natural Resources Technician Meisner moved our 50-foot sprayer from the 4-O Ranch to Smoothing Iron Ridge on Wednesday. On Thursday, wildlife area staff set up the sprayer behind our Case 4490 tractor and began spraying glyphosate herbicide on fallow fields. We also set up a 30-foot boom sprayer on our 6130R tractor to begin spraying winter wheat fields for broadleaf weeds. There’s a lot more spraying to complete next week.  

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Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program Rehabilitation: Private Lands Biologist Gaston, Natural Resources Technician Nizer, and Natural Resources Technician Rumiser worked as a team to rototill, harrow, mow, and seed a small Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program project outside of St. John to assist the Rock Lake Conservation District. Rock Lake Conservation District Manager Harrold assisted with seeding and tree planting at the site and the project was completed in two days.

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Photo by WDFW

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Invasive Grass Species Test Plots: This week Wildlife Area Manager Finch and Spokane District Wildlife Biologist Lowe spent a day mixing up five different post emergence herbicides to apply to the three different test plots. Botanist Emerich completed her line intersect data collection last week identifying all the species in each of the plots preapplication. Emerich will come back again in July to do a post-application line intersect data collection.

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Hartsock Unit Floodplain: Wildlife Area Manager Dingman took her all-terrain vehicle out the ridge between Hartsock Grade and the Tucannon to take photos of the changes that are occurring in the Hartsock Unit floodplain. The Quonset and bunkhouse were removed in 2012, the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation completed a large wood restoration project in 2017, and the Tucannon River is slowly reclaiming the floodplain.

Providing Education and Outreach

Cattlemen’s Meeting: Wildlife Conflict Specialist Kolb and Wolf Biologist Spence attended the Columbia County Cattlemen’s Association meeting and provided an update on wolves. Wolf Biologist Spence gave a presentation on the Annual Wolf Report and Kolb talked about cost-share programs available to producers to off-set the cost of implementing non-lethal deterrents.  

Lakeside High School Field Day: Natural Resources Technician Nizer, Private Lands Biologist Gaston, and Natural Resources Technician Rumiser attended the field day for Lakeside High School hosted at the Spokane Hatchery. Nizer and Rumiser setup and demonstrated the Truax no-till drill and had the students assist with learning how to calibrate the machine. Gaston and Nizer setup a line transect for field identification of plant species the students had to walk and identify.

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Lecture and Lab: Wildlife Conflict Specialist Kolb, Assistant District Biologist Vekasy and Scientific Technician Moberg conducted a chronic wasting disease lecture and lab with students at Touchet High School.  

Conducting Business Operations and Policy

General Facilities and Equipment Maintenance and Repairs: Sherman Creek Wildlife Area Assistant Manager Palmer, Natural Resources Technician Zueger, and Wildlife Area Manager Anderson inspected the irrigation diversion box, settling box, and fish screen at Sherman Creek. Palmer and Zueger had worked earlier in in the week to remove silt and debris from the side channel diversion. As high as the creek was running, it was running even higher the previous week, with the sound of boulders bumping downstream clearly audible. The creek is expected to rise again in the upcoming week as heat keeps melting mountain snow.

Managing Wildlife Populations

Bighorn Sheep: District 3 management personnel conducted multiple mark-resight surveys in the Asotin herd over the past two weeks with the goal of generating a population estimate. Poor weather (mostly blizzard like conditions) limited the effectiveness of two of four surveys. While conducting these surveys, one deceased collared ewe was detected. This ewe was in terrain that was very difficult to access. Biologists Stewart, Vekasy, Wik, and Technician Lowrimore in cooperation with Idaho Department of Fish and Game Research Biologist Cassirer retrieved the carcass whole and transported it to a trail where the carcass could be transported to Washington Animal Disease Diagnostic Laboratory.

Stewart and Lowrimore located, identified, and recorded bighorn sheep in the Black Butte and Redbird subpopulations, Idaho, and Washington. These data are collected to better understand the basic demographics of the herds, develop long-term trends in lamb survival, and detect mortality events reasonably soon after they occur.

Ferruginous Hawk Monitoring: Assistant District Biologist Vekasy continued monitoring historic and recently installed hawk nest platforms. No new platforms have been occupied this season except two platforms that were occupied in the first year of the project. All historic sites are occupied except for one that has been vacant now for three years. A territory with a tree nest that was re-occupied last year after a ten-year absence is active again this year. So far, platform installation has only been successful in stabilizing occupancy and nest success in previously marginal territories.

Providing Recreation Opportunities

New Restrooms at Chief Joseph Wildlife Area: Capital Asset Management Program (CAMP) has been working to replace two fiberglass toilets at the Chief Joseph Wildlife Area with new concrete models. This has been in the works for several years and they are finally being installed.

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Photo by WDFW

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Access Manager Heimgartner reported that CAMP completed the installation of two new CXT restrooms on the Chief Joseph Wildlife Area. One is at the upper Joseph Creek campground and the other is near the old schoolhouse. Both have wastewater alarms installed which is a first for us. Asotin County required installation of the alarms.

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Spring Turkey Camp: Natural Resource Technician Harris assisted with running the 2023 Mentored Spring Turkey Camp in Newport hosted by WDFW, First Hunt Foundation, and National Wild Turkey Federation.

Access Area Openings: North Region 1 Access Manager Dziekan opened access areas for the 2023 lowland lake opener. His duties included lots of cleaning bathrooms and picking up litter. All his access areas have been serviced and are now ready for public use.

Providing Conflict Prevention and Education

Wolf Conflict: Natural Resource Technician Harris, Wildlife Conflict Specialist Bennett, and Sergeant Bahrenburg conducted a depredation investigation on a calf mortality in Stevens County. After investigating, they determined that the calf died from injuries sustained in a confirmed wolf depredation event. Due to overlap in several pack territories, they were unable to determine which pack was responsible for the depredation. Harris and Bennett deployed three Foxlights in the pasture to deter wolves. Harris assisted Bennett and Biologist Roussin to collar a wolf that was captured in a leghold trap in the pasture where the depredation occurred.

Cougar Concern: Wildlife Conflict Specialist Kolb responded to a complaint of a cougar defecating in a Walla Walla County homeowner’s yard. The homeowner believed it was a cougar because one was rumored to have been in the area over a year ago. After responding to the call and investigating the scat the homeowner was concerned with, Kolb determined the area was being used by multiple raccoons as a latrine site. The homeowner did say they enjoy watching the raccoons walk around the yard. Advice was provided.

Anatone Producer Meeting: Regional Director Pozzanghera, Wildlife Conflict Supervisor McCanna, Wolf Biologist Spence, Officer Delp and Wildlife Conflict Specialist Wade attended a meeting in Anatone to discuss recent wolf activity. Wade followed up with producers after the meeting. All the feedback from the producers was positive and they appreciated the chance to ask the team questions and express their concerns with the recent influx in wolf activity.

Turkey Habitat Project: Private Lands Biologist Hadley performed a site visit on a turkey habitat project where broadleaves were inter-seeded into a grass stand and cottonwood trees were planted. Evidence of germination of the seed was observed and the trees were starting to leaf out. Hadley spot mowed where dense areas of weeds were forming and watered the trees.

Conserving Natural Landscapes

Chief Joseph Weed Control: Wildlife Area Manager Dice sprayed a 15-acre field on Saturday with a tractor and boom sprayer to control common mullein and other broad leaf weeds growing in a field of predominantly native grass. The grass was seeded years ago by the former wildlife area manager as a demonstration site for the tri-state weed management area. The mullein was simply getting out of control.

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Biologist Palmer and Natural Resource Technician Zueger conducted a Department of Ecology permitted field burn, eliminating dead plant material from a six-acre wildlife food plot. Agricultural Field Lessee Garris assisted with preparation by disking a dirt safety perimeter around the burn site. He also stood by with his tractor and disk during the burning to ensure the fire didn’t spread beyond the planned boundaries. This field is now prepared for cultivating and then replanting.

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Field Spraying at the 4-O Ranch Wildlife Area: Wildlife Area Manager Dice sprayed 53 acres with glyphosate herbicide at the lower Bucannon fields on Thursday. The spraying is the first step for eventually seeding these fields to orchard grass. We have spent several years attempting to get a cover crop of grass growing on these fields. Covid 19 and associated work restrictions set us back two years, because we could not make timely applications of herbicide to prepare a seedbed. A seeding of alfalfa that was completed in fall 2021 failed due to frost heaving. Our plan is to plant the orchard grass in the next week or so and hope we get enough spring and summer moisture for it to survive and thrive.

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Photo by WDFW

Deer Exclosures: Natural Resource Technician Harris assisted the Natural Resource Conservation Service and Ducks Unlimited to build a deer exclosures on a property in the wetland reserve program in Pend Oreille County. The exclosures will protect shrub seedlings from deer and elk browsing.

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Photo by WDFW

Invasive Grass Species Test Plots: Wildlife Area Manager Finch and Bureau of Land Management Spokane District Biologist Lowe were out to measure and divide three herbicide test plots. This work was conducted prior to a contractor and Botanist Emerich, who will be out to measure the plots for pretreatment. The goal is to determine the best and most economical post-emergence herbicide to treat invasive grasses while doing minimal damage to the native grasses and forbs. The plan is to use four different types of herbicides and Emerich will measure and document species prior to the treatment and post treatment which will be sometime early this July.

Providing Education and Outreach

Creston School Outdoor Science Grant: Wildlife Area Manager Finch, Habitat Biologist Mackelvie and Outreach and Environmental Specialist Eckenrod were out on Friday to meet the Creston 7^th and 8^th grade classes to work on their science grant. The classes came out in two different groups, one hour apart. This broke up the large group into two separate ones for the project instructions. Each class started with an orientation in the Swanson Lakes office. Finch gave the history of the Swanson Lakes Wildlife Area project and its relationship to the Bonneville Power Administration. Mackelvie spoke about the area’s plant diversity and provided detailed information about sage brush. Finch also gave a brief fire history and habitat restoration update to each class. Eckenrod helped the kids with their project and led a nature walk to help identify plants species.

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The Wildlife Society Presentation: Biologist Turnock presented at the Washington Chapter of the Wildlife Society’s annual conference in Centralia. The presentation was on survey work that has been conducted over the last two years for renewing our knowledge of bog lemming distribution within the state. The work was conducted with funding from the United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) and the information gathered was included as part of a Species Status Assessment compiled by the USFWS.

Conducting Business Operations and Policy

Wildlife Chemical Immobilization Training: Wildlife Biologists Prince and Turnock took a two-day chemical immobilization training from Dr. Mark Johnson with Global Wildlife Resources.

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General Facilities and Equipment Maintenance and Repairs: This week a CAMP road construction crew and Construction Project Supervisor Hilton came with three dump trucks to work on the one-mile length of road leading to the Swanson Lakes Wildlife Area office. The work began on Tuesday morning with the trucks hauling out of Copenhaver Construction gravel pit just one mile west of Wilbur. It was decided that the road surface might perform better with one-and-a-quarter inch of material to the shop location and then from the shop to the office area using five-eighths minus. Hilton was able to give the road a crown in the center for better drainage and widen the road to the original width. Hilton also recommended limiting the speed people drive. This would make road maintenance much easier. Finch ordered four speed limit signs from the Washington State Department of Transportation that will limit speeds to 15 mph. They will be posted along the route to the office.  It would be good practice to have their crew stop by annually when they are working in the area to grade it.

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Photo by WDFW

Other

Cougar Collaring, Kalispel Tribe: Biologist McCarty and Officer Copenhaver assisted with the collaring of a cougar near Newman Lake that was tracked and captured for research by the Kalispel Tribe.

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Photo by WDFW

W. T. Wooten Wildlife Area Wildlife Plantings: Wildlife Area Manager Dingman picked up seed from Clearwater Seed to plant the Hartsock food plot this spring. Natural Resource Worker Jensen used the all-terrain vehicle to drag the food plot and remove the dead vegetation in preparation for planting. The Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation gave us snowberry bushes. Natural Resource Workers Tritt and Jensen planted them along the edge of the food plot at the wildlife area headquarters. They also planted some pine trees in Campground 4 to try to replace the trees that were recently cut down by a member of the public.

Managing Wildlife Populations

Vegetation Sampling and Bighorn Sheep Surveys: Region Biologist Stewart assisted University of Idaho Ph.D. Student Huggler and Technician Lowrimore with sampling plant coverage and diversity near Asotin for use in estimating nutritional carrying capacity for bighorn sheep. Additionally, Stewart located, identified, and recorded bighorn sheep in the Asotin subpopulation. These data are collected to better understand the basic demographics of the herds, develop long-term trends in lamb survival, and detect mortality events reasonably soon after they occur.

Golden Eagle Monitoring: Assistant District Biologist Vekasy visited numerous golden eagle territories to determine breeding status. In addition, Vekasy reported incidental observations on six bald eagle territories, including new nesting occurrences on the Touchet and Walla Walla rivers.

Ferruginous Hawk Monitoring: Assistant District Biologist Vekasy visited numerous ferruginous hawk territories to determine early occupancy status. Only two territories had birds present so far this season.

Chronic Wasting Disease Operations: Natural Resource Technician Heitstuman recovered a Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) sample from a severe roadkill in the Dayton area. The Clarkston WDFW Office is being notified by the Washington State Department of Transportation (DOT) of road killed deer and elk in the area. Some CWD samples can be taken at the DOT carcass pits.

Heitstuman checked local pits for CWD samples. Supervisor Jeff Wade and Heitstuman followed up on a report for a potential CWD infected deer at a private residence in the city of Clarkston. The homeowner reported the deer had left prior to WDFW arrival.

Culvert Siting Inspection: Sherman Creek Wildlife Area Assistant Manager Palmer inspected the site of a ford on an unnamed tributary to the Little Spokane River, at Rustlers Gulch Wildlife Area on Mar. 22, 2023. He wanted to see if the site was accessible before he joins two habitat biologists on Mar. 27, 2023, to again inspect the site. Palmer found the ford easily accessible by foot, as the snow has mostly disappeared since his last visit a few weeks prior.

Bighorn Sheep Mark-Resight Survey: Assistant District Biologist Vekasy and Bighorn Biologist Stewart located, identified, and recorded bighorn sheep along a predetermined route within the Mountain View and Wenaha subpopulations, Washington, Oregon. These data are collected to estimate population abundance and determine herd demographics.

Providing Recreation Opportunities

Access Area Maintenance: Access Manager Daniel Dziekan was at Eloika Lake and reported a huge chunk of ice and rock that was left over from the county’s plowing efforts. Dziekan was able to get the parking areas and most of the pathways cleared. Access areas remain slow, even slower than last week since the ice is receding from the shore. People can’t get boats in the water yet but there is not enough ice to walk on. Liberty Lake is completely clear of ice which seems to be an anomaly. The snow is completely melted at Newman Lake and Dziekan was as able to get about three quarters of the lot blown clean before it started raining. He will be back to finish that work next week.

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Tucannon Lakes: Natural Resource Technician Tritt and Natural Resource Worker Jensen continued checking the lakes and fish screens to make sure everything was working properly. Wildlife Area Manager Dingman continued working on the Hydraulic Project Approval application for the Beaver Lake Inlet to be able to keep water flowing into Beaver and Watson lakes this summer. All staff members worked together to remove the old boardwalk that extended out over what was once the bottom drain for Spring Lake. It had become an attractive nuisance and was dangerous for the public. 

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Photo by WDFW

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Photo by WDFW

W.T. Wooten Wildlife Area Campgrounds and Parking Areas: Natural Resource Technician Tritt and Natural Resource Worker Jensen cleaned up trash in the campgrounds, parking areas, and shooting range. They bucked up an illegally felled tree and burned brush piles in Campground 10 and cleaned up trash along the roadside in the Panjab area. They picked up an abandoned lawnmower from a parking area on the Hartsock Unit. A fire ring that had been stolen and located in Dayton was returned to the Wooten Wildlife Area and placed in Campground 4.

Providing Conflict Prevention and Education

Lincoln Heights, Moose: Wildlife Control Specialist had several emails and calls regarding two moose in Rockwood Retirement Community for approximately one week. Wildlife Control Specialist McCarty sent information to Officer Copenhaver and Officer Leonetti for review. Officer Langbehn approved capture and relocation which Wildlife Control Specialist McCarty assisted.

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Photo by WDFW

Columbia County Washington State University Extension Service: Wildlife Conflict Specialist Kolb conducted a meeting with the current director of the Columbia County Washington State University Extension Service. Information was passed on existing cost-sharing programs as well as general information on carnivore and ungulate mitigation strategies. Kolb left several handouts and fliers for the office to distribute to producers.

United States Forest Service Annual Coordination Meeting/ Range Manger Contact: Wildlife Conflict Specialist Wade took part in the U. S. Forest Service (USFS) Annual Coordination meeting. Wade gave a wildlife conflict update to the group regarding wolves in Garfield and Asotin counties. Wade was also in contact with USFS Range Manger Duffle to give a wolf update and to discuss grazing questions.

Asotin County Wolf Activity: Wildlife Conflict Specialist Wade continued to have daily check-ins with the Asotin County Cattleman’s Association President and multiple producers regarding recent wolf activity. Wade traveled to the Anatone area to check for signs of wolf activity. Wade met with one producer in the area to discuss the recent activity and to deliver more FoxLights. Wade had a call from Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife Biologist Brown to discuss wolf movements and to share information regarding a group of wolves that are regularly traveling across the state line. Wade was also in contact with Wolf Biologist Spence to discuss ongoing activity and share information.

Conserving Natural Landscapes

Chief Joseph Wildlife Area Lands: Blake Rimmelspacher went to the 4-O Ranch to check on the fence that surrounds the Bucannon field and checked the field for runoff damage. The fence will need to be repaired but the field looks to be in good shape. He returned to the shop to help work on the disk for farming this spring. After repairs, Blake and Dave took the disk up to Joseph Creek for spring work. They cleaned up scrap metal around the shop and mowed some of last year’s food plot fields before spring planting takes place.

Habitat Restoration Projects: Natural Resource Technicians Harris and Janowski had a meeting with Ducks Unlimited to discuss potential involvement on a current Natural Resource Conservation Service Wetland Reserve Program restoration project.

Revere Wildlife Area Habitat Project: Private Lands Biologist Gaston and Natural Resources Technician Nizer assisted Revere Wildlife Area Manager Finch and the Inland Empire Chapter of Pheasants Forever with preparing some of their wildlife habitat plots. Gaston and Nizer took their tractor to Revere Wildlife Area and disced some of the habitat plots to prepare them for planting. Pheasants Forever will plan to seed the plots with native grasses and plant trees and shrubs in the plots to help with wildfire recovery efforts on the property.

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Photo by WDFW

Revere Wildlife Area: Wildlife Area Manager Mike Finch continued to work with Pheasant Forever Gruenke in more detailed planning prior to the April 1, and April 2, planting date. The list of volunteers is growing for the 2-day project as part of the Wager Fire Recovery efforts. Finch purchased some of the elemental sulfur to lower soil pH from Wilbur Ellis this week, prior to the Apr. 1 planting date at Revere Wildlife Area. Plants Of The Wild Nursery delivered the shrubs that Finch ordered in November to the Revere Wildlife Area. Gruenke brought out several other Pheasant Forever members to help lay out everything prior to the project date. Finch and Private Lands Biologist Baarstad hauled the tractor with a three-point auger from the Swanson Lakes Wildlife Area to Revere to stage before the project starts. Finch ordered approximately 650 plants from two nurseries. Next week, Finch will be going to Derby Canyon Natives in Peshastin to get the rest of the plants for the Revere project. Below is a photo taken of one of the planting sites at the Ducks Unlimited, phase one portion of the recent Duck Stamp Project.

Grassland Range Drill: The Swanson Lakes Wildlife Area and the Wells Wildlife Area recently ordered one 12’ Truax grassland drill for each project and that were delivered this week prior to the March 31 due date. Both drills were purchased with Bonneville Power Administration funds. Since the drills were heavier than expected, Wildlife Area Manager Finch asked a local farmer to help unload the drill from the truck with two pieces of equipment. Finch and Baarstad will be towing the drill ten miles back to the office next week. For now, the drill is sitting in safe equipment yard with the farmer’s other equipment.

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Photo by WDFW

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Photo by WDFW

Revere Planting: Natural Resource Technician Nizer coordinated with Pheasants Forever chapter of Spokane to help with a planting event that will take place at Revere Wildlife Area on April 1. Nizer will be representing WDFW and helping with managing volunteers at the planting site.

Seed Contribution: Private Lands Biologist Hadley met with members of the Blue Mountain Pheasants Forever chapter and discussed future habitat collaborations and projects. The chapter paid for one hundred pounds of upland seed grass mix currently on order for this spring’s habitat projects.

Bluebird Nest Box Relocation: Biologist Woodall and Natural Resource Technician Rimmelspacher spent a day up on Smoothing Iron Ranch removing mountain bluebird boxes off a fence before the bluebirds can claim them because the old fence needs to be demolished. They moved the boxes to other suitable locations where there would be no reconstruction disturbance. They plan to come back later and hang new boxes, once constructed, in the original locations. While in the area they looked at work projects for the upcoming Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation volunteer work party weekend. Blake also put out salt for the elk on some salting areas that had been depleted.

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Photo by WDFW

Boat-Cleaning Units Delivered: The four CD3 Systems self-contained, solar-powered boat cleaning stations for access areas in Region 1 have arrived. These units showed up a couple days early and offloading them was a bit tricky. They are currently stored at the shop at Region 1 headquarters, until they can be deployed to assigned sites later this spring.

Revere Wildlife Area: Wildlife Area Manager Finch and Pheasant Forever Habitat Chairman Mike Gruenke worked with volunteers at Revere Wildlife Area to get the 940 trees and shrubs from Plants Of The Wild and Derby Canyon Natives in to start the rebuilding effort of habitat due to destruction from the Wagner Road Fire that took out several existing shrub plantings. The focus was on the Phase 1 portion of the Duck Stamp Wetland Project and using more fire-resistant species. The planting went excellent with approximately 30 volunteers from Pheasant Forever members to Master Hunters and Washington State University students interested in wildlife conservation and getting outdoors to plant trees and shrubs. All the plantings were enclosed with cattle panels to protect them from browsing and matting as a weed barrier. Most of the work was completed by noon on Sunday but then the clean-up and making sure the tools were returned to those that brought them still needed to be done. The oldest person to sign up and work the two-day project was 81 years young. This project is the start of rebuilding from the Wagner Road fire that occurred last on Aug. 18 at the Revere Wildlife Area. The next focus will be on reseeding the utility easements and replacing the damaged poles.

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Photo by WDFW

Conducting Business Operations and Policy

District 1 Damage Permit and 3-Year Season Setting Meeting: Wildlife Conflict Supervisor McCanna participated in the damage permit and season setting meeting. McCanna provided updates on the Landowner Hunting Permit program and other hunting access concerns. The group will be meeting again to set up an antlerless elk area in the Fruitland area.

District 2 Damage Permit and 3-Year Season Setting Meeting: Wildlife Conflict Supervisor McCanna facilitated the District 2 damage permit and season setting meeting. The meeting went well with no upcoming changes.

Other

Human-Carnivore Interaction Response Training: Wildlife Conflict Supervisor McCanna, Wildlife Conflict Specialists Bennett, Kolb, McCarty, Samsill, and Wade and Technicians Harris and Janowski attended the three-day training in Moses Lake. 

Managing Wildlife Populations

Chronic Wasting Disease: Wildlife Conflict Specialist Wade fielded Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) related questions from the United States Forest Service (USFS) range manager. A local newspaper published an article detailing Idaho Fish and Game's response to CWD detection in deer populations near Slate Creek. This article has raised questions among staff and grazing permit holders. Wade recommended that Ungulate Research Scientist DeVivo would be the best source of information. Wade assisted with coordinating between DeVivo and the USFS. DeVivo will be giving a presentation at the USFS’s annual employee orientation in June.

Natural Resource Technician Janowski collected two CWD samples from an elk and a white-tailed deer. The elk was harvested using a landowner kill permit and the white-tailed deer was salvaged from a roadkill. 

Forest Grouse: Biologist Lowe, along with staff members from Regions 1, 2, and 3, conducted the annual eastside wing bee in Spokane. Biologists identified species, sex, and age class of forest grouse wings and tails collected from wing barrels during the 2022 hunting season. A reporter from a local news station visited the wing bee. The newscast can be viewed. 

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Photo by WDFW

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Photo by WDFW

Tyson Foods Permitting: Wildlife Biologist Vekasy responded to a Department of Ecology request for work window recommendations around the artificial wetlands used by the Tyson Foods animal processing facility near Burbank. Water treatment ponds attract both feeding and nesting waterbirds, and we are recommending limited activity and maintenance on the ponds during the breeding season.

Lynx Camera Monitoring: Wildlife Biologists Prince and Turnock replaced a camera in the Kettles for the purpose of monitoring lynx. The cameras are operated cooperatively with Washington State University, Department of Natural Resources, and the Colville National Forest.

Culvert Planning: Sherman Creek Wildlife Area Assistant Manager Daro Palmer hiked in to inspect an unnamed tributary to the Little Spokane River on March 7, where WDFW will be replacing a simple ford with a culvert, for improved water quality and fish passage. He found quite a bit of snow remaining. Palmer scheduled a site visit with Habitat Biologist Bruce Heiner for March 27, as staff members continue to develop plans and determine permitting requirements.

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Photo by WDFW

Providing Recreation Opportunities

Tucannon Lakes: Natural Resource Technician Tritt and Natural Resource Worker Jensen continued checking the lakes and fish screens to make sure everything was working properly. Lots of people came to the W.T. Wooten Wildlife Area to fish the Tucannon lakes on the March 1 opener. Wildlife Area Manager Dingman continued working on the Hydraulic Project Approval (HPA) application for the Beaver Lake Inlet to be able to keep water flowing into Beaver and Watson lakes this summer. 

W.T. Wooten Wildlife Area Campgrounds: Tritt and Jensen cleaned up trash in the campgrounds. They constructed a buck rail fence along the north edge of Campground 2 to discourage the public from driving into the adjacent field.

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Photo by WDFW

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Photo by WDFW

Sherman Creek Road Maintenance: Sherman Creek Wildlife Area Assistant Manager Daro Palmer inspected the winter-closed Bisbee Mountain Road using an ATV on March16, 2023. He found a couple spots where water had ditched the road, but the road was clear otherwise. The ditches will be repaired before the gate swings open for public use on April 1, 2023

Providing Conflict Prevention and Education

Wolf Education Lamont: Wildlife Conflict Specialist McCarty provided guidance and reached out to local ranchers regarding a wolf confirmation in their area that was near a calving pasture. 

Pro-Active Deterrents: Wildlife Conflict Specialist Kolb spent part of two days procuring fencing components and installing fladry, turbo fladry, and fox lights on a Columbia County calving pasture. The pasture has experienced wolf activity and depredation by wolves on cattle in the past. Multiple trail camera photos of wolves near the pasture site have been documented over the winter. The pro-active deterrents are an effort by WDFW and the producer to reduce the likelihood of carnivore activity or wolf-livestock interaction.  

Asotin County Wolf Activity: Wildlife Conflict Specialist Wade continued to work with producers in the Anatone area regarding wolf activity near active calving operations. Wade met with two producers who had active calving pastures in the immediate area of the recent wolf activity. Wade discussed preventative measures that were currently in place and recommended others. Wade delivered fox lights to one of the producers to deploy around their calving pastures and the other producer deployed fox lights that they had retained from their summer grazing pastures. One of the producers also used temporary fencing to reduce the size of their calving pasture. Wade continued with daily/twice daily updates to producers in the surrounding area and the Asotin County Cattlemen’s Association president. Wade also spent two days checking the area for signs of wolf activity and to attempt to collect information that would help determine how many wolves were possibly in the area. Two wolves were observed near one of the calving pastures and the producer hazed them out of the area with gun fire.

Continuing Education: Natural Resource Technician Harris listened to a webinar on range riding put on by Western Landowners Alliance and Montana State University.

Elk Hazing: Natural Resource Technician Heitstuman traveled to Cloverland to check on commercial crops for elk damage. A large trail was located. Due to the extensive hazing efforts in the area, this herd has become almost completely nocturnal.

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Photo by WDFW

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Photo by WDFW

Depredation Investigation, Calf, Davenport: Wildlife Conflict Specialist McCarty assisted in depredation investigation with LEO reported as a wolf but upon arriving landowner was unsure about cause of mortality. Carcass had been removed and the enclosure had been disturbed heavily with human footprints. Coyote tracks were found, blood trail was minimal due to snow melt, but video was provided by landowner that provided insight and confirmed that several coyote track lines were seen, and the blood trail was extensive. Upon skinning calf remains, punctures and scratches on the nose and hocks were indicative of smaller canid species. Confirmed coyote depredation. 

Depredation Investigation: Wildlife Conflict Specialist Wade conducted a depredation investigation on a newborn calf that a producer suspected had been killed by a cougar. Wade conducted a necropsy and determined that the calf had likely been stillborn and scavenged by coyotes. Wade assisted the producer with collecting and cleaning up the remaining hide to be used for grafting an abandoned calf to the mother cow.

Reported Wolf Sighting/Depredation: Wildlife Conflict Specialist Kolb and Natural Resource Technician Moberg followed up on a reported wolf sighting and depredation (single chicken) in the town of Dayton. After speaking with the reporting party, Kolb followed up with the Columbia County Sheriff’s Office (CCSO). CCSO reported that one or multiple domestic dogs were reported to have been involved with multiple chicken depredations the previous day. Kolb followed up with the reporting party from the CCSO report, who had photographs of one of the large domestic dogs implicated in the previous chicken depredation. Kolb shared the photo with the reporting party from the most recent incident and the reporting party indicated that it “might” be the same canine. Kolb also spoke with the owner of the chicken that was reportedly taken. The owner of the chicken stated that they were going to repair their fencing so chickens could not get out of their yard. A thorough search of the area reveled domestic dog signs, but no wolf sign.      

United States Forest Service Follow Up: Wildlife Conflict Specialist Wade reached out to the United States Forest Service (USFS) range manger to follow up on questions regarding the use of lime for carcass sanitation in the rare case that a carcass couldn’t be removed from the landscape. Wade, Range Manager Druffle and District Ranger Piper discussed the use of lime. Wade answered questions regarding the amount needed. Druffle and Piper requested that Wade inform them if lime is used for carcass sanitation on USFS property and that it is not to be used within the riparian zone. Wade forwarded the information to Conflict Supervisor McCanna. 

Asotin County Wolf Activity: Wildlife Conflict Specialist Wade continued to have daily check-ins with the Asotin County Cattleman’s Association president and multiple producers in the area of recent wolf activity. Wade and Natural Resource Technician Heitstuman traveled to the Anatone area to check for signs of wolf activity and to collect information. Wade met with two producers in the area to discuss the recent activity and to deliver more fox lights to one of them. Wade and Heitstuman located tracks from four wolves near where collar data showed there had been recent wolf activity. Wade also received two other wolf reports form Officer Sabo. The first was from a shed hunter who reported seeing three black and three gray wolves traveling near Shumaker Grade. The second was from a homeowner who hazed a black and a white wolf near his home in the Anatone area.

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Photo by WDFW

Carcass Sanitation: Natural Resource Technicians Harris and Janowski picked up a horse carcass from a landowner in North Stevens County and transported it to the Stevens County Landfill for disposal. The horse had died of natural causes and the landowner was unable to dispose of the carcass. WDFW staff members assisted to prevent predators from being attracted to the property.

Conserving Natural Landscapes

Shrub Planting: Private Lands Biologist Thorne Hadley planted additional shrubs at a habitat project on a Feel Free to Hunt property in Walla Walla County and removed weed barriers at an old shrub planting site to clean up the area. 

Spring Habitat Projects:  Private Lands Supervisor Earl met with the Garfield County Conservation District to review and line out the re-plantings that will occur this spring. Earl also visited a site for a potential new project along Deadman Creek in Garfield County.

Chief Joseph Wildlife Area Land Maintenance:  Cool weather and light rain did not stop the blackberry vines from burning. Encroaching blackberry vines on food plot agricultural fields were plucked last fall and winter by wildlife area staff and piled for a spring burn. Scientific Technician Meisner and Rimmelspacher also mowed off decadent vegetation of the wildlife area fields to promote new growth and enhance wildlife habitat. Biologist Woodall and Rimmelspacher also planted some native trees and shrubs in a shrub plot that had some openings in the existing planting. 

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Photo by WDFW

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Photo by WDFW

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Photo by WDFW

Asotin Creek Wildlife Area Land Maintenance: Wildlife area staff members finally had a good weather window to burn two small fields on the Asotin Creek Wildlife Area. The shooting range and the North Fork Trailhead fields totaling 14 acres burned easily and very fast. This burn will be good for reducing decadent fuels as it ironically did not burn in the 2021 wildfire that consumed everything around it, and the burn will also enhance wildlife habitat. 

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Photo by WDFW

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Photo by WDFW

Revere Wildlife Area: Wildlife Area Manager Mike Finch hauled a utility task vehicle to Revere Wildlife Area to meet the Avista Representative Todd McLaughlin to do a visual inspection of the utility line right of way and document the deep ruts caused from the equipment during the repairs after the Wagner Fire last Aug. 18, 2022. According to the easement agreement, the utility company is responsible for any damage caused to the property during the pole replacement. Finch and Avista Representative McLaughlin marked all the damaged areas and will be hiring a contractor to do the repair work. After the repairs are completed, WDFW will broadcast seed those areas back to a native grass mix. 

Finch also met Pheasant Forever Mike Gruenke and the new Pheasants Forever President Mike Collier for a site inspection prior to the April 1-2 shrub planting day at Revere for the start of the Wagner Fire habitat recovery. The three took soil samples at two locations at a three-foot depth so the sites can be tested for pH. Over the years several sites have probably failed due to high pH levels and depending on the levels could change the decision on where to plant certain species.  

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Photo by WDFW

 

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Photo by WDFW

Chief Joseph & Asotin Creek WLA Land Maintenance: David Woodall and Blake Rimmelspacher started their spring spraying. They started with parking lots and buildings, applying a ground sterilant in these sites for fire protection breaks and to keep parking lots vegetation free and looking good. This work will continue into the next week.  

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Photo by WDFW

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Photo by WDFW

Turkey Habitat Project: Private Lands Biologist Thorne Hadley completed site preparation of mowing and harrowing and then seeded approximately five acres and planted 100 cottonwood trees to complete a WDFW turkey funded habitat project on a Feel Free to Hunt property in Walla Walla County. 

Additional Boat-Cleaning Unit: Access Manager Dziekan has been working with Access Section staff members in Olympia to obtain and install free-to-WDFW boat cleaning stations for three access areas: Newman, Badger, and Diamond Lakes. These self-contained, solar-powered stations are produced by CD3 Systems. While not technically decontamination stations, they do allow boat users to clean the outside of their boats before leaving the access area, to slow the spread of aquatic invasive species like quagga and zebra mussels. For an annual software fee, the stations also collect usage data that can be downloaded for analysis by access staff members. Dziekan is scheduled to receive the three units on March 23, 2023. However, on March 13 Dziekan and Wildlife Area Manager Anderson were notified that an additional station would become available, and they were asked if they would be willing to take it. Both agreed to take it, preferably for Williams Lake Access Area, with a backup location of Newman Lake Access Area. The fourth unit will arrive with the other three.

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Photo by Illustration from the CD3 website.

 

Providing Education and Outreach

Gray Wolf Presentation: Wildlife Conflict Specialist Bennett presented information about gray wolves to an elementary class in Kettle Falls. They provided information of wolf biology, behavior, and answered student questions. 

Wilbur/Creston School: Wildlife Area Manager Finch and Private Lands Biologist Baarstad loaded up wood boards in the back of a pickup that were donated by Boise Cascade to WDFW. They hauled them to the Creston School so the shop students could start making blue bird and kestrel boxes prior to the field tour this coming April at Swanson Lakes Wildlife Area. Private Lands Biologist Baarstad will be taking an example of a wood duck box to the Creston School for their shop class to replicate those boxes as well. 

Coyotes, South Hill: Wildlife Control Specialist McCarty prepared and edited an existing urban coyote presentation for Rockwood Retirement Community next week.

Volunteer Project:  Biologist Baarstad worked with Hunter Education and Volunteer Coordinator Dazey to request volunteers to build more wood duck nesting boxes. Several master hunters responded, willing to help. The boxes will be placed in various locations on private lands and wildlife areas throughout eastern Washington.

Bighorn Show: Wildlife Biologist Prince and Wolf Biologist Roussin gave a presentation entitled “Managing Large Carnivores” at the Bighorn Show in Spokane. Unfortunately, attendance at the presentation was very light. However, those that did participate were given a free can of bear spray. 

Bighorn Outdoor Adventure Show in Spokane: Region 1 Access Manager Dziekan helped set up the WDFW booth at the annual Bighorn Show. He worked a Saturday shift as well. Wildlife Area Manager Juli Anderson worked a Friday shift. 

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Photo by WDFW

Creston Junior High School Science Grant Project: Wildlife Area Manager Finch is working with Creston Junior High School teacher Rosman, Creston Shop Teacher Clark, Conservation Education Curriculum Developer Eckenrod and District 2 Habitat Biologist Mackelvie planning for a student science grant project that the Creston School was successful in acquiring early this year. The project will take place one day in April and another day in June at the Swanson Lakes Wildlife Area with students collecting habitat data and identifying plants to try to identify a trend since the Whitney Fire. Eckenrod contacted Finch to discuss different educational outdoor science opportunities prior to the pre-field trip tour with just teachers on April 6.

Conducting Business Operations and Policy

Administrative Duties: Wildlife Area Manager Anderson met Swanson Lakes Wildlife Area Manager Mike Finch at Swanson Lakes headquarters on Thursday, March 2, to bring Finch up to speed on Bonneville Power Administration’s (BPA’s) CBFish online contracting system for Fish and Wildlife contractors. BPA completely funds Swanson Lakes Wildlife Area, and Finch has assumed the duty of developing and managing the annual contracts, on the WDFW side. Lands Division Fiscal Analyst Nelson also had a video call with Finch and Anderson mid-day, to discuss some expenditure issues. It was a very long but productive day.

New Damage Permit System Call: Wildlife Conflict Specialist Wade took part in a committee meeting for the new damage permit system. The committee decided to scrap the program that they were testing and seek a program created and managed by an outside vendor.

Collaboration Efforts with the Natural Resources Conservation Service: WDFW Private Lands staff members and Farm Bill Coordinator Reseland discussed an upcoming new agreement between the Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS) and WDFW. Collaborative work between the agencies has been strained in the past due to workload and timeline issues, so Farm Bill Coordinator Reseland will meet with the NRCS to discuss new agreements going forward.

Ducks Unlimited North American Wetlands Conservation Act Grant: Private Lands Biologist Gaston received notice from local Ducks Unlimited Biologist Blewett that they were successful in obtaining their North American Wetlands Conservation Act (NAWCA) grant. Private Lands Biologist Gaston worked with the Ducks Unlimited staff members to provide habitat restoration information on work already completed and assist their grant application. The grant received is for $100,000 and focuses on wetland restoration on Revere Wildlife Area in NW Whitman County. Additionally, it includes work being done by Private Lands Biologist Gaston as part of his private land's waterfowl habitat restoration program as well as work done by Swanson Lakes and Revere Wildlife Area Manager Finch.

Asotin Creek Wildlife Area Fence Work Update: A third contractor has been hired by Capital Asset Management Program (CAMP) to work on the Smoothing Iron segment of fence. The CAMP project manager and the contractor with his crew are arriving on Monday to begin work. Dice looked at fence lines at Smoothing Iron and found some of the lines are still snowed in. Deadfall trees were blocking some of the trails and Meisner and Dice sawed out the trails in Cooper Canyon and South Fork on Wednesday. Surveyors from Pace Engineering arrived this week and began their work to complete marking WDFW property lines at Harlow Ridge and in South Fork.  

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Photo by WDFW

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Photo by WDFW

Fish and Wildlife Commission Blue Sheet Presentation:  Wildlife Conflict Supervisor McCanna traveled to Wenatchee and was part of a WDFW team that responded to a blue sheet request from WDFW Commission. McCanna presented on how WDFW works with the Department of Agriculture on their grants, range rider coordination with grant recipients, and non-lethal tools used to mitigate wolf-livestock interactions and depredations. 

Other

Whitman County Joint Conservation Districts Annual Meeting: Private Lands Biologist Gaston attended the joint Conservation District Annual Meeting in Colfax. Information about pesticides and habitat in Whitman County was distributed.

Stevens County Conservation District Meeting: Natural Resource Technician Janowski, Natural Resource Technician Harris, and Biologist Baarstad attended a meeting between WDFW and the Stevens County Conservation District. The meeting produced several collaborative project ideas between both organizations.