Region 3 (South Central) | Washington Department of Fish & Wildlife

Biweekly report Mar16-31 2023 - Region 3 (South Central)

Year

2023

Dates

Mar16-31

Division/Region

Region 3 (South Central)

Report sections

Managing Wildlife Populations

District 8 Assistant District Biologist Wampole and Conflict Specialist Wetzel confirmed wolf presence of an uncollared individual in the district. District biologists will continue to monitor the area for wolf activity.

District 4 Wildlife Biologist Fidorra worked with partners and coordinated the annual meeting on artificial burrow management for regional partners in the Pacific Northwest. A recommendation from the group was to create a broader Pacific Northwest Burrowing Owl Conservation Working Group for Oregon, Washington, Idaho, and British Columbia partners in a more recurring format.

L.T. Murray Elk Feeding: The L.T. Murray crew fed elk a few days until there was enough spring grass growth to keep the elk off the Robinson and Joe Watt feed sites.

Conflict staff members and supervisors attended the Human-Carnivore Interaction Response Workshop held in Moses Lake. The training included Depredation Investigations, Cougar/Wolf/Bear Ecology, Capture and Immobilization, and other presentations including Forensic Entomology.

Conflict staff members reviewing capture equipment and cougar sampling. — Conflict staff members reviewing capture equipment and cougar sampling with statewide Cougar Specialist Beausoleil during the workshop

Conserving Natural Landscapes

Hoover Acquisition: Manager Hughes and Assistant Manager Taylor have been working together on the management plans for the Hoover Acquisition now that it has gone through. Hughes and Taylor met with the landowner to stake out an area where the boundary fence will be built on private ground. The landowner has agreed to give WDFW a fencing easement in this section. This is being done to avoid building the fence through the property line that goes into a marsh. In addition, Hughes coordinated cultural surveys done for the boundary fence that the Wenas Wildlife Area team will be building this spring. Recreation Specialist Frame and Technician Stoltenow cleared brush where a section of the fence will be built.

Water rights were a lengthy part of this acquisition. The Wenas Wildlife Area and the landowner are sharing water rights of an artesian well. The wildlife area plans to use a minimal amount of water for spraying weeds and emergency fire use. Manager Hughes is working on developing a water use agreement to be signed between the landowner and Fish and Wildlife due to the shared well. Taylor installed a butterfly valve into a 6” steel irrigation pipe. The valve installed will be used to shut off water going onto the newly acquired property.

Pumphouse Road Post Fire Area: Assistant Manager Winegeart and Natural Resource Specialist Nass assessed the Pumphouse Road post fire area for early spring vegetation and noxious weed growth. Areas that had potential for drill seeding and sagebrush plugs were identified for cultural review and anticipated seeding in the fall. A small site that had a Rimsulfuron application in the fall showed promise but a close examination of what's growing by May 1 will give a better idea of how useful the chemical will be under similar circumstances in the future.

Assistant Manager Winegeart had Central Valley Helicopters apply 1,800 pounds of native seed mix to areas within the Vantage Highway Fire footprint.

Habitat Program Support: District 4 Wildlife Biologist Fidorra conducted site visits with Habitat Biologist Makis to sites of future proposed development. Fidorra recorded inactive ground-squirrel burrows onsite and some nice intact quality shrubsteppe with surprisingly high sagebrush recruitment and intact soil crust. The site will soon be a housing development and WDFW will request mitigation, which might occur. Fidorra also participated in calls and meetings for various solar energy proposals.

Habitat Biologist Maikis checking out a shrubsteppe site of future housing development.

District 4 Wildlife Biologist Fidorra participated in the demonstration of the Least Cost Solar Siting product to be released by Audubon and Partners in April. The product identifies high priority conservation lands as well as those where wildlife concerns are lower and make development more suitable for energy projects. The product should be released April 12 to the public following this external review period.

Other

Chainsaw Safety Training: Recreation Specialist Frame and Technician Stoltenow attended and successfully completed National Wildfire Coordinating Group (NWCG) Course S-212. This course is designed to display proper chainsaw techniques and use. Chainsaw safety is a large part of the course. Many other Region 3 WDFW employees attended the class as well.

Assistant Manager Winegeart, Natural Resource Specialist Nass, and Natural Resource Technician Blore attended S-212 chainsaw training in Yakima. The crew members learned how to properly sharpen a chain, tree felling techniques, and forest stand assessment for general safety while cutting, working, or just hiking in vegetation that has potential for overhead dangers.

S212 Wildland Chchainsaw Training with DNR Ahtanum Hand, Crew Leads Schroeder and Delarosa — S212 Wildland Chainsaw Training with DNR Ahtanum Hand, Crew Leads Schroeder and Delarosa.

Forester Nequette making proper cuts to fell a tree.

Forester Nequette making proper cuts in a tree.

Photo by WDFW

New Cambell Property Signage: Winegeart and Nass noticed a new gate and posted sign on the Cambell property which borders the Green Gate Subunit on the Quilomene Unit. Upon inspection, they noticed the property has been sold and a physical/firearm training center is planned for the site. Below is some information available on the web about the planned facilities. No groundwork appears to have taken place at this time.

Photo by WDFW

Cross Valley National Training Center – Cross Valley Training

Photo by WDFW

Photo by WDFW

The L.T. Murray Wildlife Area’s new track loader arrived.

New 289D3 CAT for the L.T. Murray Wildlife Area. — New 289D3 CAT for the L.T. Murray Wildlife Area

Natural Resource Technician Blore and Natural Resource Workers Hamlin and Schneider installed a new metal gate with metal brace points to replace the wire and wood gate that burned last year at the Corrals parking area on the Whiskey Dick Unit.

New metal gate at Corrals parking area on Whiskey Dick Unit.

L.T. Murray Natural Resource Workers Hamlin and Schneider continued to pick up wire on the Whiskey Dick and Quilomene units.

Natural Resource Technician Blore checked on the condition of culvert in need of replacement on Parke Creek Road.

Providing Education and Outreach

Burrowing Owl Presentation at Sandhill Crane Festival: District 4 Wildlife Biologist Fidorra was invited to present information on burrowing owls at the Annual Othello Sandhill Crane Festival. The presentation was improved after many years using the Public Affairs WDFW template and was well received by approximately 100 people. A lively Q&A session followed. There was no WDFW outreach table this year, as their contacts for the department were out of date. Fidorra provided them with Team Ephrata information to rectify this in the future.

Burrowing owls of Washington — Burrowing owl presentation

Backcountry Horseman Rendezvous: Lands Operations Manager Finger, Wenas Wildlife Area Manager Hughes, and Methow Wildlife Area Manager Troyer attended the Backcountry Horseman Rendezvous in Ellensburg. A Fish and Wildlife booth was displayed to provide outreach and answer questions from the public. The Wenas Wildlife Area works with the Wenas Valley Backcountry Horseman Chapter to manage the Hardy Canyon Trail. The Wenas Valley Backcountry Horseman adopted this trail for routine maintenance every spring. It is a popular trail for wildlife viewing, horseback riding, and hiking. Outside of the work done on the Wenas there are many other Backcountry Horseman Chapters that help with parking area and trail maintenance projects in collaboration with Fish and Wildlife.

DWF Booth — Department of Fish and Wildlife booth

Read more about Biweekly report Mar16-31 2023 - Region 3 (South Central)

Biweekly report Mar1-15 2023 - Region 3 (South Central)

Year

2023

Dates

Mar1-15

Division/Region

Region 3 (South Central)

Report sections

Managing Wildlife Populations

California Sight of a Burrowing Owl from Washington: A male burrowing owl banded in June 2022 on the Rattlesnake Unit of the Hanford National Monument as part of a demographic study was found wintering near McKinleyville, California last month. A photographer got several photos of the banded owl to identify its origin. This owl’s coastal northern California wintering grounds is 700 kilometers away and a very different habitat than the shrubsteppe and grassland of its breeding site here in Washington. Resights of banded owls from Washington are infrequent so this sighting provides important data in understanding the wintering grounds and migration of our Washington breeding burrowing owl population.

WDFW and USFWS staff in front of a field — WDFW Wildlife Biologist, United States Fish and Wildlife staff members, and volunteers present during June capture and banding of the owl on the Arid Lands Ecology Reserve.

A band on the leg of an owl — A cropped photo collected by California photographer to identify the owl in Feb. 2023.

Artificial Burrows for Owls Ready for Spring: Wildlife Biologist Fidorra and volunteers worked to prepare and repair 65 artificial burrows for burrowing owls on lands surrounding the Tri-Cities.

A hole in the dirt that is home to a pair of burrowing owls — It may just look like a hole in the dirt, but to a pair of burrowing owls, this is home.

Cackling and Snow Goose Tagging in Columbia Basin: District 4 Wildlife Biologist Fidorra assisted Waterfowl Specialist Wilson along with additional agency staff and Alaska Fish and Game biologists to capture and tag cackling geese and snow geese for migration studies. California Fish and Wildlife contributed the snow geese tags. Four tags were placed on Taverner’s geese and 17 on snow geese at McNary.

Bait and rocket net set up on the shore — Bait and rocket net ready for geese on McNary National Wildlife Refuge.

Colockum Elk Surveys: Colockum Wildlife Area Manager Lopushinsky assisted Wildlife Program staff members Moore and Wampole in conducting the annual aerial elk surveys on the Colockum. Staff members used a parking lot at the top of the Wild Horse Wind Farm to launch and refuel the survey helicopter. Colockum Manager Lopushinsky appreciated Assistant District Biologist Wampole choosing a beautiful day to fly and survey elk.

A helicopter on the ground — Helicopter used to survey Colockum elk.

Goose Capture: Biologists Bernatowicz and Wampole assisted Waterfowl Specialist Wilson and biologist from Alaska capture cackling geese as part of an ongoing cooperative study. After a day and a half of watching geese land and walk everywhere but in front of the net, 53 geese were captured. Unfortunately, the majority, 49, were small cacklers and not the wanted Taverner's cackling geese. Four transmitters were deployed on the four Taverner's. It was obvious that the geese were somehow aware of the nets and actively avoiding them. The fields were cattle pastures where lines of hay are common. The rancher even believed the geese were present due to left over alfalfa hay.

A flock of cackling Geese flying over hidden rocket net — Cackling geese flying over the hidden rocket net.

Several people extracting geese from a net — Geese being extracted from the net.

Coordination Meeting with the Yakama Nation Wildlife Program: Region 3 Wildlife Program staff attended a meeting with their counterparts at the Yakima Nation. The purpose of the meeting was meant to discuss shared priorities and management objectives including pronghorn, big horn sheep, mountain goat and waterfowl.

Cougar Harvest: District 8 Biologist Bernatowicz sealed a cougar harvested by a tribal member on the Yakama Reservation. The hunter had a lot of questions about cougars and bears, which he believed were numerous on the reservation. The SURVEY123 system did not appear to be set up for tribal harvest as it required Game Management Unit (GMU) and WILD ID.

Elk numbers have been high at the Watt feed site as weather and temperatures fluctuate between sun, snow, rain, and wind and 22 to 42 degrees Fahrenheit. Numbers have been low at the Robinson site with estimates ranging from 1 to 300 and feeding has been based on hay left over from the last feeding, occurring every other day on average. Bulls are just beginning to lose their antlers and feeding is anticipated to end as grass begins to green up with warmer night temperatures.

DATE	SITE	COW/CALF	BRANCHED BULL	SPIKE BULL	Mortality	TOTAL
2/11/23	Watt	592	48	16		656
2/11/23	Robinson	529	47	16		592
2/17/23	Watt	143	19	12	0	174
2/27/23	Watt	735	19	31	1	785
2/28/23	Robinson					350 (estimate)
3/6/23	Watt	693	32	30		755
3/13/23	Watt	625	7	20		652

Burrowing Owl Data Submitted to WDFW database: District 4 Wildlife Biologist Fidorra compiled and submitted eight years of study data from the Tri-Cities Burrowing Owl Project. This data is important to enter as it feeds the Priority Habitats and Species database which is used in land developers during project siting.

Providing Recreation Opportunities

Wenas Target Shooting Clean Up: Recreation Specialist Frame removed 520 pounds of trash from Sheep Company Road target shooting area and Sheep Company Road and Cottonwood Creek Area. Small campfires composed of trash are common in this area.

Cleaning up Private Lands Hunting Opportunity: Private Lands Biologist Hulett and Private Lands Technician Manderbach cleaned up a private lands access site that has been plagued with litter. In total 9,500 pounds of litter was collected and taken to the transfer station.

A pile of concrete — A large pile of concrete and blocks dumped on private lands hunting opportunity.

A cleared area after concrete was removed — After a large pile of concrete and blocks removed.

A trailer filled with rubble — First trailer load of litter.

A trailer filled with trash — Second trailer load totaling up to 9,500 pounds.

Grading Parking Lots: Natural Resource Tech Barbosa has started to grade smaller public access area in the Lower Valley.

Gravel Road — Zillah Bridge Public Access after grading.

Dumping: Natural Resource Tech Barbosa and Access Manager Garcia removed a large dump pile at Duportail public access. Officer Fulton discovered the trash while patrolling the area and informed Manager Garcia of the findings.

A dump truck ready to be loaded with a pile of trash

Photo by WDFW

Hazardous Tree: Access Manager Garcia removed a hazardous tree that was along the entrance to Teanaway Junction.

A before and after shot after a hazardous tree was removed — Removed hazardous tree Teanaway Junction.

Graffiti: Natural Resource Tech Barbosa painted out graffiti at Pond 6, unfortunately the site was tagged again the next day.

Two structures tagged with graffiti — Buena Pond graffiti removal.

There has been a lot of waterfowl activity at the Sunnyside Headquarters Unit. Snow geese, white-fronted geese, and swans have been foraging in the agriculture fields near headquarters.

Waterfowl foraging in a large corn field — Waterfowl foraging in the large corn field near the Sunnyside Headquarters.

Providing Conflict Prevention and Education

Rattlesnake Hills Elk: Wildlife Conflict Specialist Hand had contact with landowners on Rattlesnake Mountain concerning current weather conditions and access. Heavy amounts of drifting snow and cold temperatures at the end of February had some roads in the area closed. Elk are continuing to utilize low elevations areas near highway 240 on the Hanford National Monument.

Ringold Beaver Damage: Wildlife Conflict Specialist Hand met with an orchard owner in the Ringold area along the Columbia River that had sustained damage to several of his cherry trees from beavers. Multiple preventative strategies were discussed as well as contact information provided for hiring a licensed nuisance control operator.

New Damage Permit System: Wildlife Conflict Specialist Hand participated on the new damage permit testing team. The first iteration of the permit system had numerous functionality issues and has been scrapped. WDFW Information Technology Division will be working with an outside vendor to start development of a new damage permit development platform with hopes of having a workable solution by early fall 2023.

Kahlotus and Paterson Deer: Wildlife Conflict Specialist Hand continued to conduct deer hazing operations at multiple winter wheat fields in the GMU 381 and wine grape vineyards near Paterson. Current mild weather conditions have deer finding adequate forage in non-crop areas.

Conserving Natural Landscapes

Byron Unit: Assistant Manager Ferguson and Natural Resource Technician Wascisin continued beaver-proofing the culvert underneath an access road in the Byron Unit with additional cattle panels after retaliatory efforts from the resident beavers causing blockages. The panels are keeping the beavers away from the culvert now, but new dams have been created upstream and downstream of the road crossing.

Assistant Manager Furguseon unclogging a culvert — Assistant Manager Ferguson clearing out culvert.

Sunnyside Wood Duck Boxes: Natural Resource Technician Wascisin helped Richland Rod and Gun Club volunteers with yearly cleaning and repair of wood duck nest boxes at the Sunnyside and Byron units.

A picture of the Johnson Wetland with a wood duck box

Photo by WDFW

Sagebrush Planting: Habitat Specialist Miller and Recreation Specialist Frame began planting Sagebrush in the Wenas Wildlife Area. These plantings will help to supplement natural regeneration of sagebrush within the Wenas Wildlife Area. Sagebrush plugs will be planted throughout the Cow Canyon Fire, Cleman Mountain, and sites that burned in the Evans Canyon Fire.

Shrub-Steppe Restoration: Colockum Wildlife Area personnel used the Colockum landing craft to assist in hauling restoration equipment and supplies to an area burned by the 2022 Whiskey-Dick Wildfire. WDFW staff members used the boat to transport an all-terrain vehicle, seeder, harrow and native grass seed to be used for early spring seeding. Access roads to the area are still snowed in making vehicle access difficult.

A boat with bags of grass seed — Colockum Wildlife Area boat preparing to haul an all-terrain vehicle and native grass seed to restoration site.

A boat on a rocky shore with an ATV — Small spring-toothed all-terrain vehicle harrow delivered to remote site, Whiskey Dick Wildlife Area.

Colockum Forest Restoration: Work has paused on the Colockum Forest Health Project as we wait for the soft, muddy roads to firm up this spring. WDFW has temporarily closed the last mile of the Ingersoll Road to vehicles, posting signs and blocking the road with logs. Depending on the weather, the road should be back open around April 30.

A muddied road blocked with trees — Ingersoll Road on the Colockum Wildlife Area temporarily blocked.

Providing Education and Outreach

Assistant Manager Winegeart attended the Eastern Washington Riparian Symposium in Ellensburg. The training took place over two days and included a day of presentations and a half day of project site visits. Bottom line, your best chance for successful shrub and tree establishment with plants that like to have their roots in water is to plant deep enough that the roots are still in water during the dry season and beaver dam analogues, when properly engineered, can greatly improve riparian habitat, and help water reach higher elevation terraces that are part of the 100-year flood plain.

A riparian restoration area near Yakima River — A riparian restoration project along the Yakima River at Ringer Loop in Ellensburg.

Several people being toured along the Yakima River — A site tour of several restoration projects along the Yakima River was led by Kat Strathman, project coordinator and ecologist with Mid-Columbia Fisheries Enhancement Group. The tour discussed project details, successes and challenges and was well attended.

Working with Partners on Fire Prevention Strategies: Private Lands Biologist Hulett took part in Bureau of Land Management’s Lower Basin fire prevention meeting. Hulett shared his knowledge and current projects with the group to help combine efforts for fuel breaks on public and private ownership.

Conducting Business Operations and Policy

Sunnyside Maintenance: Assistant Manager Ferguson and Natural Resource Technician Wascisin have been conducting maintenance on the wildlife area heavy equipment, doing fluid changes, filter changes, and any necessary repairs before the spring planting season.

Assistant Manager Furguson changing oil on a vehicle — Assistant Manager Ferguson checking hydraulic oil level after refilling.

Other

Wenas T-Post Puller Fabrication and Construction: Assistant Manager Taylor, Habitat Specialist Miller, and Recreation Specialist Frame fabricated and assembled seven T-Post pullers for future fence removal projects. The pullers are constructed from square metal tubing and flat bar. Pullers were painted blaze orange for easy visibility. All fabrication and assembly took place in the Wenas shop.

L.T. Murray Hay Damage Issues: Assistant Manager Winegeart fed elk on a few occasions and took note of water damage on some grass and triticale mixed hay. This isn’t the first time the issue of professionally installed hay tarps having holes has surfaced. Hopefully the Joe Watt barn will get a hay shed soon and this will be a problem of the past.

Hay with water damage seeping through the stack — Hay showing clear signs of water damage from professionally installed tarps.

Read more about Biweekly report Mar1-15 2023 - Region 3 (South Central)

Biweekly report Feb16-28 2023 - Region 3 (South Central)

Year

2023

Dates

Feb16-28

Division/Region

Region 3 (South Central)

Report sections

Managing Wildlife Populations

Burrowing Owl Artificial Burrow Mitigation Project Preps for the Season: District 4 Wildlife Biologist Fidorra made visits to several artificial burrow sites to check and repair owl burrows for the upcoming spring. Two owls were seen onsite and likely have overwintered here, which is not unusual in Washington’s Columbia Basin. Fidorra hopes to visit and prepare all 70 burrows prior to mid-March.

L.T. Murray Elk Feeding: Cold weather and a bit of snow have brought elk back into the feed sites. Feeding at the Robinson site remains on the lower road since the main access road is still too icy to drive.

DATE	SITE	COW/CALF	BRANCHED BULL	SPIKE BULL	MORTALITY	TOTAL
2/11/23	Watt	592	48	16		656	Aerial count
2/11/23	Robinson	529	47	16		592	Aerial count
2/17/23	Watt	143	19	12	0	174	Feed site
2/27/23	Watt	735	19	31	1	785	Feed site
2/28/23	Robinson					350 (estimate)	Feed site

Two employees on truck bed with hay — Assistant District Biologist Wampole and Volunteer Zacavish assist with elk feeding on the L. T. Murray site

Forest Grouse Wingbee: Assistant District Wildlife Biologist Wampole met with other eastern region staff members in Spokane for the annual wingbee. Hunters are asked to contribute both a wing and tail feathers to “wing barrel” collection sites. Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) and tribal staff members met to classify species, sex, and age classes from the voluntary wing barrel contributions collected this past season. This data is used to establish a harvest record and provide information on forest grouse populations.

Monitoring Disease: Bacteriology and serology results for Bighorn Sheep captures conducted earlier in the year found no confirmed active infections of Mycoplasma ovipneumoniae (MOVI) in captured and tested bighorn sheep.

Natural Resource Technician Blore and Natural Resource Worker Schneider assisted Assistant District Biologist Wampole, Lands Operations Manager Bates, and Conflict Specialist Wetzel collect a lymph node sample from a euthanized elk at the Watt feed site for Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) testing.

Conflict Specialist Wetzel observed the CWD gland removal process on an elk that died of an infection at the Joe Watt feed site.

An infected cow elk — Advanced infection in cow elk observed during lymph gland removal

Muckleshoot Deer Study: Biologist Bernatowicz investigated a radio collar deer mortality in the Yakima River Canyon. The cause of the mortality could not be determined as all soft tissue, the head, and three legs had been consumed/removed by scavengers. There has been an issue with a batch of collars either false reporting mortalities or not reporting. In this case, the collar was stationary, but the mortality sensor failed to report. Any deer mortality in relatively open typically gets consumed in about 48 hours.

Skeletal remains of a deer on the ground — Typical deer mortality that has been out a few days

Sunnyside Agricultural Lease Monitoring: Biologist Bernatowicz reviewed over 1400 pictures taken by trail cameras in the Snipes Reserve agricultural fields between Dec. 7 and Feb. 16. After deleting double photos and those that didn’t capture enough terrain (fog at night), approximately 600 pictures were used for monitoring. Waterfowl, mostly geese, use was only observed for short periods of time between Dec. 23 and Dec. 27. Use was not significant enough to create any nearby hunting opportunities. While reviewing photos, three unusual objects appeared off the end of one field in one photo. The unknown objects appear to be targets in a reserve closed to access.

Rifle targets out in the reserve — Rifle targets in the Snipes Reserve

Sunnyside Snake River Wildlife Area Assistant Manager Rodgers and Natural Resource Technician Manderbach have recently constructed a box style beaver deceiver that will be installed at the outflow of the 7 Acre Pond wetland within the Mesa Unit. As seen from the picture below, beaver activity has become frequent and has caused flooding. This outflow structure was cleared of debris two weeks prior to this photo. The new beaver deceiver will prevent the blockage from debris and will allow for the water to flow.

Debris blocking structure in water — Beaver debris at 7 Acre Pond wetland of the Mesa Unit

Providing Recreation Opportunities

Wenas Enforcement Coordination: Manager Hughes and Assistant Manager Taylor met with Sergeant Schroeder to go over priority areas of the Wenas Wildlife Area for patrolling. Hughes went over upcoming permits and larger group events that will take place on the wildlife area this spring including a long distance run off Lower Buffalo Road and a civil war reenactment. Hughes also provided an update about the Hoover acquisition and walk-in only access points, Durr Road target shooting area development, management of the Manastash Ridge Trails, and new signs that will be placed at the trail system. The Wenas Wildlife Area staff will continue to work on improving signage throughout the wildlife area at popular recreational sites where enforcement is patrolling and routinely responding to calls.

Wenas Target Shooting Clean Up: Recreation Specialist Frame removed multiple pick-up loads of trash from multiple spots within the wildlife area. Including Sheep Company designated target shooting area, Sheep Company Road, Roza Road, and North Durr Road.

Wenas Clearing Downed Trees: Assistant Manager Taylor and Habitat Specialist Miller removed windblown trees from elk fence. This ensures that the integrity of the fence is not compromised. Elk fence is essential to keeping wintering elk populations from potentially damaging adjacent private property. Assistant Manager Taylor and Habitat Specialist Miller also removed multiple windblown trees in and along Black Canyon Road. This helps to ensure that access is maintained to this site.

Providing Conflict Prevention and Education

Rattlesnake Hills Elk: District 4 Wildlife Conflict Specialist Hand met with wheat growers on Rattlesnake Mountain to discuss field conditions, elk activity, and coordinate hazing and damage permit hunting. All elk activity and observations are on the Hanford National Monument currently.

Silver Dollar and Blackrock Cattle Calving: District 4 Wildlife Conflict Specialist Hand met with three large livestock producers to discuss coyote related depredations during their calving operations. Although the coyote population appears to be strong in the area, local hunters and assistance from U.S. Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services have removed several coyotes, so losses have been minimal. Most producers are reporting that they are about 75% completed with calving for the year.

Yakima and Kittitas Counties: Conflict Specialist Wetzel and Technician Leuck worked with several hay growers who were having problems with elk in crops.

Conserving Natural Landscapes

Monitoring Proposed Construction Sites: District 4 Wildlife Biologist Fidorra made visits to some natural lots proposed for construction in Richland with Habitat Program staff members. Some shrubsteppe habitat remains on the site. A lot of jackrabbit signs and a black-tailed jackrabbit were seen during the visit! WDFW staff members will work with the city and developers to identify avoidance and mitigation options.

Standardizing Best Management Practices for Nesting Season Avoidance: District 4 Wildlife Biologist Fidorra worked with Habitat Program to draft tables to simplify construction buffers and nesting season windows for birds in the Columbia Basin portions of Region 3. More work is needed before finalizing the product to simplify and provide consistency in guidance for development projects in the region.

L.T. Murray Wildlife Area Fences: Natural Resource Technician Blore and Natural Resource Worker Schneider built metal gate brace points for corrals, jack knife, and pump house locations. They will replace wood brace points which burned in the 2023 Vantage Highway Fire. Natural Resource Worker Hamlin and Schneider continue to fix and rebuild fences in Parke Creek. These fences are part of the area's grazing pastures.

Providing Education and Outreach

Assistant Manager Winegeart worked the WDFW booth at the Sportsmen Show in Yakima. The booth was set up well and received much positive feedback from the public.

Sportsman show in Yakima — 2023 Sportsmen Show in Yakima

Other

Deceased goat with neck exposed — Necropsy of goat killed by unknown predator in Selah area

Damaged irrigation pipe — Elk damage to gated irrigation pipe in the Park Creek area

Deceased elk caught in a fence — Elk that was caught in stock fence and died in the Park Creek area

A repaired segment of fence — Fence repaired in breakaway segment near Tampico

Read more about Biweekly report Feb16-28 2023 - Region 3 (South Central)

Biweekly report Feb1-15 2023 - Region 3 (South Central)

Year

2023

Dates

Feb1-15

Division/Region

Region 3 (South Central)

Report sections

Managing Wildlife Populations

Bighorn Sheep Mycoplasma Ovipneumoniae Testing: Results of disease testing from bighorn sheep captures in the Yakima and Cleman herd earlier this year found no confirmed cases of Mycoplasma Ovipneumoniae (MOVI) in tested individuals.

Herd Surveys: District 8 staff began conducting aerial population surveys of the Cleman Mountain and Quilomene Bighorn Sheep populations and the Yakima elk herd. Populations are surveyed from a helicopter and district staff members count and classify observed animals. For elk, group sizes can vary from one to over a thousand animals. When large group sizes are found, an aerial photograph is taken, and counts are conducted from image files using digital processing tools.

Photo by WDFW

Ariel view of elk, with each elk marked digitally — Large moving groups can be difficult to count and estimates from visual observations can be inaccurate. What would you guess this group size is? If you guessed over 150 animals you are correct, this image contains 164 individual elk.

Bat Box Installation: District 8 wildlife staff members met with county representatives to determine locations of bat box installations designed to host maternity roosts in a newly planned flood plain restoration area along the Yakima River in Ellensburg.

Sunnyside Agricultural Field Monitoring: Waterfowl Specialist Wilson and Biologist Bernatowicz took down monitoring cameras and walked the agricultural fields in the Snipes Reserve looking for signs of waterfowl use outside the view of the cameras. Few pictures of waterfowl were seen during monitoring and no sign of significant use was found on the ground.

Waterfowl flying out of a field — One of the few pictures of waterfowl in the reserve fields.

Pre-season Bluebird Box Checks: District 4 Wildlife Biologist Fidorra worked with volunteers to check bluebird nest boxes installed last year. Two nests were found from last season, one with shell fragments. The species identify of the nest hasn’t been determined yet, but it was not bluebirds and may be house sparrow.

A volunteer checking a bluebird box — Volunteer checks a bluebird nest box.

Interior of a bluebird box — Insides of a bluebird nest box from last season.

Burrowing Owl Artificial Burrow Maintenance Begins: District 4 Wildlife Biologist Fidorra coordinated a few volunteers and began maintaining artificial burrows prior to the breeding season. Several burrows had vegetation from wintering skunks or needed part replacements. Two burrowing owls were seen at the six sites visited this period and likely overwintered.

Winter Audubon Climate Watch Survey: District 4 Wildlife Biologist Fidorra spent a morning conducting point counts as part of a long-term Audubon Partner’s project related to climate change monitoring.

Elk Feeding: Elk numbers are back up after a brief respite following some warm weather and snow melt. The access road into the Robinson feed site has been pure ice for the last two weeks, making it necessary to continue feeding on the lower road. This makes accurate counting nearly impossible, but numbers are back up this week there as well.

Date	Site	Cow/Calf	Branched Bull	Spike Bull	Mortality	Total
Feb. 13, 2023	Watt	767	11	14	0	792
Feb. 13, 2023	Robinson	425 est.	15	4

A truck delivering hay with elk impeding it — Several cow elk were wondering what was holding up breakfast. This one decided not to wait and came down to help herself.

Wet Moldy Hay Fire Hazard: Several smoldering bales were discovered in one of the haystacks due to a hole in the tarp and continued water seepage. The combination of wet moldy hay and tarps trapping heat nearly caused instantaneous combustion. The bales were removed, opened, and spread out away from the barn and haystacks. Re-tarping leftover hay every year may help prevent this happening in the future.

A haybale spilling out — This stack was left over from the previous year and the mushroom crop indicates long term leakage.

Sunnyside Unit Maintenance: Assistant Manager Ferguson and Natural Resource Technician Wascisin have taken advantage of the warmer weather recently to do some maintenance on the Sunnyside Unit including clearing cattails from the intake of the Giffin Lake pump and resurfacing the entrance road to the office and road to the Rice Paddies Wetlands.

A tractor clearing cattails at in intake for Giffin Lake pump — Clearing cattails at intake for Giffin Lake pump.

A box scraper surfacing road — Box scraper resurfacing entrance road.

A road leading to rice paddies — Road to Rice Paddies after repair.

Providing Recreation Opportunities

Manastash Ridge Trails Plan Implementation: Recreation Specialist Frame designed new signage for the Manastash Ridge Trails area. These signs will help inform users of wildlife area rules and regulations and provide trail etiquette and trail safety tips. Other signage will include a trails conditions sign, interpretive wildlife sign, and trail descriptions. Plans to post the new signage will begin in the spring of 2023. Members of the Manastash Ridge Trails Committee were heavily involved in the message displayed on the signs.

Wenas Target Shooting Clean Up: Recreation Specialist Frame removed three pickup loads of trash from multiple spots within the wildlife area, including Sheep Company designated target shooting area, Sheep Company road, and Roza road. These areas have seen an increase in trash burning and trash dumping. Habitat Specialist Miller also assisted in the cleanup.

Providing Conflict Prevention and Education

Ice Harbor Deer: District 4 Wildlife Conflict Specialist Hand met with a manager of a large orchard, vineyard, and blueberry farm near the Snake River that is currently experiencing deer damage to several new plantings of trees. Non-lethal hazing had been implemented with diminishing results. A Damage Prevention Cooperative Agreement and associated damage permits were developed as well as deployment of youth hunters off the Region 3 special hunt permit roster to assist in their hazing efforts.

Paterson Area Deer: Wildlife Conflict Specialist Hand patrolled areas of south Benton County near the Columbia River that have historically received deer damage to mostly wine grape operations and orchards. Although some deer activity was observed, damage was very minor at this time. As warmer temperatures develop and plants come out of dormancy, deer activity and damage will become more prevalent.

Rattlesnake Hills Elk: Wildlife Conflict Specialist Hand continued to monitor for elk activity on the Hanford National Monument and adjoining private lands. Large numbers of elk continue to occupy low elevation areas near Highway 240 on the Hanford Monument.

Youth Damage Hunt Opportunities: Conflict Specialist Hand deployed youth from the Region 3 special permit roster to three landowners experiencing deer damage in their orchards and wheat crops in Game Management Unit (GMU) 381.

New Damage Permit System: Wildlife Conflict Specialist Hand began testing the new damage permit issuance and harvest reporting system being developed by WDFW Information Technology personnel. Several hurdles in accessing the system as well as navigation through the permit development process were experienced. Problem issues were documented, and testing of the system is continuing.

Hanford Elk Crop Damage Report: Wildlife Conflict Specialist Hand completed the required field report on a 2022 crop damage claim report from elk on winter wheat in the Rattlesnake Hills area.

Kahlotus Deer: Wildlife Conflict Specialist Hand continues to work with landowners in the Kahlotus area to minimize deer damage impacts to wheat crops in GMU 381. ATVs are being used to access difficult areas of crop fields to conduct hazing efforts. Large numbers of deer continue to be observed and moved out of crop areas.

Finley Sick Skunks: Wildlife Conflict Specialist Hand responded to a call concerning skunks in Finley that were acting strange. The caller reported that the skunks were walking in circles and had lunged at humans. Four skunks were killed and removed by the landowner, and one was collected for disease sampling.

Conserving Natural Landscapes

Restoration Work: Assistant Manager Winegeart used an over the shoulder hand crank to seed two temporary water trough sites in the Vantage pasture. The area will be harrowed and monitored for weeds. Natural Resource Technician Blore checked the condition of Cayuse restoration area.

Vantage Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation Grant Proposal: Assistant Manager Winegeart completed and submitted a Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation wildfire grant proposal for the Vantage Highway Fire area. If funded, the grant will allow for aerial weed control across 1,000 acres, and aerial seeding on 200 of those acres.

A field with bluegrass and cheatgrass growing — Bulbous bluegrass and cheatgrass getting an early start on competing for space in the Vantage Highway Fire area.

Whiskey Jim Pasture Fence Repair: Natural Resource Workers Hamlin and Schneider repaired pasture and exclosure fence in Whiskey Jim pasture. New barbed wire was added to a previously non-functioning section of fence between Whiskey Jim pasture and Upper Parke pasture.

Habitat Plantings on Private Lands Hunting Opportunities: Region 3 Private Lands Biologist Hulett, Private Lands Technician Manderbach, and Pheasant Forever Farm Bill Biologist Hennings installed 400 sagebrush and bitterbrush plants on two properties enrolled in the Private Land Access Program. Each shrub planting was also flagged for the upcoming herbicide treatments.

Planted shrubs in area — Shrub Planting on Private Lands Access Site #156 Rice Road in Franklin County.

Habitat Planting at Thorton Unit: Sunnyside-Snake River Wildlife Area staff members borrowed a ten foot no-till Great Plains drill seeder from the South Yakima Conservation District for a wildlife food plot project in the Thornton Unit. The site was mowed, harrowed, and sprayed prior to seeding. The food plot mix containing don falcata alfalfa, delar small burnet, yellow sweet clover, appar blue flax, and Eagle western yarrow will provide forage for native wildlife populations including elk, mule deer, various upland birds, and pollinator species. The food plot is located within a Conservation Reserve Program section of the unit and will enhance forage availability for wildlife throughout the year. The seeder was a very efficient tool for this project. Private Lands Biologist Seth Hulett was very helpful with his instruction on calibrating and operating the seeder.

A grass seeder spreading grass into a field — Assistant Manager Rodgers seeding the Thornton food plot with a no-till Great Plains seeder.

Bryon Unit Trash Removal: Assistant Manager Ferguson and Natural Resource Technician Wascisin removed a pile of several mattresses and couches that were dumped at the Byron Unit earlier this winter. The excavator worked out to be a great trash compactor for the items.

Abandoned couches being loaded into a dump trailer — Loading dumped couches for removal.

Providing Education and Outreach

Ferruginous Hawk Outreach Presentation: District 4 Wildlife Biologist Fidorra presented to an audience of over 80 people at the Washington Ornithologists Society this month. The presentation covered Department of Ecology and some WDFW science results from movement studies and addressed the surmounting threats and declining population of ferruginous hawks. It was well received and publicly available on the Washington Ornithologists Society’s YouTube channel.

Photo by WDFW

Birds & Blooms Magazine Spotlights the Black-chinned Hummingbird: Wildlife Biologist Fidorra responded to an agency interview request on black-chinned hummingbirds for the nationally distributed magazine. Fidorra provided information on range, identification, and basic ecology of the species for an upcoming article.

Pronghorn Report Draft Complete: Wildlife Biologist Fidorra worked with District 9 staff members to draft the 2023 survey report for the south-central Washington Pronghorn survey. The draft is circulating through Yakama Nation partners before being finalized and published on the WDFW website.

Bateman Island Causeway Recreation Meeting: Region 3 personnel met with concerned members of some of the recreation interest groups at Bateman Island to discuss their concerns related to breaching the causeway and future access to the island. Overall, the groups support the restoration goals of the project but want recreational access to the well-used public space maintained.

Recreation, Facility and Management Panel: Manager Hughes attended an education panel for members of the public developed from the Kittitas County Chamber of Commerce. Guest speakers from WDFW, Washington State Parks and the Bureau of Land Management each presented information about the mission of their agencies, local projects being conducted, and what their job consist of. Hughes did an overview of the Wenas Wildlife Area touching base on future shooting range development, trail management, habitat projects focused on forest thinning, and plans to seed historic agricultural fields back into shrubsteppe habitat in the fall of 2023.

Presenting to Landowners: Region 3 Private Lands Biologist Hulett presented at the Benton County Wheat Growers meeting highlighting the Private Lands Access Program to landowners.

Conducting Business Operations and Policy

Wenas Contract Management: Habitat Specialist Miller has started to review the new Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) contract. This starts the process of ensuring that the proper documentation is submitted to fulfill statements of work outlined in the contract. A large portion of the operating and maintenance budget for the Wenas Wildlife Area is funded by the BPA.

Read more about Biweekly report Feb1-15 2023 - Region 3 (South Central)

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