Managing Wildlife Populations

Western Bumble bee Monitoring: Biologist Tirhi spent several hours following up a report of the rare western bumble bee sent in from the public at a nursery in Graham, Pierce County as requested by Headquarter Invertebrate Lead Combs. Although several other species were captured and photographed that day, no western bumble bees were located. The public is encouraged to report any suspected western bumble bees at WDFW wildlife reporting form. Please include good photos or video from several angles.

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Photo by WDFW

Wolf Monitoring: Biologist Tirhi and Volunteer Extraordinaire Terry spent a day deploying the last functional camera for monitoring wolves in District 11 in the White River drainage near Corral Pass.

Providing Recreation Opportunities

Access Maintenance: The access team continues to paint restrooms, ADA parking stalls, and curbs, as well as addressing graffiti, and replacing signage as needed at access sites across Region 6.

Access Cleanup: The access team worked with Enforcement for removal of abandoned vehicles and RV’s in Grays Harbor, Jefferson and Pacific counties.

Providing Conflict Prevention and Education

Landowner Meetings: Wildlife Conflict Specialist Janowski and Assistant Wildlife Program Manager Blankenship met farmers across Pierce, Thurston and Clallam counties to address crop damage.

Elk Conflict: Wildlife Conflict Specialist Janowski worked on permit issuance and hand-delivered both Landowner Kill Permits and Damage Prevention Permits to landowners in Thurston County. Wildlife Conflict Specialist Janowski also dropped off a paintball gun to a producer in Orting who is sustaining significant elk damage on their vegetable crops. The producer will use the paintball gun to haze elk out of their field. The producer farms within a no-shooting ordinance area, and other noise producing non-lethal deterrents are limited.

Wildlife Conflict Specialist Janowski also responded to a call of an elk calf which had become trapped in a landowner’s pasture in Graham. The calf jumped into the fence line and had been trapped and unable to find its way out for over five days. Janowski arrived on scene and walked up to the calf, which then jumped the fence out of the landowner’s property. Reporting party was appreciative of the response and further advice was provided.

Cougar Depredation: Wildlife Conflict Specialist Janowski coordinated with Fish and Wildlife Officer Izatt and Fish and Wildlife Sargent Jewett on a cougar depredation report in Sequim. The cougar killed five goats over the course of two weeks and Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife staff members determined a lethal removal action was required. Both a cougar trap and a local hounds man were deployed, the animal was successfully removed, biological samples were taken, and the carcass was donated to a local tribe.

Wildlife Conflict Specialist Janowski also received a call from Fish and Wildlife Officer Schrader regarding a possible cougar depredation on a horse in Mason County. Photos of injuries were shared with Janowski, and Officers Schrader and Janowski determined the animal likely was not attacked by a cougar.

Conserving Natural Landscapes

Rat Island Avian Influenza Management: Wildlife Program staff members continued clean-up efforts at Rat Island which is part of the Marrowstone Unit of the North Olympic Wildlife Area. This work has helped reduce the viral loads on the unit from an outbreak of Avian Influenza in the nesting Caspian terns. More recently, it spread to harbor seals.

Western Pond Turtle Habitat: Assistant District Biologist Butler and Wildlife Area Manager Laushman met with Capital Asset Management Program staff members to start work on a habitat improvement project which will create new nesting mounds for western pond turtles.

Oregon Spotted Frog Habitat Management: Biologists Tirhi and Butler oversaw contracted Washington Conservation Corps teams mowing invasive reed canary grass (Phalaris arundinacea) at three listed spotted frog breeding sites (Mima, Salmon, Allen Creeks, Thurston County). The funding for this annual mowing is paid for by the Chehalis Basin Strategy, Amphibian Species Restoration Plan. Reed canary grass invasion in spotted frog breeding sites is one of the most threatening aspects impacting frog recovery. Mowing canary grass using hired Washington Conservation Corps (WCC) crews is a cost-effective means of control. The grass is mowed heavily in late summer/early fall to maintain the low structure/open water spotted frogs depend on for successful egg laying in late winter. The WCC crews cut previously for one day per site in August and returned for additional mowing this September. Tirhi and Butler were both onsite various days to assist mowing using a Billy goat brush cutter.

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Photo by WDFW

Managing Wildlife Populations

Oregon Spotted Frog Recovery: Biologist Tirhi and Real Estate Services Specialist Buck met with a landowner in the Allen Creek drainage of Thurston County to discuss his interest in purchasing an existing WDFW conservation easement on the neighboring property. Tirhi is continuing to contemplate and discuss with the landowner a possible future where his desire to graze cattle and/or hay would promote the objectives of spotted frog habitat improvement within the easement.

North American Bat Acoustic Monitoring (NABAT): Biologist Tirhi spent time uploading the District 11 NABAT data obtained from the four deployed acoustic monitors. Biologist Butler will likewise be uploading data from her four deployed locations. Data will be analyzed by WDFW Bat Species Lead Tobin. See July 2023 Highlights for explanation of this annual bat monitoring project.

Western Bumble Bee Monitoring: Western bumble bee is a candidate species for listing due to its dramatic decline across Washington and the west. For this reason, WDFW and partners have been conducting bumble bee surveys over the past several years. Based on a credible report of western bumble bee in Dupont, Biologists Butler and Tirhi and volunteer Cheney spent a day conducting surveys at two nearby locations in Steilacoom. Although several other species were captured and photographed that day, no western bumble bees were located. The public is encouraged to report any suspected western bumble bees at WDFW wildlife reporting form. Please include good photos/video from several angles.

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Photo by WDFW

Western Pond Turtle: Biologist Murphie deployed two artificial basking structures at the western pond turtle recovery site in District 15. A PIT tag (passive integrated transponder) antenna array was placed at the pond and fitted to one of the platforms. Trail cameras were also placed to collect images of turtles using the platform. Over 300 turtles were released in this pond from 2005-2013. All the turtles released are uniquely marked and have a PIT implant. The objective of this effort is to see if the PIT tag antenna array can identify remaining turtles released into the pond. Secondarily, we are looking for turtles that are unmarked and potentially new recruits hatched at the pond. Biologist Murphie has counted 36 turtles basking at various locations around the pond and positioned one of the basking platforms with antennas adjacent to basking logs with the most current activity. After a month of deployment and monitoring, it doesn’t appear that the platform is getting any use by turtles. This may be related to the “newness” of the platform, availability of other structures for basking, or simply that the platform is not in the right place. Regardless, Biologist Murphie removed the monitoring equipment on Aug. 30 and will try again next season. He intends to leave the platforms deployed over the winter and plans for an earlier deployment of the monitoring equipment next season.

Mourning Doves: Biologist Cent wrapped up trapping and banding mourning doves. The mourning doves seemed to arrive later this year, and numbers were lower than normal. She banded 52 doves during this year’s trapping efforts.

Beller’s Ground Beetles: In an effort to identify new populations of Beller’s ground beetles, Biologist Cent conducted reconnaissance of two sphagnum bogs (the habitat of these beetles) in Grays Harbor and Pacific counties. These efforts will continue next August once additional land access permits have been approved.

Bat Acoustic Surveys: Biologist Cent conducted District 17’s annual bat acoustic surveys. She deployed four acoustic detectors overnight in order to detect bat presence and identify species at various habitats within the district.

Providing Recreation Opportunities

Hunting Prospects: Biologists Butler and Tirhi further updated District 11 game species data spreadsheets. Biologist Tirhi used that data to update the 2023 Hunting Prospects for District 11. New this year is better informed game harvest data for small game and upland bird species provided by headquarters. Hunters having general questions related to hunting in any district should first be directed to the Hunting Prospects.

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Photo by WDFW

Sooty Grouse: Biologists Butler and Tirhi recovered three acoustic monitors for sooty grouse that had been deployed in spring, along assigned monitoring routes in the southern portion of District 11. The data (over 2,000 files) from each monitor was downloaded to HQ as requested. The data will be analyzed by the Small Game Section lead by Species Specialist Garrison.

Wolf Monitoring: Biologist Tirhi and Volunteer Cheney spent two days changing batteries and SD cards on trail cameras deployed in the Carbon River and White River drainages of District 11. The SD cards are screened by Volunteer Terry and then later redeployed. While credible reports of individual wolves have been reported in the district, no wolf or wolf packs have been confirmed within District 11 to date. This monitoring is done in partnership with Northwest Trek, U.S. Forest Service, Manulife, and Conservation Northwest.

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Olympic Goat, Deer and Elk Status and Trend Reports: Biologist Murphie completed updates to the Olympic goat, Olympic deer, and Olympic elk status and trend reports. Other data work associated with these write-ups was also completed. Reports are now available for supervisor review.

Union River Wildlife Viewer: Partners at the Hood Canal Salmon Enhancement Group installed a wildlife viewer provided from WDFW’s Watchable Wildlife Program at the Union River Unit in Belfair. The viewer includes an ADA accessible attachment as well as autocorrection lenses for color-blind viewers.

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Olympic-Willapa Hills Wildlife Area: Construction of a new 3,000 square foot pole barn was recently completed at the Olympic-Willapa Hills Wildlife Area headquarters. The staff members there utilize a range of machinery and standard farm equipment in managing the wildlife area, some of which has had to be stored outdoors throughout the winter simply due to a lack of sheltered storage space. The building has been a regular capital budget request item dating back to at least 2008, and its construction now fulfills this long-term need.

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Photo by WDFW

Pierce County - Crescent Lake: The access team repaired potholes, weather cracks, and washout areas with asphalt repair on State Game Access Road in Gig Harbor which is the access road to Crescent Lake water access. The area of asphalt is over 500 feet long these efforts took 13,000 pounds of cold patch asphalt. Another 400 feet of gravel roadway was graded with minor potholes filled in. This roadway has been an area of contention with residents, Pierce County, and WDFW. No one knew who was responsible for the maintenance and each believed it wasn’t their responsibility. Water access made these repairs for now with future talks between Pierce County Works and WDFW to take place in the future.

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Photo by WDFW

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Photo by WDFW

Kitsap County - Kitsap Lake, Long Lake and Wildcat Lake: The access team worked with Washington Conservation Corp on installing new monofilament recycling tubes. The collaboration has resulted in eight additional WDFW access locations with the collection sites, including three in Kitsap County. The expansion has been in the works for several months, approximately 25 more recycling tubes will be installed at access sites across all eight regions and six counties.

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Photo by WDFW

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Photo by WDFW

Grays Harbor - Chehalis River and tributaries: The access team, with assisstance from Enforcement, cleaned up several dump piles and an abandoned vessel left in the Chehalis River

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Photo by WDFW

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Photo by WDFW

ADA Maintenance: The access team also has continued painting restrooms where needed and began refreshing preparing and painting ADA parking stalls, curbs and replacing signage as needed.

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Photo by WDFW

Conserving Natural Landscapes

South Puget Sound Northwest Youth Corp: A Northwest Youth Corps (NYC) crew continued to do weed control and site clean-up at the unit in Lakewood through collaboration with the Clover Park Rotary Club.

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Photo by WDFW

Oregon spotted frog habitat maintenance: Biologists Butler and Tirhi each oversaw Washington Conservation Corps (WCC) work groups which were hired to cut invasive reed canary grass that invades and threatens listed Oregon spotted frog breeding sites. WCC crews are hired annually to provide this assistance. One day each was spent at our Salmon Creek, Allen Creek, and Mima Creek recovery sites. The work crews focused on cutting grass within specific plots that are the focus of research on the use of the herbicide Imazapyr to impede canary grass growth and thus increase the efficiency of mowing (e.g. reduce the rate/need to mow). The effect of Imazapyr on reed canary grass, on spotted frogs directly, and bioaccumulation at treatment sites is being investigated. WCC crews will return to Salmon Creek for two more days in September and Allen Creek for one day in October for additional mowing.

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Photo by WDFW

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South Puget Sound Weed Control: Weed Specialist Heimer assisted Wildlife Area Manager Laushman in knotweed control along Chambers Creek at the South Puget Sound Unit in Lakewood.

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Photo by WDFW

Noxious Weed Control: Biologist Novack and Cent spent a week operating a skidsteer with a brush hog to mow invasive blackberries at Davis Creek Wildlife Area, Hoxit Wildlife Area, and the Region 6 headquarters in Montesano.

Providing Education and Outreach

General Wildlife Inquiries: Biologist Murphie responded to inquiries received by phone, email, or in person related to bear, elk, deer, pocket gopher, waterfowl hunting, squirrels, and bats.

Conducting Business Operations and Policy

Aircraft Safety Training - Instructor: Biologist Murphie provided a basic airplane and helicopter class at the Natural Resource Building in Olympia this period. Staff members from the Fish and Wildlife programs attended.

Other

Status and Trends: Biologist Novack submitted draft versions of the Status and Trends report for Willapa Hills deer and elk.

SOBA Training: Water Access Manager Reeves participated in the SOBA (States for Boating Access) symposium. The symposium is where state, federal, and private agencies gave presentations in relation to grants funding and displayed new technology and successful projects for any and all things associated with boating, boating access and industries, and related fields. Several individuals from WDFW gave great presentations.

Managing Wildlife Populations

Bullfrog Management and Control: Biologists Tirhi and Butler participated in a half day workshop on invasive bullfrog control, removal, and management followed by an evening of training. Their learning included various bullfrog capture and euthanasia techniques and equipment training. District 11 strongly needs to increase their bullfrog management program considering the agency is working hard on listed Oregon spotted frog and Western pond turtle recovery. Both species are predated by non-native bullfrogs and bullfrogs are partially responsible for their demise. The training workshop was organized by the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service Lacey office while the field capture and dissection training was hosted by Biologist Munes with the Billy Frank Jr. Wildlife Refuge.

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Photo by WDFW

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North American Bat Acoustic Monitoring: North American Bat Acoustic Monitoring (NABat) is a multi-national, multi-agency coordinated bat monitoring program across North America. Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (Department) has been a participating agency in NABat across the state for several years. Several biologists in the Department participate and are assigned a 10-by-10 kilometer sample unit that remains consistent year to year. For one to two evenings per year, the biologists deploy an acoustic monitor capable of recording all bats by species and totals in each of the 5-by-5 quadrants of the unit. Biologists Butler and Tirhi completed their assigned NABat monitoring deployment in District 11. More information on the program can be found here.

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Photo by WDFW

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Photo by WDFW

Western Pond Turtle: Biologist Tirhi and Technician Leopold spent a day at the Woodland Park Zoo processing hatchling pond turtles for the 2023 release to the wild. Pond turtles are a Washington State endangered species and the Woodland Park Zoo has partnered with WDFW for 32 years on the recovery of this important native species. Each year, WDFW brings pond turtle eggs from the Pierce County recovery site to the zoo to hatch and grow for one year. In late July, those hatchlings are weighed, measured, and specially marked in preparation for their release back to the wild (scheduled for August) where they will spend the rest of their lives aiding in the recovery of their population. Over 1,000 zoo visitors visited the event this year. 2023 marks the 32^nd year of this Head Start program and one of the longest ongoing recovery programs at WDFW. Media story here.

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Photo by WDFW

Fisher Monitoring: Biologists Tirhi and Butler along with Volunteers Terry and Cheney spent several days removing scented camera stations deployed in the fall of 2022 for fisher monitoring (Pekania pennanti). The monitoring is occurring across sections of the south Cascades where fishers were released in the past with one camera deployed per area. District 11 had deployed eight cameras. Tribal, city, state, and federal partners were deployed. Each station contains a camera tree positioned across from a tree containing a skunk lure dispenser, a beef bone, and a band for collecting hair samples. Tirhi and Butler have documented fishers in three of the four cameras checked so far and one wolverine! The other four cameras await check. Cameras took between 800-3,000 pictures each. All eight of the district deployed cameras were functional at retrieval and although bears and cougar (and other wildlife) had visited most, none had been destroyed or camera dislodged.

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Photo by WDFW

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Photo by WDFW

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Photo by WDFW

Bat Maternity Roost Monitoring: Biologists Butler and Tirhi organized a group effort to count bats at the Western State Hospital in Lakewood. This is an annual survey that involves a minimum of seven people to conduct. Staff members and volunteers stage themselves outside the various buildings and count bats as they emerge from their roost locations in the attics and crawl spaces of the hospital. Bats have occupied the attic spaces of these buildings for over 30 years. WDFW has partnered with Washington Department of Social and Health Services (DSHS), who runs the hospital, to separate the bats from the staff and patients and manage all facets of the colony occupation. Bats occupy three known roost locations from spring to summer and are comprised of females raising pups. There are likely other smaller unknown locations that non-breeding females and males use on the grounds. This year the count was down from approximately 500 in 2022 to approximately 250 this year. This could be due to observer error, changing flight patterns of the bats, or a true population decline. WDFW focuses on longer term trends rather than year-to-year declines. Regardless, the hospital is one of several colonies that WDFW is annually monitoring trends to determine whether White Nose Syndrome is affecting Washington’s bat colonies as it has on east coast populations. This year also featured a media event to showcase how DSHS and WDFW are working together to conserve bats and run a hospital including the replacement of one of the buildings housing a bat colony. WDFW appreciates the commitment of DSHS in helping conserve Washington’s valuable wildlife species.

Snowy Plovers: Biologist Cent checked on the last of the active plover nests. All known nests have now hatched or failed, though plovers are still in the area. Two nests at Midway were confirmed to have hatched a total of three chicks. All other nest fates were unknown.

Band-tailed Pigeon: Biologists Cent and Novack completed annual counts at known mineral sites. Grays Point, along the Columbia River, was surveyed for the first time with assistance from the Spartina Crew Member Mikkelsen and an airboat. District 10 Biologist Holman brought a boat from Region 5 to assist with the survey at the Cosmopolis site. Moclips mineral site had low numbers this year (45 birds), but Biologist Novack confirmed that some birds use the site further upriver and out of sight of the previous survey location.

Biologist Novack arranged visits to newly discovered mineral sites for confirmation from U. S. Fish and Wildlife Services (USFWS) Biologist Sanders. Waterfowl Section Biologist Hamer assisted with providing boat access to sites in the Willapa River and Clallam Bay. District 16 Biologists Ament and McMillan guided them to three sites within Clallam County.

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Photo by WDFW

Mourning Doves: Biologist Cent began trapping at one of District 17’s mourning dove trapping sites. Ten birds have been trapped and banded since trapping began. The second site where trapping occurs each year has yet to have a significant number of doves show up, though the landowner continues to bait each day. Hopefully, trapping will begin at this second site in the next week or two.

Mariposa Copper Butterflies: Biologist Cent began collection of mariposa copper butterflies at North Bay Bog, a Department of Natural Resources property in Grays Harbor County. She is also scouting the Elk River Unit, which is a site which once had wild cranberry bogs, the habitat of mariposa copper butterflies, to determine if the wildlife area is home to any coppers.

Black River Elk Capture: Biologists Novack and Cent attempted to capture and collar a cow elk at the USFWS Black River site near Littlerock with assistance by USFWS Manager Nakai and the Nisqually Refuge biologist. The objective is to track the movements of these elk that are in close proximity to I-5 and create conflicts with private landowners. A group of 43 elk were found in the open fields and Biologist Novack was able to get into range for placing a tranquilizer dart. Unfortunately, almost every adult cow appeared to be afflicted with Treponeme-associated hoof disease and were not suitable candidates for placement of a telemetry collar. Another effort will occur in winter when migratory elk come to the property that will likely have some healthy elk.

Western Pond Turtle: Biologist Murphie deployed two artificial basking structures at the Western pond turtle recovery site in District 15. A PIT tag (passive integrated transponder) antenna array was also placed at the pond and fitted to one of the platforms. Trail cameras were placed to collect images of turtles using the platform. Over 300 turtles were released in this pond from 2005-2013. All the turtles released are uniquely marked and have PIT implant. The objective of this new effort is to see if the PIT tag antenna array can identify remaining turtles released into the pond. Secondarily, we are looking for turtles that are unmarked and potentially new recruits hatched at the pond. Biologist Murphie has counted 36 turtles basking at various locations around the pond, but so far it doesn’t appear like they are using the platforms. Stay tuned, as adjustments to antenna placement and number of antennas deployed are made.

Bear Hair-Snare Project: Biologist Murphie along with carnivore section and regional staff set up 36 stations in GMU 636 to collect hair samples from bears from May through July. If successful, the project will provide an estimate of bears in GMU 636. Biologist Murphie reports collecting 744 samples (a sample can be an individual hair or a cluster of many hairs) at the conclusion of the sampling phase. On camera, visitors included turkey vulture, deer, squirrel, bobcat, cougar, spotted skunk, grouse, unidentified weasel, raccoon, and bears. More to come, as analysis from this project is completed over the next few months.

Bat Counts: Biologist Murphie participated in bat counts organized by U. S. Forest Service (USFS) biologists at the Snider Work Center and the Intorem Cabin on the Duckabush.

Band-tailed Pigeon Mineral Site Counts: Biologist Murphie conducted counts of band-tailed pigeon at two mineral sites in District 15. He reports count totals were at or below previous years. Additional analysis will generate the final index for these sites.

Providing Recreation Opportunities

Band-tailed Pigeon: Biologist Tirhi conducted the annual band-tail pigeon survey of the Mud Bay mineral site. Tirhi counted 220 band-tails using the site this year compared to 239 in 2022 and 263 in 2021.

Hunting Prospects and Status and Trend Reports: Biologist Murphie completed a first draft of the 2023 District 15 Hunting Prospects. He also completed the first draft of the Olympic goat status and trend report and started the Olympic deer status and trend report. Other data work associated with these write-ups was also completed.

Pierce County, American Lake: Region 6 water access staff have been working around the influx of users at water access areas. While vegetation control is a large part of access staff regular duties, these projects are often difficult to accomplish due to the hazards of navigating around vehicles and pedestrians. The other main consumer of time during the summer season is litter collection. Usually, a handful of water access areas will contribute to 90 percent of the litter collected throughout any county. In recent weeks, the recreational activity and litter collection at American Lake Access Area has been above and beyond the normal seasonal increase. The past three weeks of routine maintenance visits has accumulated over 1100 pounds of litter collected. The most recent visit consisted of 600 pounds and over seven hours logged for collection and disposal. The previous maintenance visit, just one week before, tallied 280 pounds of litter collected. Access staff and Enforcement are looking for ways to help improve this ongoing issue.

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Photo by WDFW

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Photo by WDFW

Grays Harbor County, Black Creek and South Montesano: Region 6 water access staff members worked with Washington Conservation Corp (WCC) crew on expanding the monofilament recycling programs collection bins. This recycling program has proven successful with collections bins at WDFW access areas in Kitsap, Mason, Pierce, and Thurston counties. The collaboration of the water access team and WCC has been favorable to both programs. They have increased recycling efforts and planed an expansion at other water access areas in the remaining Region 6 counties starting in Grays Harbor. Recycling bins were installed at four access areas: Black Creek, South Montesano, Double Bridges and Fuller Bridge. Plans to install additional bins in Grays Harbor, Clallam, Jefferson, Pacific counties will continue in the weeks to come.

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Photo by WDFW

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Photo by WDFW

Kapowsin Lake: Region 6 access team prepared and arranged for new striping, directional arrows, ADA parking, walkways, and speedbumps at Kapowsin Lake. The previous striping was no longer visible, and the parking structure was all but lost. These improvements should help users navigate the parking areas much easier and once again have areas designated for those with disabilities. This is part of a larger effort by the water access crew to steadily bring this access to better overall condition. A pattern of misuse, vandalism, and vegetation overgrowth had this site in poor condition.

Conserving Natural Landscapes

Rat Island: Wildlife Area Manager Laushman and Biologist Norris put up signage at the Marrowstone Unit of North Olympic Wildlife Area to close Rat Island due to an outbreak of avian influenza.

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Group efforts from the Wildlife Program have helped reduce the viral load of avian influenza at the Marrowstone Unit of North Olympic Wildlife Area. The main part of the unit is closed due to an outbreak of avian influenza in Caspian terns. Biologist Ament, Water Access Team Members McKinlay and Walker, Wildlife Area Manager Laushman, Wildlife Veterinarian Haman, Technician Norris, and Safety Manager Mundy traveled to the island to remove tern carcasses and assess the colony.

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South Puget Sound: A new gate was installed for the South Puget Sound Wildlife Area in Lakewood to reduce trespassing.

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Chehalis Unit Acquisition: Biologist Novack provided some information to Real Estate in preparation for the upcoming Commission meeting when a 40-acre acquisition will be proposed.

Union River: Wildlife Area Manager Laushman, Habitat Engineer Lockwood, Habitat Restoration Coordinator Waldbillig, and Grants Manager Weller conducted a tour of the Theler Wetlands, adjacent to the Union River Wildlife Area Unit to discuss future restoration ideas with partners at the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Hood Canal Salmon Enhancement Group. 

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Bell Creek: Wildlife Area Manager Laushman, Assistant Regional Wildlife Program Manager Blankenship, and Assistant Lands Division Manager Lowery met with long-time volunteers and partners with the Department of Natural Resources and other local groups at the Bell Creek Unit, part of the North Olympic Wildlife Area. The group met to discuss next steps for the oak woodland restoration project that has been on-going at the unit for over 20 years, thanks to dedicated volunteer support.

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 Skokomish: Wildlife Area Manager Laushman cleaned up trash at the Skokomish Unit and refreshed signage.

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Photo by WDFW

Providing Education and Outreach

General Wildlife Inquiries: Biologist Murphie responded to inquiries received by phone, email, and in person related to deer, rabbit, bear, and a bat.

Conducting Business Operations and Policy

Aircraft Safety Course Instruction: Biologist Murphie conducted a basic aircraft class in Montesano during the review period. The next one is scheduled for August.

Chemical Immobilization: Biologist Murphie conducted final turn-in and destruction of expired immobilizing drugs for the District 15 station, as the station is being closed. Associated paperwork has been completed.

Meetings Attended: Biologist Murphie participated either in-person or online in meetings discussing cougar, sooty grouse surveys, deer surveys, and the Avian Influenza outbreak on Rat Island.

Other

Drug Coordination: Biologist Novack conducted administrative duties relating to chemical immobilization drugs. He supplied Enforcement with chemical immobilization drugs and destroyed excess drugs that were past their expiration. Inventories and logs have been updated.

Managing Wildlife Populations

Snowy Plover: Biologists Cent and Novack completed the third and final round of breeding adult snowy plover surveys with the help of various WDFW staff members. Below is a summary table of the adults observed during the three surveys (“visits”) in 2023. Numbers at Midway Beach continued to trend downward compared to prior years. Plover observations were fairly consistent at Conner Creek and Copalis Spit. Six nests were discovered at Midway Beach during survey efforts, three nests were discovered at Copalis Spit, and one at Conner Creek. Three chicks were observed in the final survey at Midway Beach. Biologist Cent will continue to monitor active nests as time allows.

Streaked Horned Lark: Biologists Cent and Novack completed the last round of lark surveys. Below is a summary table of the three surveys completed during the 2023 breeding season. After a site visit to Damon Point showed the habitat was no longer suitable for breeding larks, Biologist Cent determined the site did not need to be surveyed in 2023. The habitat at Oyhut Spit (adjacent to Damon Point) is now very marginal, which likely explains why no larks were observed this season. Numbers of larks at Shelton Airport and Midway Beach were similar to the last surveys conducted in 2018, with a slight increase at Midway.

Conserving Natural Landscapes

Protection Island: Wildlife Area Manager Laushman, Prairie Specialist Cook, and Biologist Norris worked with a Sound Native Plants crew to spend time working on weed removal and dune grass transplanting on Protection Island, part of the North Olympic Wildlife Area.

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McNeil Island: Wildlife Area Manager Laushman treated noxious weeds including Japanese knotweed and tansy ragwort on McNeil Island.

Irondale Beach: The Water Access team assisted Wildlife Area Manager Laushman in cutting overgrown vegetation around the parking and trails at Irondale Beach, of the Chimacum Unit, and refreshed signage.

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Photo by WDFW

Irondale Beach: The Water Access team assisted Wildlife Area Manager Laushman in cutting overgrown vegetation around the parking and trails and refreshed signage at Irondale Beach, of the Chimacum Unit.

Lands 20/20: Biologist Novack submitted an initial draft proposal for land acquisitions along the Chehalis River Valley in Grays Harbor County.

National Association of Clean Water Act (NACWA) Grant: Biologist Novack provided review and support to partners with Ducks Unlimited for their application for federal funding from NACWA. WDFW is providing match dollars from property acquisitions that have already occurred or are funded for the next fiscal biennium. The grant proposes to undertake wetland enhancement and restoration actions on public and private lands within Thurston and Grays Harbor counties.

Conducting Business Operations and Policy

Customer Service: Biologist Novack has handled several questions from hunters after the permit draw results were posted.

McNeil Island: Wildlife Area Manager and Assistant Regional Wildlife Program Manager Blankenship attended the quarterly McNeil interagency meeting to facilitate coordination and planning on the island.

Managing Wildlife Populations

Sooty Grouse Population Monitoring: Biologist Tirhi completed the last sooty grouse survey for this year within the assigned survey routes for District 11. This survey, done June 13, is technically past the survey window (March-May) but the district was only able to get one survey completed on one route this season, so Tirhi decided to attempt one other. No grouse were seen or heard, lending support that the height of the calling season has now passed. This is a new survey approach and the time the district had available for sooty grouse was spent locating and setting up the routes (for the future) and getting equipment deployed. Tirhi spent time following the survey finalizing another route for next season. District 11 was encouraged to establish and survey:

• Three routes have been fully established.
• Two surveys were conducted to protocol.
• Three acoustic monitors were deployed.
• One route was shelved for tribe to conduct in 2024 since it’s on tribal land.
• One route was eliminated due to lack of access. It is behind a private gate.
• One route has been defined but needs listening stations added.
• One route is partially established but needs completion and listening stations.

Deer and Elk Collaring: Biologist Murphie helped the Makah Wildlife Program in their efforts to collar juvenile deer and elk. This effort will provide insight into fawn and calf survival in the study area. Murphie reports several being captured, and they are close to meeting project objectives for this session.

Western Pond Turtle: Biologist Murphie deployed two artificial basking structures at the western pond turtle recovery site in District 15. A PIT tag (passive integrated transponder) antenna array was received and will be fitted to a platform next week. We hope to identify which turtles released into the pond are still present.

Taylor’s Checkerspot Butterfly: Biologist Murphie conducted the last of this season’s survey effort during this reporting period. Overall, the counts were considerably lower than expected.

Bear Hair-Snare Project: Biologist Murphie along with carnivore section staff members set up 36 stations in Game Management Unit (GMU) 636 to collect hair samples from bears over the next few weeks. The first check was also completed and Biologist Murphie reports that hair samples were collected from 17 of the 36 stations. On camera visitors included a turkey vulture, deer, squirrel, bobcat, spotted skunk, and a few bears. More to come, as this project is conducted.

Providing Recreation Opportunities

Management Planning: Biologist Tirhi worked on various management planning documents and participated in planning meetings including the Scatter Creek Wildlife Area Habitat Management Plan and the Game Management Plan update (elk section).

Conserving Natural Landscapes

Protection Island: Noxious Weed Coordinator Heimer, Prairie Specialist Cook, and Wildlife Area Manager Laushman visited Protection Island, part of the North Olympic Wildlife Area, to assess next steps for invasive species control on the island.

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Photo by WDFW

Union River: Noxious Weed Coordinator Heimer and Wildlife Area Manager Laushman met with members of the Pierce Conservation District at the South Puget Sound Unit in Lakewood to discuss potential riparian restoration work along Chambers Creek.

Bell Creek: Technician Morgan mowed annual grasses along the boundary of the Oak Restoration Project at the Bell Creek Unit in Sequim, of the North Olympic Wildlife Area. The mowing is in response to fire concerns related to upcoming community fireworks display in a neighboring park.

Union River: Wildlife Area Manager Laushman toured the Union River Wildlife Area Unit in Belfair to discuss upcoming potential estuary restoration work with biologists from the Habitat Program and partner organizations.

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Providing Education and Outreach

General Wildlife Inquiries: Biologist Murphie responded to inquiries received by phone, email, or in person related to mystery scat, deer, bear, waterfowl hunting and elk hunting.

Managing Wildlife Populations

Sooty Grouse Population Monitoring: Biologist Tirhi spent some time in May establishing the district’s assigned sooty grouse survey routes. District 11 has four routes to establish and monitor for 2023 (each route having 15-30 listening stations) and three acoustic monitors to deploy. All District 11 routes for 2023 are on Weyerhaeuser property in Game Management Unit (GMU) 667. The routes take a considerable amount of time to establish since each must incorporate an assigned starting location. Forest roads must be investigated for accessibility, permanent listening stations must be established 0.05 miles apart from each other, acoustic monitors must be deployed in secure locations, and logistics of forested locations must be dealt with (snow, clearing downed trees, closed road, etc.). To date, District 11 has established three of the four routes and deployed two of three monitors with plans to conduct actual surveys on the routes the remainder of May and into June. 

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Photo by Audubon Field Guide

Sooty Grouse: Biologist Cent established a snow-free sooty grouse survey route and completed one survey, just before the end of the survey period.

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Photo by U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

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Photo by WDFW

Streaked Horned Lark: Biologists Tirhi and Butler completed collecting the first and second of three surveys of state and federally listed streaked horned lark at the Olympia Airport. The airport is one of the four remaining breeding locations for larks in the South Puget Sound. Tirhi reported 16 observations of individual birds (Butler's totals are not available at this time) which appear to be stable compared to the last count conducted in 2020. Butler and Tirhi added additional survey area for the first time this year such that all grasslands at the Olympia Airport were now included in the survey. These extended areas have traditionally not contained breeding larks and so were left out of previous surveys for expediency of meeting survey protocol timelines. Surveys should begin within half hour of sunrise and end by 11:00 a.m. or earlier on 80-degree days. The extended surveys added significant time to the survey which took the team almost nine hours to complete! This also took the survey outside of the protocol ending timelines; this contingency was approved by our Science Lead Pearson when necessary. Tirhi concluded that a third observer will be necessary to complete future surveys closer to established protocol.

Streaked Horned Lark: Biologists Cent and Novack completed initial surveys for streaked horned lark at various sites. Larks were plentiful at Midway Beach.

Snowy Plover: Biologists Cent and Novack with assistance from other WDFW and non-WDFW staff members completed surveys for western snowy plovers on Washington beaches in conjunction with the range wide surveys conducted in Oregon and California. Final numbers are pending but appeared to be low at Midway Beach and Leadbetter Point.

Band-Tailed Pigeon: Biologists Novack and Cent went to District 16 to establish a pair of trapping sites for band-tailed pigeons. The two landowners kept the traps open and baited for a number of days until Biologists Novack, McMillan, Hamer and Section Manager Spragens were able to conduct captures. Nine birds were caught at Clallam Bay and the team attached three transmitters. An additional three transmitters will be attached at a later date.

Conserving Natural Landscapes

Union River: Noxious Weed Coordinator Heimer and Wildlife Area Manager Laushman toured the Theler Wetlands in Belfair with weed specialists from the Mason County Noxious Weed Board to plan for future invasive species treatment in the area.

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Photo by WDFW

South Puget Sound Volunteer Event: The Clover Park Rotary Club coordinated their biannual community workday at the South Puget Sound Unit. Volunteers helped weed and mulch the native garden, add boundary blocks, and pulled Scotch broom.

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Photo by WDFW

Discovery Bay Visit: Forest Specialist Tveten and Wildlife Area Manager Laushman met with staff members from the North Olympic Salmon Coalition (NOSC) to discuss forest health conditions in the Discovery Bay Unit. NOSC has helped to plant native riparian habitat on the unit along Snow and Salmon creeks for the last two decades, and now are considering how best to treat the growing stands. Tveten advised the group on thinning methods and tree health.

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Photo by WDFW

Scotch Broom Bio-Control Release: In early May, the Olympic Wildlife Area staff members employed a new approach in controlling Scotch broom, the release of 600 Bruchidius villosus, also known as the Scotch broom bruchid. The bruchid, a type of bean weevil, was first approved by USDA and released in the Pacific Northwest in 1998 to limit seed production of Scotch broom. The female bruchid will typically lay about ten eggs on the seed pod of the plant. The larva then hatches from the egg at the point it is attached to the pod and burrows into the pod, where it develops and feeds on the seeds. Once a population is established, usually taking about three years, seed pod attack rates are expected to be highly variable (10-90%) as is seed destruction (20-80%). Like all bio-controls this insect alone will not eradicate Scotch broom, but in this case, it will hopefully become a contributing factor in preventing it from spreading.

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Photo by WDFW

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Photo by WDFW

Lands 20/20 Proposals: Biologist Novack presented a number of proposals to Lands Division and other regional staff members for potential inclusion in the upcoming Lands 20/20 cycle.

Conducting Business Operations and Policy

Onboarding: Biologist Tirhi completed required checklist for onboarding Seasonal Technician Sharpe, including having her complete the required training and policy reviews. District 11 is excited to have Sharpe onboard to assist with western pond turtle monitoring, Oregon spotted frog water hydrology monitoring, and other ad hoc district tasks. 

Equipment Inventory: Biologists Novack and Cent completed their equipment inventory for the year.

Other

South Puget Sound: The Ecosystem Services Division from the Habitat Program conducted a field visit and meeting at the South Puget Sound Unit in Lakewood. Wildlife Area Manager Laushman and Biologist Butler presented their work in the area to the group and walked the unit together.

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Photo by WDFW

Managing Wildlife Populations

Oregon Spotted Frog: Biologist Tirhi completed collecting and entering data for one of three spotted frog breeding sites where habitat restoration is ongoing. Assistant District Biologist Butler collected on the other two. Only those known sites having ongoing habitat restoration were counted in 2023. The balance of this year’s frog time was spent searching for new locations where spotted frogs may be breeding. Water levels were low across all habitats in District 11 this season, which may have affected the number of egg masses that were laid at several sites.

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Photo by WDFW

Sooty Grouse Population Monitoring: Biologists Butler and Tirhi spent a day scouting and establishing their assigned sooty grouse survey routes. District 11 has five routes to establish and monitor for 2023, all of which are on Weyerhaeuser property in GMU 667. Tirhi is working with Weyerhaeuser to complete the necessary permits. Meanwhile, Tirhi spent one day, Butler spent one day, and the two together spent a third day beginning to establish the first four routes beginning at the assigned start point. One difficulty they experienced was the late snow conditions across the Cascades Range. The team brought the district’s tracked all-terrain vehicle (ATV) up one day and used it to successfully get above the snowline and establish one full route. Each route has 15 to 30 listening stations, spread one mile apart.

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Photo by WDFW

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Elk Monitoring: Biologists Butler and Tirhi along with Nisqually Tribe’s Wildlife Program Manager Borrego completed a 4-hour survey of GMU 654 and part of GMU 653 in the North Rainier Elk Herd. GMU 654 has not been surveyed by air in over 30 years and while it was suspected of having fewer elk than surrounding GMUs, the reality was unknown. GMU 653 is known to support the highest number of elk in the herd. The flight team successfully surveyed the entire planned survey area with the available funds. Only 68 elk were observed during the flight, with the majority of those located in the portion of 653 that was flown. This confirms the suspicion that GMU 654 supports fewer elk compared to surrounding GMUs, regardless of the numbers of animals harvested in the fall. These results will allow Biologist Tirhi to better evaluate hunting season levels, the population target in the herd management plan, and provide a valuable missing piece of information in analyzing the herd population trends in GMU 654. WDFW greatly appreciated the United States Forest Services’ Mt. Baker and Snoqualmie national forests who contributed $2000 towards this survey effort.

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Photo by WDFW

Streaked Horned Lark: Biologist Tirhi represented WDFW at the annual Larks and Airports Working Group meeting hosted by Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) at the Portland Airport. The meeting included presentations and discussions from various airports in Oregon and Washington that either contain breeding larks or have the potential habitat to support and attract breeding larks. Tirhi presented on the finalization of a Best Management Practices (BMP) document that Tirhi spearheaded with the working group beginning in 2018. The BMPs contain management recommendations addressing all aspects of airport maintenance and development while minimizing impacts to breeding larks.

Providing Recreation Opportunities

Maintenance and Access Projects: The access team performed a wide variety of maintenance tasks with extra emphasis placed on hazardous tree removal, access area driveways, and parking conditions. Gravel and cold patch asphalt were distributed at several sites across Mason, Pierce, Thurston, Kitsap, and Jefferson counties. The access team has also been preparing seasonal lakes for the trout opener on April 22.

Pierce County, Horseshoe Lake: The paved entrance was severely damaged from rainfall nearly three yards of asphalt was needed to bring the Horseshoe Lake approach back into shape.

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Photo by WDFW

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Photo by WDFW

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Photo by WDFW

Pierce County, Jackson Lake: The access team fell two hazardous trees at Jackson Lake, one fir that was heavily leaning over the parking area and a large dead madrone that was a potential hazard over the boat ramp area. Gravel was also placed in washed out areas of the gravel lot.  Firewood from the trees was given to the Kitsap Sportsmans Club. Their clubhouse is also located on Jackson Lake.

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Photo by WDFW

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Photo by WDFW

Kitsap County, Buck Lake: The access team repaired the roadway with gravel, cold patch asphalt, and brushed out the shoulders of the access road.

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Photo by WDFW

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Photo by WDFW

Jefferson County, Triton Cove: Asphalt repairs were made on the entrance and exit approaches at Triton Cove and Pleasant Harbor’s entrance road and parking area.

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Photo by WDFW

Conserving Natural Landscapes

Marrowstone Unit: Technicians Havens and Anderson from the Fish Program assisted Wildlife Area Manager Laushman in installing new signage on Rat Island, part of the North Olympic Wildlife Area, to help discourage summer disturbance of nesting terns and pupping harbor seals.

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Photo by WDFW

Bell Creek Unit: Wildlife Area Manager Laushman attended a volunteer event at the Bell Creek Unit of the North Olympic Wildlife Area where volunteers removed protective caging from a large-scale Garry oak restoration project.

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Photo by WDFW

South Puget Sound Unit: Technician Morgan mowed about 12 acres of scotch broom at the South Puget Sound Unit in Lakewood, clearing trails and fields that were crowded in by older plants.

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Photo by WDFW

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Photo by WDFW

Elk Forage Field Maintenance: With the weather becoming more favorable every week, the Olympic Wildlife Area staff members began the annual task of removing broken limbs and branches from the elk forage fields. Using primarily a tractor and chainsaw, Assistant Manager Gallegos and Technician Martinez spent the past several weeks clearing fields in the Wynoochee Mitigation Sites and Olympic Units. Removing the broken limbs and branches is just the first step in the annual maintenance of these fields and allows for more efficient operations the rest of the year, including their cultivation, mowing, and fertilizing. Several of the fields had an abnormally high amount of material, as this task was kept to a minimum last year due to vacant staff positions.

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Photo by WDFW

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Photo by WDFW

Providing Education and Outreach

Rat Island Volunteer Training: Wildlife Area Manager Laushman coordinated a training for volunteers from the Friends of Fort Flagler, who will serve as docents in the summer months to help educate visitors about nesting Caspian terns and harbor seal haul-outs on the Marrowstone Unit of the North Olympic Wildlife Area. Presentations were given by Research Biologist Pearson, Watchable Wildlife Coordinator Hansen, and Volunteer Coordinator Tilton.

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Photo by WDFW

General Wildlife Inquiries: Biologist Murphie responded to inquiries received by phone, email, or in person related to:

• Missing birds.
• Mountain quail.

Conducting Business Operations and Policy

2023-2024 Work Planning: Biologists Tirhi and Butler participated in the Region 6 Wildlife Program/HQ planning meeting. This meeting is held annually to decide what tasks regional district biologists will be doing, how much time will be allocated to each task, in which months, and which funding source will be used. This is done for both game and diversity species work.

Biologist Murphie completed several tasks related to routine operations:

• Vehicle maintenance and upgrades completed this period.
• Taylor’s checkerspot butterfly survey training and prep.
• Elk plan meeting and prep.
• Puget Sound Ecosystem Monitoring Program (PSEMP) survey data error checks.

Managing Wildlife Populations

Martin: Biologist Tirhi, Volunteer Sheridan and Pt. Defiance partners put martin boxes up at Chambers Bay. Volunteer Sheridan will monitor the boxes annually.

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Photo by WDFW

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Photo by WDFW

Elk Surveys: Biologist Murphie recently participated in composition surveys for elk in the Clearwater Game Management Unit (GMU) 615 along with Biologist Ament and Quinault Tribal Wildlife Program Lead Phillips. Digital images were taken during the survey of encountered elk groups.  From these images, biologists can get an accurate tally of elk and determine the number of bulls, cows, and calves in each group. A preliminary tally from this survey was 323 elk with some known or marked groups located in cover and not counted.

Western Pond Turtle: Biologist Murphie conducted site maintenance at the western pond turtle recovery site in District 15. Additionally, he built and deployed a basking platform. Later this summer, the platform will be fitted with a passive integrated transponder (PIT) tag antenna array from which we hope to identify which turtles we released into the pond are still there. Biologist Murphie will build and deploy at least two more platforms in May.

Taylor’s Checkerspot Butterfly: Biologist Murphie has been preparing for this season's butterfly survey work in District 16. He conducted the first surveys of the season on April 27 and 28, when weather conditions were ideal. However, he reports that no Taylor’s checkerspot butterflies were seen.  More to come, as these surveys will be conducted over the next few weeks.

Sooty Grouse: Biologist Murphie reports that persistent snow along several higher elevation roads in the district continue to delay work on the sooty grouse survey effort. Biologist Murphy reports hearing/seeing male sooty grouse courtship displays/calling this period on April 24 and 26. Murphy deployed one audio recording device, as part of the effort to better document the timing and extent of this behavior. 

Conserving Natural Landscapes

Lands 20/20: Biologist Novack and Cent worked on developing proposals for the upcoming Lands 20/20 process.

Providing Education and Outreach

Snowy Plover: Public Service announcements focused on Snowy Plover protection were broadcast over the radio during Earth Day weekend when recreationists were visiting the beaches to harvest razor clams. Shellfish staff members surveyed diggers and found that 11-12% of recreationists within the broadcast area heard the radio ads before going out to dig.

General Wildlife Inquiries: Biologist Murphie responded to inquiries received by phone, email, or in person. Including:

• Deer with hair loss 
• River otter 
• Elk hunting 
• Western pond turtle 
• Turkey hunting 

Conducting Business Operations and Policy

Aircraft Safety Training Course: As an instructor for this course, Biologist Murphie did some planning around the next course to be held in Port Townsend in May.

Other

Other planning/prep work: Biologist Murphie also spent time planning upcoming bat and bear work.

Managing Wildlife Populations

Elk Surveys: Biologist Murphie and biologists from the Quileute Tribe conducted an elk composition survey of the Dickey, Game Management Unit (GMU) 602, and Sol Duc, GMU 607 this period. Final tallies will be compiled from digital images taken during the flight.

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Photo by WDFW

Forest Grouse Wing Bee: Biologist Murphie participated in the annual forest grouse wing bee. Here biologists sort through samples of grouse wings and tails deposited by hunters at several collection sites in western Washington. Although a final accounting of what was collected is not available yet, Murphie does report lower than expected sample submission this year in District 15.

Elk Composition Surveys: Biologist Murphie, Biologist Ament, and Quinault and Quileute tribe biologists conducted elk composition surveys of GMUs 602, 607, 612, and 615.

Elk Collaring: Biologist Murphie assisted the Skokomish Tribal Wildlife Program in collaring three adult cows in GMUs 636 and 651. These are part of long-term monitoring efforts of these units.

Game Management Plan: Biologist Murphie reviewed draft versions of bear, cougar, and waterfowl sections in the next Game Management Plan.

Western Pond Turtles: Biologist Murphie conducted routine site maintenance at a western pond turtle recovery site in District 15.

Providing Recreation Opportunities

Pierce County: The access team continues to whittle away at undesirable vegetation at Lake Kapowsin and other Pierce County sites in preparation for the upcoming fishing season. These efforts are making a considerable difference. Crew members are committed to improving these sites and developing future maintenance plans for users and the local community.

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Photo by WDFW

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Photo by WDFW

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Photo by WDFW

Thurston County: The access team repaired fences at a couple locations. Some fences were damaged by weather events, by vehicles, or from normal wear and tear.

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Photo by WDFW

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Photo by WDFW

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Photo by WDFW

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Photo by WDFW

Conserving Natural Landscapes

Big Beef Creek: Wildlife Area Manager Laushman and Technician Morgan cleared the Lost Highway access road and trail at the Big Beef Creek Unit of the South Puget Sound Wildlife Area, mowing thick scotch broom and brushing out the trail to Morgan Marsh.

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Photo by WDFW

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Photo by WDFW

Chimacum Creek: Wildlife Area Manager Laushman and the Hood Canal Coordinating Council attended a site visit to sections of Chimacum Creek adjacent to the North Olympic Wildlife Area’s current Chimacum Unit to discuss potential future WDFW acquisitions.

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Photo by WDFW

Dungeness signage: Biologist Ament helped repair and replace boundary signage at the Three Crabs Unit of the North Olympic Wildlife Area.

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Photo by WDFW

South Puget Sound: Technician Morgan has continued to open up the oak prairie habitat at the South Puget Sound Unit in Lakewood by mowing scotch broom throughout the unit.

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Photo by WDFW

Providing Education and Outreach

South Puget Sound: Wildlife Area Manager Laushman met with the coordinator of the local Rotary Club and a program coordinator for Northwest Youth Corps to tour the South Puget Sound Unit in Lakewood and discuss upcoming opportunities for summer youth crews at the area. The next community workday at the South Puget Sound Unit is May 20, at 9:00 a.m. All are welcome to join.

General Wildlife Inquiries: Biologist Murphie responded to inquiries received by phone, email, or in person related to:

• A weasel.
• Mysterious feathers.
• Deer and elk hunting.
• River otter concerns and conflict.

Discovery Bay: Wildlife Area Manager Laushman helped with a planting event for Chimacum Middle School students coordinated by the North Olympic Salmon Coalition. Students prepared planting designs and planted around 200 native shrubs and trees to help restore the riparian area between Snow and Salmon creeks at the Discovery Bay Unit of the North Olympic Wildlife Area.

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Photo by WDFW

Conducting Business Operations and Policy

Work-planning and Other Preperation: Biologist Murphie began planning and coordinating for surveys and other work to be done later this spring or summer. This work will include new projects for bear and grouse in District 15, as well as coordinating elk surveys and western pond turtle work.

Murphie participated in fiscal year 2024 to 2025 work planning session.

Managing Wildlife Populations

Dusky Canada Goose: Biologists Novack and Cent completed another round of dusky goose surveys. Overall goose numbers in Grays Harbor County were low. A yellow collared cackler goose was seen off Parpala Road in Pacific County along with a healthy cohort of red-collared dusky Canada geese.

Providing Recreation Opportunities

Maintenance and Access Projects: The access team has tackled a variety of projects beyond the normal maintenance including cleaning illegal dumps, fence repair, sign replacement, graffiti removal and disposal of abandoned vessels.

Pierce County, Bay Lake: Team Members Friemund and Walker removed the abandoned boat from the Bay Lake access. 

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Photo by WDFW

Pierce County, Kapowsin Lake: Access staff members replaced signs, repaired fencing and continue ongoing efforts for large amounts of vegetation removal.

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Photo by WDFW

Kitsap County, Big Beef Creek: Big Beef Creek Team Member Walker assisted Wildlife Area Manager Laushman by removing a fallen tree blocking the access gate.

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Photo by WDFW

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Photo by WDFW

Grays Harbor County, Morely: Several illegal dumps were cleaned and disposed of.

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Photo by WDFW

Grays Harbor County, Porter: The interior of the restroom at the Porter ramp was completely repainted due to graffiti, the before pictures were not included due to content. The numerous obscene graphics were covered up very quickly after being discovered.

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Photo by WDFW

Conserving Natural Landscapes

North American Wetlands Conservation Act: Biologist Novack continues coordination and collaboration with Ducks Unlimited and various WDFW staff members on identifying restoration and acquisition projects for a North American Wetlands Conservation Act grant proposal.

Native Plantings: Wildlife Area Manager Laushman assisted with post-restoration plantings on McNeil Island with biologists from Department of Natural Resources, a Washington Conservation Corp crew and a Nisqually planting crew.

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Photo by WDFW

Tarboo Visit: Wildlife Area Manager Manager Laushman and Forest Health Specialist Tveten visited the Tarboo Unit of the North Olympic Wildlife Area to discuss plans to improve the forest health of densely growing stands.

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Photo by WDFW

Providing Education and Outreach

Calls From Birdwatchers: Biologist Novack answered various customer service calls. What appears to be a common crane was seen associating with a small group of sandhill cranes near Elma. Apparently, the birdwatching networks are spreading the word for birders to check off an unusual visitor from their lists.

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Photo by WDFW

School Visit: Biologist Murphie gave a presentation about counting ducks and data at a local school.

Public Inquiries: Biologist Murphie answered public inquiries about deer and deer hunting, osprey, eagles, big game hunting, and ducks.

Conducting Business Operations and Policy

Snow Creek Resort: Access crew worked with Capital Asset Management Program on preparations for the upcoming work at Snow Creek Resort.

Grant Applications: Access Manager Reeves presented three Recreation and Conservation Office grant application presentations.

Public Contact: Access Manager Reeves met with several property owners that neighbor water access sites.

Aircraft Classes: Biologist Murphie held two aircraft related classes.