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Southwest Washington Wildlife Reports
Fred Dobler, Wildlife Program Manager

January 13, 2006

Game Division

Three-year Package Public Mtg: Goldendale– Biologist Anderson joined a meeting with the Klickitat Cattleman's Assoc. to get input on deer management in Klickitat County. They thought about 15 would show up and it ended up with 30. These folks are all landowners and a good portion are hunters. David used prepared material to provide background information on the Gorge units. He provided handouts of a PPT presentation on Grayback deer and also used slides on genetics provided by Science Division Biologist Ken Warheit.

There was little discussion or concern about season structure, antler point restrictions etc. They did not have concerns with or question the biology we presented. These folks are more concerned about hunter trespass and damage. Most everybody feels that the doe population is too large as these animals are camping out in small herds on their alfalfa fields. The general consensus is that we need to have in place a way for landowners to deal with damage.

Most people like the idea of permit hunting for all of GMU 588 as they feel there are too many hunters and trespass is a big problem, especially on their lands adjacent to the Klickitat Wildlife Area. Some would like to see us have permit only hunting for the wildlife area as an option. Using antlerless permit holders to deal with damage on private lands was discussed. To David's surprise the majority of people liked the idea of permit hunters contacting (willing) landowners for access. We assumed that landowners would prefer that WDFW provide landowners with a list of willing hunters to contact. Their argument was that if a hunter is serious about coming to their property, they will call. The landowner can then determine when they participate. Of course most landowners liked the landowner damage permit options that WDFW is proposing.

Wildlife Manager Fred Dobler (right) at public meeting with Vancouver area archers.

Three-year Package Public Mtg: Vancouver Archers– Wildlife Manager Dobler was contacted by a local archer who took issue with the WDFW proposal to change archery opportunity in the Grayback unit (GMU 588). Dobler agreed to meet with all who would come to discuss this and other local issues, and a meeting was set for Jan. 10, 2006. When it became clear that only a few archers were likely to make this meeting the invitation was extended to the Vancouver Wildlife League, Cowlitz Game and Anglers, and Yacolt Burn Sportsmen's group through their respective chairmen.

The meeting was lightly attended but those present were very attentive and felt strongly about the issues. Background information was provided with a series of PowerPoint presentations highlighting each of the local issues. The only issue that fueled much discussion was the reduction of opportunity for archers in GMU 588. Most present said that they had seen plenty of bucks during the late archery season, and did not believe that our surveys could be right. (Our recent post-season surveys indicated very low buck:doe ratios in GMU 588.) I expect that we will hear more of this opinion during the upcoming meeting on the 17th of January.

Mt. St. Helens Wildlife Area Elk Monitoring– A survey of the Mt. St. Helens Wildlife Area by Biologist Miller provided little new information about numbers. He observed two people walking the center road and this disturbance no doubt had influence on the elk present. Only 63 elk were counted. In conjunction with their radio-tracking work, the Toutle High School FFA volunteered to scan the area visible from the Weyerhaeuser Visitor Center viewpoint to help locate winter mortalities. They observed one mortality last week. The one mortality does not cause us concern at this time nor trigger any action. The carcass will be evaluated the next time WDFW staff is on the wildlife area.

Wildlife Diversity Division

Great Egret spotted in Woodland, Washington.

Watchable Wildlife: Great Egret in Woodland– Jan Webster, one of the Region 5 front desk staff, reported the following observation:

"I had the fortunate experience of watching a Great Egret from my yard in Woodland Washington. I live across the street from a schoolyard and he dropped in for a couple of hours of feeding. I witnessed through binoculars him/her feeding on night crawlers. He would forage for a bit and then hop to another “good spot” for another time of feasting. He spent a couple of hours making his way around the whole schoolyard. My husband did not work the next day and had the opportunity to view him once again foraging in the schoolyard. This took place on Sunday January 8 and 9, 2006."