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Southwest
Washington Wildlife Reports
Fred Dobler, Wildlife Program Manager
May 22, 2006
Region 5 Wildlife Areas
Mt. St. Helens Weed Control: Wildlife Area Assistant Manager Hauswald sprayed scotchbroom along one mile of road within the wildlfe area this week. Plants were scattered at low density along the road. This included approximately 25 feet on either side of the roadway (about 8 ½ acres).
Mt. St. Helens Wildlife Area Plan: Wildlife Area Manager held a meeting of the advisory group for the wildlife area to work out some last issues in order to complete the Wildlife Area Management Plan. Wildlife Biologist Miller also attended and helped to answer some of the groups questions. The group reviewed and commented on the revised elk winter monitoring protocol which will be an appendix to the monitoring plan. The group also supported proposals to prohibit dogs on the wildlife area and to close the wildlife area to public access from December 1 through April 30 each year. The advisory group members strongly supported both of these measures intended to reduce harrassment and stress on elk that use the site. The final edits have been sent to the division staff to incorporate into the final draft document scheduled to be realeased to the public on May 26th.
Wildlife Diversity Division
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Technician
Ridenour collecting western pond turtles from basking traps. |
Western Pond Turtle Management: The trapping phase of the western pond turtle program is underway at the Bergen Road site. Trapping involves daily collection of the turtles from two varieties of traps. The animals are collected for the gathering of various biological data, identification of individual animals and release. Through these efforts the population is closely monitored and the success of our Head-Start Program is evaluated. This year volunteers from the Oregon Zoo, Americorps member Estep, WDFW technician Ridenour and Biologist Holman are all participating in the population monitoring effort. WDFW thanks the Oregon Zoo and the Americorps Program for their on-going assistance and involvement in the management of western pond turtles.
The annual turtle trapping program is also under way at Pierce NWR, and is off to a good start. Weather has been favorable for trapping, with good numbers of animals captured each day. The trap layout consists of 26 traps; 13 in Pierce Lake, 3 in South Slough, and 10 in Domestic Spring Pond. Traps were placed in the ponds on May 8 and checked daily through May 13, when they were taken out of service for the remainder of the weekend. Results so far are as follows:
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The
first wild western pond turtle found at the Refuge. |
The most significant find so far is an adult western pond turtle captured on May 11 in Pierce Lake, and on May 13 in South Slough. It is a male, with a carapace length of 181 mm, carapace width of 142 mm, and weighing755 g. This is significant as this is the first wild western pond turtle found at the Refuge.
Game Division
Mt. St. Helens Elk Herd Plan: Wildllife Biologist Miller has led a regional effort to revise and update an earlier draft version of the Mt. St. Helens elk Herd Plan. All wildlife management staff in the region have contributed to this effort. Biologist McCorquodale, WDFW's Deer and Elk Specialist has also provided valuable input and advice. The regional draft will be reviewed by Program Staff this week and is scheduled to be released for public review on May 26th.