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Southwest Washington Wildlife Reports
April 3, 2007

Region 5 Wildlife Areas

View of the planting area in the Mt. St. Helen's Wildlife Area and part of the volunteer crew at work.

Mt. St. Helens Wildlife Area Stabilization Work: Twenty-two volunteers representing The Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, Cowlitz Game and Anglers, Mt. St. Helens Preservation Society, and United Parcel Service Employees helped with a tree planting effort to help reestablish vegetation for erosion control along the Toutle River on March 24th. This yea’s project represented a replanting of work accomplished during the previous five years that had been damaged by floods last November. During the course of the day, 2000 Red Alder, 200 Sitka Alder, and 100 Pacific Ninebark were planted along a two mile area. A total of one hundred fifty Western Red Cedar and Grand Fir were planted that day and during the previous week as well. The exposed bank area had previously been seeded with an erosion control mixture. Accomplishing this work in one day was something that we could not have done without the support of these volunteers. Heavy rains later in the weekend raised the river level and did damage to some of the new planting, but much of the work is still intact. It will take several years to reestablish the vegetation that was lost in November and we are pursuing funding to install structures to further help improve riparian habitat and protect valuable elk winter range. The image at right gives a view of the planting area and part of the volunteer crew at work.

Wildlife Diversity Division

Peregrine Falcons: Biologist Anderson met with a volunteer that will be monitoring two peregrine falcon sites for WDFW this season in the Columbia River Gorge. One site is monitored annually due to the closure of a technical rock climbing area. The other survey area is a suspected nest site found in 2005.

Western Pond Turtles: Two volunteers are assisting Biologist Slavens with western pond turtle work at Sondino ponds in Klickitat County. This past week they assisted with hauling and setting traps in several wetlands on site. They have at least 56 traps distributed throughout 10 ponds. Turtles will be captured during the next month in order to determine over-winter survival and to place transmitters on females as part of the on-going "head start" program.

Bald Eagle Plan: District Wildlife Biologist Miller completed an eagle plan for a proposed harvest near the Swofford Pond eagle nest. After examining multiple maps and e-mails to exactly identify where the harvest and nest locations were, a no conflict plan was sent to the applicant.

Predator Depredation Identification and Non-Lethal Conflict Reduction Workshop: The Wildlife Program Manager attended the Predator Depredation Identification and Non-Lethal Conflict Reduction Workshop sponsored by Defenders of Wildlife, in cooperation with WDFW, U.S.D.A. Wildlife Services, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Updates on the Washington State Wolf Plan and Response Guidelines were provided. In addition, the background on Defender’s Wolf and Bear Compensation Trusts and Proactive Program was given and presentations and discussions were held on non-lethal approaches to deter livestock losses, determining the cause of death of livestock, and identifying predators in the filed.

Temporary Scientific Technician Selected: Lauren Ridenour was selected to temporarily fill the vacant position left by the resignation of Robin Woodin. Lauren will begin in mid April to help with critical surveys during the upcoming season. Permanent replacement of the Wildlife Biologist position will take place this summer.