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Southwest Washington
Wildlife Reports
March
17, 2008
Region
5 Wildlife Areas
Cowlitz Wildlife Area
Cavity Nesting Box Survey: Assistant Manager Richard Vanderlip and Natural
Resources Technician Casey Morris finished the annual artificial cavity nest
box survey. Once a year the Cowlitz Wildlife Area staff visit the nest boxes
to clean and fill them for the coming season’s nesting pairs (mostly Wood
ducks). At this time the data are collected for the previous year’s use
and damaged boxes are repaired or replaced. The 2007 nesting season’s
use and success rates were slightly down (~4%) from the previous year. However,
areas that had in the past seen little activity showed a substantial increase
this previous year. The downside is that the wildlife area’s big producer
(Oxbow Lake) had a very poor year.
Riffe Lake Low Water Levels: The water levels on Riffe Lake are again at very low levels at 695 feet. Full pool is at 778 feet. This low water condition has exposed a lot of bank usually underwater and, with an article written in the local paper, many people are visiting the lake. A reminder - it is unlawful to artifact hunt on the Cowlitz Wildlife Area and, furthermore, a permit is required to remove any resources natural or cultural.
Recreation Information - Riffe Lake Water Levels: Tacoma Power updates lake levels and other recreation information on its toll-free Fishing and Recreation Line every weekday at 1-888-502-8690.
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| Area
on Mt. St. Helen's WLA that was planted with willow and cottonwood cuttings. |
Mt. St. Helens Wildlife
Area
Stabilization Planting: On Saturday March 8th, Wildlife Area Manager Calkins,
Technician Leif Fox, and ten volunteers began planting the area where three
wood structures were built in December to establish woody vegetation as a long-term
erosion control measure along the Toutle River. The area behind two of the three
structures has filled with sediments and was very easy to plant. During the
day, an estimated 4-5000 willow and cottonwood cuttings and 100 rooted sitka
alder were planted in a stretch of about 1/4 mile including areas just up and
downstream of the three structures. The photo at right is representative of
the area behind one of the structures that was planted with willow and cottonwood
cuttings. During the following week, Wildlife Area employees planted an additional
550 rooted trees and shrubs including pacific ninebark, redosier dogwood, black
cottonwood, sitka spruce, noble fir, Douglas fir, and grand fir. The cottonwood,
spruce ,and fir are all being placed in four foot high plastic tree shelters
and 12 inch diameter wire tubes anchored with rebar stakes to protect them from
elk browsing and dehydration until they are well established.
Closure Still In Effect: The public is reminded that the closure of the Mt. St. Helens Wildlife Area to public use remains in effect until May 1st. Last year WDFW noted that a number of violations occurred, particularly during the months of March and April. Fish and Wildlife Law Enforcement officers were able to catch up with some of the violators but not all. The timing of last year’s violations of the closure coincided with the timing of antler drop of the bulls in the herd. Because the temptation of collecting antlers was enough for some to violate the closure and in some instances run the entire herd off the winter range, WDFW is taking a new approach in hopes of discouraging some of these violations. Employees will be picking up shed antlers incidental to other work, including winter-feeding that is still under way, but no special effort is being made to search for them. Antlers from winterkill bulls, which are not legal to posses at any time, are also being removed. At the end of the season the antlers will be transferred to personnel in WDFW's Region 3 to be included in a sale being organized there. By implementing this measure, we hope to discourage unlawful use that could lead to additional winter mortality in the herd by further stressing the animals during the most critical time of the winter for them.
WDFW does conduct habitat work on the area during the closure period, including forage management and other activities such as the tree planting discussed above, but WDFW takes measures to minimize disturbance to the animals during the operations. We also limit our activities to those that must be done at this time of year in order to be successful.
Game
Management Division
Mt. St. Helens Elk Herd: Using a combination of aerial and ground counts,
Regional Wildlife Program Manager Jonker, Wildlife Area Assistant Manager Hauswald,
and Wildlife Biologist Holman conducted a survey of elk on the North Fork Toutle
River. See the table below detailing greater than 800 on the valley floor of
the North Fork Toutle River from its initiation point on the North Side of Mt.
St. Helens to the confluence with the Green River. Most animals were concentrated
on the St. Helens Wildlife Area in the vicinity of this winter's feeding operation.
It is likely that the North Fork Toutle River valley currently supports nearly
10% of the entire Mt. St. Helens elk herd.
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