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Southwest Washington
Wildlife Reports
September
26, 2008
Game
Management Division
Longview Elk: Region 5 Wildlife Program staff Jonker, Miller, Prince,
and Enforcement officer Lantiegne met with administrative personnel from the
city of Longview to discuss the recent 2009-11 hunting season package proposal
to liberalize hunting in the Stella GMU. The issue of elk coming into Longview
city was also discussed and it was decided that before any further action is
taken within the city limits that we would get a better understanding of the
magnitude of the problem (elk on roads, eating plants, on golf course, etc.).
The city supported the new proposal to change the hunting regulations in Stella
and, if this proposal is approved and implemented, they would like to meet again
with WDFW after the first harvest season to reevaluate the situation and preliminary
effectiveness of the regulation change.
Deer Surveys: Biologists Holman and Hauswald conduced a night spotlighting survey for deer in the Coweeman (550), Yale (554), and Toutle (556) Game Management Units. Limited forest openings and gated private forestland make deer surveys difficult in these areas and few deer were observed. Biologist Holman conducted a survey of deer in the East Klickitat (382) Game Management Unit. Hot weather kept most deer in the shade and survey results were poor. While conducting the above referenced deer surveys, Biologist Holman documented the location of a western toad in southern Cowlitz county and a burrowing owl in central Klickitat County.
Mt. St. Helens Advisory Committee: Wildlife Program Manager Jonker was invited by the Advisory Committee to present an overview of the management of the St. Helens Elk herd since the eruption of Mt. St. Helens. Several presentations regarding the science occurring on Mt. St. Helens were presented by staff from a variety of organizations such as USFS, USGS, WDFW, US Army COE, etc. The Advisory Committee was formed at the request of U.S. Representative Brian Baird and Senator Maria Cantwell. The main purpose of forming the Committee is to provide recommendations about the future of the Mt. St. Helens national volcanic monument - including whether or not it should be transferred from the U.S. Forest Service to the National Parks Service.
Wildlife
Diversity Division
Clark County Wildlife Species Monitoring: Biologist Holman participated
in the initiation of Clark County's Wildlife Species Monitoring program. In
an effort to evaluate the effectiveness of habitat mitigation projects and implementation
of the County Critical Areas Ordinance, Clark County has initiated an effectiveness
monitoring program for wildlife. Using a network of volunteers from the community
including those associated with the Audubon Society, Washington State University,
and the Water Resources Education Center, the County intends to conduct long-term
surveys of wildlife at various sites to investigate the effectiveness of their
habitat improvement efforts. The project is also being done in conjunction with
Clark Public Utilities at their enhancement sites and my eventually include
locations associated with Clark-Vancouver Parks and the Port of Vancouver. Initial
efforts will include continuation of amphibian monitoring work at County mitigation
and wetland enhancement sites, conducting point-counts of avian species during
breeding season, conducting wintering surveys of avian species, and following-up
on any observations of the various State listed species including western pond
turtles, mazama's pocket gophers, western gray squirrels, and gray-tailed voles.
Training: This week Biologist Prince attended New Employee Orientation in Olympia. The orientation included presentations from each of WDFW's program leaders (Fish, Enforcement, Wildlife, Habitat, and Business Admin). The afternoon sections included an overview of the retirement plans available and ethics training.
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