Oregon and Washington will also take on feral pigs

Idaho’s feral hog population has been reduced to 20. OR, WA hope to duplicate that success-

The suspected source of the pigs is California where they are an invasive species causing some significant damage.

Oregon and Washington to reduce, hopefully eradicate, feral pigs. Seattle Times. AP

Wolves remain on Washington state’s endangered list

Washington Fish and Wildlife Department is firm that wolves remain protected under state law in all of the state-

Wolves are federally delisted in much of Eastern Washington now, but the state’s own endangered species act protects them all throughout the state. Officials recently reminded folks.

The state only has a half dozen to a dozen or so wolves. The original pack discovered now seems heavily chopped apart from illegal killing, but other wolves roam parts of the state, probably in at least one pack. The Lookout Pack, the original pack, was not a reintroduction or part of the Idaho wolves drifting westward. It came out of coastal Canada on its own.

Wolves remain on Washington state’s endangered list. AP in the Seattle Times.

Rare photo shows 8 cougars on Washington state game trail

Unusual proximity of so many mountain lions probably possible because of familial relationships-

Several factors probably explain how 8 cougars, very territorial animals, came together to feed on a dead cow on a cliff near Soap Lake, Washington.  The first is that it is winter. Prey are concentrated into a small area and in this case most of the cougars were probably closlely related (both indicated in the article).  It isn’t know how often this happens, but it is probably uncommon.

We saw these photos about 2 weeks ago.  Wish we had permission to be the first to post them.

Rare photo shows 8 cougars on game trail. “Using a camera triggered by a motion-sensor device, a hunter captured a rare sight: eight cougars huddled together on an Eastern Washington trail as if attending some big-cat block party.” By Craig Welch. Seattle Times environment reporter

Skinned corpse of wolf discovered in Washington State

State won’t say from which pack

This is bad news for Washington’s small wolf population but it sounds like the the case of a previous poaching incident from 2009 is still open and progressing. We’ve heard rumors that charges may be filed soon in the poaching of wolves from the Lookout Pack in north central Washington. The Lookout Pack is very important genetically because it came on its own from southwestern British Columbia, far from where the wolves reintroduced to Central Idaho and Yellowstone came from. They are also fully protected under the Endangered Species Act and the sentence for anyone convicted of killing them could be pretty severe.

Skinned corpse of wolf discovered, but state won’t say from which pack.
Conservation Northwest

‘Shoot’ remark was unnerving

During a talk in Spokane, Washington given by the director of the Washington Fish and Wildlife Department about how budget cuts were affecting the department the subject of wolves came up and then things got ugly.

A response blurted out from the middle of the room:

“Why don’t we shoot some legislators?” a man said.

‘Shoot’ remark was unnerving.
Rich Landers – The Spokesman-Review

Elk herd prospers on Hanford, WA nuclear reservation

Dry country elk herd’s major difficulty said to be agricultural damage-

I didn’t know anything about the elk in this part of Washington state. I’m glad learn that a herd of 600-700 was established 30 years ago and does well.

Elk continue to thrive in Mid-Columbia desert. By Annette Cary, Herald staff writer

Contract to remove Elwha dams goes to Montana firm

Decision to remove took decades. Decades more before salmon runs will be restored-

Despite these “minor” delays, this is a bit of very good news.

Contract to remove Elwha dams goes to Montana firm. By Lynda V. Mapes. Seattle Times staff reporter

NE Washington Wilderness Proposal said to gain broad support

Collaborate effort would result in more legally protected Wilderness, more logging, more ATVs-

Well we have certainly seen this model many times in recent years.  This wet, area of little known mountains (little known nationally) up against the Idaho/B.C. border is very important wildlife habitat.

Proposal for Colville [WA state] National Forest a collaborative effort. Spokesman-Review. By Becky Kramer.

“Experimental” Washington state grazing program put on hold

Have Western Watersheds/Advocates for the West killed this unfair, anti-wildlife program?

"Stalk-leaved Monkeyflower" Mimulus patulus ~ Asotin Wildlife Area © Dr. Don Johnson

I guess we don’t have many Eastern Washington readers because there were no comments on our earlier article (yesterday) on this, but today’s news in the Seattle Times is very encouraging. This graze-the-state-wildlife-areas-for-free-to-help-me-politically program of the governor’s, really made us furious.

Experimental Washington state grazing program put on hold. By Lynda V. Mapes. Seattle Times staff reporter. “A controversial cattle-grazing program on [Washington] state wildlife lands has been put on hold for the 2010 season after a sharp rebuke by a Superior Court judge.”
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Help support the important work that Western Watersheds Project does. No Washington conservation group seemed to be able to get themselves involved with this.

Judge scolds WA for allowing grazing in state wildlife management areas

WWP wins again as state judge can find not one benefit for wildlife in state cow grazing of state wildlife areas-

We have written a number of times about the recent politically inspired introduction of livestock into the Eastern Washington state wildlife areas purchased specifically to help wildlife and water quality. The livestock interests get to trample the springs and vegetation without paying a dime. It’s a pure gift, and the judge figured it out.

The judge even gave a 10-minute speech from the bench as she issued her ruling.

Ruling leaves grazing up in the air. By SCOTT SANDSBERRY. Yakima Herald Republic
And
Judge dumps wildlife area grazing plan: Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife has been allowing cattle on Asotin parcel in pilot program
Eric Barker – Lewiston Morning Tribune

Feb. 3, 2009. Here is one of our earlier stories on this politically inspired grazing.

More on the beleaguered bighorn

Four Montana herds, two in Washington plagued by disease-

Here is another update on the pneumonia killing  so many bighorn. The article also gives the total estimated bighorn populations of Idaho, Montana, and Washington.

Hard times hit area bighorns. By Rich Landers. Spokesman-Review.

“The Payette National Forest [in Western Idaho] recently released a draft proposal for keeping domestic sheep from intermingling with wild bighorns. The plan was triggered by a lawsuit that charged the forest with failing to adequately protect wild sheep from the risk of contracting pneumonia from domestics.”

This draft is something I’ll put a link to when I find it. Webmaster

Wild cards: What we’re really doing by reintroducing wolves

“But is it really ‘bringing back the wolf’ when the wolves wear radio collars and generate better genealogical records than most humans do, and when their whereabouts at any time can be ascertained with GIS coordinates?” . . . from “What we’re really doing by reintroducing wolves.” Writers on the Range. George Sibley.  Missoula Independent.

Sibley writes a clever article/essay regarding all the information that has been generated about wolves, even down to the individual  wolf, and whether such well observed wolves can be properly called “wild.”

I don’t know because “the wild” is a human mental construct of outdoor things unmodified by humans. If the radio collar is placed by Wildlife Services so the wolf can be easily located and killed (this accounts for the largest number of collars), I’d say “no. It isn’t wild.”  If it is a Yellowstone Park wolf where the collar only modifies the animal’s behavior slightly, then maybe “yes” or “it depends.”

Sibley also argues that while the polls in Washington State show a lot of generalized support for wolves, anti-wolf people show up and dominate the public meetings. Apparently this is not true, but some might believe is so based on a couple unrepresentative newspaper articles. Here is some email objecting and giving some facts.

Mr. Sibley is mistaken when he writes about the Washington hearings: “one frazzled wildlife official noted, ‘The 80 percent of the people in this state who are supposedly for the wolves coming back are not the ones coming to the meetings.” The people showing up are mostly the grandchildren of those who eradicated the wolf from the West 70 years ago.”

Yes, there have been meetings (Yakima, Colville and a few others) that were dominated by the ant-wolf crowd. But there was Spokane, Seattle, Mt. Vernon, Sequim, and Vancouver that had more wolf supporters (in the case of at least Seattle and Sequim, it was 97% pro-wolf, 3% anti-wolf) than anti-wolf people. All in all, I feel the hearings were balanced and that was the opinion I heard from Harriet Allen, who has been at every meeting, when she reported back to the Fish and Wildlife Commission.

David

David G. Graves
Northwest Field RepresentativeNational Parks Conservation Association
Protecting Our National Parks for Future Generations

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Bighorns, domestic sheep don’t mix [in Washington State either]

Domestic Sheep/bighorn conflict is not limited to Idaho-

Most of our news on this issue has been in Idaho where the Payette National Forest is about to come out with an environmental impact statement on how to protect the bighorn. This will have national effects such as described in this story about the two animals in Washington state.

Bighorns, domestic sheep don’t mix. By Scott Sandsberry. Yakima Herald-Republic in the Casper Star Tribune.

Wolf supporters dominate Seattle, WA meeting

Most favored alternative 3 in the state’s wolf plan-

While there seems to be no newspaper story on-line, I have heard from someone who attended the Seattle meeting on the Washington wolf plan. Wolf supporters dominated the meeting. Most of them favored alternative three, which is generally thought to be the alternative most favorable to the wolf, but is not proposed alternative.

Once again,  link to the plan.

Rare Washington wolf pack behaving itself

According the human perceptions, wolves near Twisp, WA are not causing trouble-

Rare Washington wolf pack behaving itself. By K.C. Mehaffey, The Wenatchee World.

I haven’t heard any news about the prosecution of the local family that poached a couple of these wolves.

Most of the comments in story are quite positive.

Poachers kill wolves from Washington state’s first pack

Group calls for the arrest and prosecution of the suspects-

Two of the members of Washington State’s first known wolf pack have been killed by poachers. The suspected poachers are known and live in Twisp, Washington.

The wolf pack lives outside of the area where the federal government is trying to delist wolves. They are fully protected by the Endangered Species Act. Penalties are potentially very severe.

Update 3/28: Bloody pelt in shipping box tips agents to wolf killing; ranching family’s homes searched. By Warren Cornwall. Seattle Times environment reporter. The Times says the suspects are an “outspoken anti-wolf rancher” and his son.

Addition 4/1. Washington States does have have a draft wolf conservation plan to back up the federal endangered species act. Download PDF 3.1 MB

Addition 4/2. Feds looking at three Twisp locals in wolf kill incident Methow Valley News

Here is a news release by Conservation Northwest.

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Mitch Friedman, Executive Director, Conservation Northwest: (360) 671-9950 ext. 13; (360) 319-9266 (cell)
Jasmine Minbashian, Special Projects Director, Conservation Northwest: (360) 671-9950 ext. 29; (360) 319-3111 (cell)

Poachers kill wolves from Washington’s first pack

Conservation Northwest calls for immediate arrest and full prosecution

Twisp, WA – A search warrant obtained from the Okanogan County District Court reveals that Bill and Tom White, residents of Twisp, are suspected of illegally trapping and shooting two endangered gray wolves and attempting to send a wolf pelt to Canada.  An employee of a FedEx drop off facility in Omak became suspicious after a woman, believed to be Tom White’s wife, dropped off a package that was leaking blood.  Authorities found inside the bleeding package what appeared to be an unlawful, unprocessed, and untanned pelt of a young gray wolf – a federally and state-listed endangered species.

WWP win in Washington state underscores politicized wildlife management

Thurston County Superior Court has ruled in favor of Dr. Steve Herman and Western Watersheds Project deciding that the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) violated the State Environmental Protection Act when issuing grazing permits on its state wildlife areas without undergoing environmental analysis.  The state and Washington Cattleman’s Association had claimed that such analysis was not required as the lands had been grazed in the past under a ‘verbal lease’ – a handshake, and that this arrangement exempted the parties from the need to undergo the analysis.

Court faults Fish and Wildlfie for granting Kittitas grazing lease – Yakima Herald-Republic :

Steve Herman, the Thurston County resident who filed the suit on behalf of the Western Watersheds Project, a regional conservation group based in Idaho, called last week’s ruling “a very clear-cut victory for those of us who would preserve some wildlife areas for wildlife.”

Whiskey Dick Wildflowers © Katie Fite, WWP (click to view slideshow)

The Whiskey Dick/Quilomene Wildlife Area was acquired by the people of Washington as critical wildlife habitat to preserve steelhead fisheries, big game, and other wildlife including the state-listed Greater Sage-grouse and other sage-steppe obligate species.

Sage Grouse Distribution in Washington State(click to enlarge)

The Wildlife Area is particularly critical for Greater Sage-grouse in Washington, whose populations have been significantly diminished given fragmented and degraded habitat, leaving the bird teetering on the brink of extinction in the state.

The Wildlife Area is located directly between the two remaining populations of sage grouse in Washington state, providing a critical link, a habitat corridor.  Grazing the area threatens this habitat, potentially exacerbating the isolation between the two remaining sage-grouse populations.

Man building fence for WDFW paralyzed in fall

Washington governor’s program to put cows on state wildlife areas results in a second serious injury-

A second man has taken a fall while building fence for the Washington Department of Fish & Wildlife.

Family asks for help after man is paralyzed in canyon fall – klewtv.com

Susan Perez said she had been fearful for her husband’s safety when he first started working on the fence along George Creek Canyon about two weeks ago.

“He said, ‘You should see the hill I work now. It’s 2,000 square feet straight up,’ ” she said. “They have no safety harnesses. They have no cleated boots. They have no safety devices whatsoever.”

The steep slopes, the cliffs, in the area are inappropriate for the livestock grazing, the whole reason the fence-building is going on – and it’s dangerous for the people involved.  Another man fell into a canyon on the other side of Pintler Creek in February doing the same thing – building fences so WDFW can put cattle on lands purchased for wildlife.  This is the third injury the Department has sustained for these grazing projects, projects which cost the state of Washington $800,000 when the state is already $6 billion in debt.

Some background on Washington grazing:

Grazing on Washington state wildlife lands, and an ugly political deal by governor Christin Gregoire