They’re baaaack!

Washington Cattlemen want to try an “experiment” on your wildlife management areas

It seems that bad ideas just never go away. Even after they’ve been spanked in court, the Washington Cattlemen still want to waste tens, if not hundreds, of thousands of taxpayer dollars on this ridiculous exercise which is damaging to the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife owned and managed, wildlife management areas in Washington State. More welfare grazing disguised as an “experiment”.

Do you want to help WWP stop this again?

Cattlemen work to restart pilot project.
By DAN WHEAT – Capital Press

What a misleading article! Poor ranchers must do without

No grazing on the Whisky Dick and Quilomene wildlife areas in Washington State

The State of Washington has spent a lot of money trying to justify cattle grazing on wildlife management areas in the state which are comprised of lands purchased using Federal money specifically intended for wildlife habitat. The lands in the Whisky Dick and Quilomene wildlife areas are important habitats for the last remaining sage grouse in the state which need them if they are ever to move from one population area to the other and there is a possibility that they might re-inhabit the area. Sage grouse have been sighted there in the recent past. The lands are also important for steelhead and elk and have many native American cultural sites.

In a cynical ploy to win over votes from ranchers, Democratic Governor Christine Gregoire pushed to allow grazing on these important lands but it appears that she has lost. Western Watersheds Project has been working hard to keep any further grazing from occurring on the state’s wildlife management areas. It’s shocking to hear this complaint in the article Cattle ranchers again must cope with limited grazing. Yakima Herald-Republic, about having to place to graze.  They were grazing on land purchased specifically to benefit fish and wildlife. Governor Gregoire was allowing the grazing to the wildlife area for no grazing fee whatsoever!  Free! The news article makes it sound like something is being done to the ranchers, when in fact the whole grazing scheme was a politically-inspired raid on the public trust, public purse, and the state’s fish and wildlife.

A judge recently scolded the State for its pilot grazing program in the Asotin Wildlife Area where there has been a lot of damage to the habitat and a worker was severely injured while trying to build a fence on a very steep slope. The judge said that not only did the program not improve habitat like was claimed, but that it damaged the habitat.

-Ken Cole and Ralph Maughan contributed to this post.

Scientists seek proof of N. Cascades grizzlies

Reported sightings in the Cascades of Washington State lead to funding to search for grizzlies.

There have been reported sightings of grizzly bears for many years in the Cascades of Washington but very little has been confirmed. As the article states, grizzly bears don’t usually disperse long distances like wolves do so colonizing new areas takes longer for them. Another reason for slow recovery for grizzlies is that they reproduce at a much slower rate than wolves and they have a fairly high human caused mortality rate.

Grizzlies here, as in other parts of the lower 48 have full protection under the Endangered Species Act.

Scientists seek proof of N. Cascades grizzlies
By K.C. MEHAFFEY
THE WENATCHEE WORLD

Wolf pelt investigation yields other wildlife charges for two Twisp men

Numerous charges have been filed

This is in relation to a story that was first reported last year in March about someone who allegedly tried to send a package that was dripping blood and contained a wolf pelt.

Charges for killing the wolves have not been filed yet but charges for state game violations have been filed. Wolves in this part of Washington State are fully protected under the Endangered Species Act and the Lookout Pack is thought to have originated from dispersing wolves from the coastal region of British Columbia.

The original story can be found here: Poachers kill wolves from Washington state’s first pack

Wolf pelt investigation yields other wildlife charges for two Twisp men
Methow Valley News

Is there a new pack of wolves near Lake Chelan?

Is there a new pack of wolves near Lake Chelan?
By K.C. Mehaffey
World staff writer

Judge finds fault with federal salmon plan

Are we one step closer to removal of the Snake River Dams?

Judge finds fault with federal salmon plan. Conservation groups optimistic about order. By Jon Duval. Idaho Mountain Express.

These dams are on the lower Snake River. That’s in the state of Washington, but they greatly harm salmon and steelhead migration to and from Idaho to the ocean. For years, steelheaders and other conservationists have wanted these nagivation dams breeched and the government has opposed it. Judge Redden (see article) has been monitoring  government efforts to comply with the Endangered Species Act on the matter, and he is not pleased.

Entire books have been writing about the issue.

Yakima Bighorn Sheep are Experiencing an All Age Die-off

Source of disease is unclear.

Bighorn Sheep © Ken Cole

The bighorn sheep in Central Washington’s Yakima River Canyon are dying of pneumonia. It appears likely that ODFW officials will try to stop the epidemic by killing the infected animals so that they won’t infect healthy bighorns.

Two Stories
Big decision on bighorns
Scientists may have to thin the herd in order to save it from disease
BY SCOTT SANDSBERRY
YAKIMA HERALD-REPUBLIC

What’s the source of pneumonia in bighorns?
BY SCOTT SANDSBERRY
YAKIMA HERALD-REPUBLIC

Are there grizzly bears in Washington state?

The efforts to re-introduce grizzlies to Washington and Idaho have been stalled for political reasons

Grizzly feeding on elk © Ken Cole

Joel Connelly talks about the rate of recovery efforts for grizzly bears in the country, and specifically the North Cascades and Bitteroot Mountains of Washington, Idaho and Montana.

Are there grizzly bears in Washington state?. By Joel Connelly. Seattle Post-Intelligencer.

Wolf management plan draws big crowd at Sequim, Washington

Wolf management plan draws big crowd. By Diane Urbani de la Paz. Peninsula Daily News

Wildfires rage in British Columbia, Alaska

Pacific northwest dry and burning as rest of West has a cool and moist summer respite-

We planned to go to B.C. and Alaska this summer. Glad we didn’t. Instead we stayed in Pocatello, Idaho where a very wet late spring and cooler than normal summer has greatly reduced normal fires and given clean skies.

On the other hand much of B.C. and Alaska have been very dry. Massive forest fires burn out of control, and Oregon and Washington too have recently suffered from extreme heat. Smoke from the fires has resulted in dense air pollution to the north, while most of Idaho, Montana, Utah, Colorado and Wyoming have escaped the smoke. The winds are now, however, blowing the smoke down into Montana, Northern Idaho, and across the Dakotas and Great Lakes.

Fires have broken out  in Northern California, Oregon, and Washington, setting the stage for smoky skies further to the south. Some relatively small forest fires are now burning in Idaho and Montana (just updated), although this season will probably not see many large forest fires due to the still relatively wet wood.

You can follow the fires on Inciweb and the National Interagency Fire Center. Note: these web sites are always on my blogroll.

You can follow air quality in North America at U.S. Air Quality. This site has a lot of photos and graphics.

Stories: Workers overwhelmed as B.C. burns. Rod Mickleburgh.  Globe and Mail.

Out-of-state smoke rolls into Montana: Plume from British Columbia fire lingers in area. By Michael Jamison. Missoulian
Wildfires slow to start this year in south central Idaho. By Nate Poppino. Magic Valley Times-News writer

Fires burning wild across Interior Alaska. Smoke: Two expand beyond 800,000 acres; 30 cabins threatened. By  Kyle Hopkins. Well 30 threatened cabins doesn’t sound like a major event, but 800,000 acres in two fires does.

I should add that the desert southwest has suffered from extreme heat (more extreme than the usual during the summer)

A new twist in dam removal on the Snake River

My biggest Chinook. © Ken Cole

Recently Senator Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) announced that in talks about salmon recovery that dam breaching should be on the table. It’s not an endorsement of dam breaching but it is a departure from former Senator Craig’s stance.

On top of this development comes a letter to politicians signed by several business owners in Lewiston and Clarkston who will be affected whatever happens to the dams.

If the dams are breached then river transportation will go away. If they stay then the cities will require significant infrastructure to keep the rising waters from flooding them due to the fact that the dams are filling with sediment.

One interesting thing mentioned in the letter is that the promised economic boom from dam construction never came.

I argue that the dams should be removed for various reasons, not least of which being the ecological benefits of recovered salmon.

A new twist in dam removal on the Snake River
By Lance Dickie
Seattle Times editorial columnist

Crapo takes a politically risky stand for salmon
Commentary: Kevin Richert – Idaho Statesman

Wolverines on the move.

Colorado and Washington State see wolverines in new places.

In recent years wolverines have been seen in places where they were not expected. Is this because people are looking for them or are they expanding their range? One wolverine in an isolated location does not mean that there is a sustainable population. There have been reports of radio tagged wolverines which have travelled very long distances across what would seem to be unsuitable habitat.

Recall the wolverine sighted in California on two occasions.

Here are two recent stories about wolverines in Washington State and Colorado.

Wolverine caught on camera on Mount Adams
Seattle Times

After 90 Years, the Wolverine (Just One) Returns to Colorado
New York Times

Pressure from ag interests halts reading of “Omnivoire’s Dilemma” at Washington State University?

Pathbreaking book about agri-business dropped from Freshmen Reading program-

Wazoo (Washington State University in Pullman) has a common reading program every year for freshmen. This is a growing practice at universities, but Michael Pollan’s look at how our food is produced in an unsustainable manner (oil and corn) seems to have been too controversial for the appropriation scrapped university.

I suspect we are going to here less and less social and political analysis from our universities because it offends state legislators and Boards of Reagents who hold the purse strings in a time of economic crisis.

WSU balks at book critical of agribusiness. “Washington State University has decided to halt a common reading program for incoming freshman that would have used a book critical of agribusiness”. By The Associated Press

After two decades Washington state gets its first new wilderness area

First new wilderness in state in 2 decades is easily accessible. By Jennifer A. Dlouhy. Seattle Post-Intelligencer.

The new Wild Sky Wilderness Area is 106,000 acres. It failed in the last Congress when House Resources Committee Chair Richard Pombo killed at. Due in part to strong action by conservationists across America, he is no longer a member of Congress.

This was part of an omnibus bill, not the best way of passing legislation, but that is another topic.

May 1. I got some email from a listserv I’m on. Regarding Wild Sky, it was written “Wild Sky has few trails, and the land is topographically pretty vertical — not conducive to biking. That’s why we had no significant motorcycle opposition. Washington’s other remaining Wilderness candidate areas will be different.”

May 9. Bush signs Wild Sky wilderness bill in Washington state. By Matthew Daly.  Associated Press Writer