Not all, fortunately, but enough to put our fish and wildlife resources in jeopardy.

First, »»]]> Why do Washington’s politicians (of both parties) hate the Department of Fish and Wildlife?

Not all, fortunately, but enough to put our fish and wildlife resources in jeopardy.

First, the legislature slashed the WDFW budget by 30 percent last year. Everything from enforcement to salmon recovery suffered from that budget bashing. Then, this year, the legislature tried to completely dissolve the agency by “merging” it (along with the State Parks Department) into the Department of Natural Resources.

Putting recreation-focused interests under the management of an agency whose core responsibility is resource extraction makes no sense at all. Nor does it make sense to put fish and wildlife management in the hands of a single elected official who has no training in wildlife management issues. Preventing that type of mismanagement is exactly why the voters of Washington put substantial decision making responsibility in the hands of a Fish and Wildlife Commission representing all stakeholders.

Fortunately the public outcry over the proposed merger legislation (Senate Bill 6813) effectively killed the bill (at least the portion pertaining to the dissolution of WDFW). But now, those same bi-partisan legislators who were blocked from axing the department have turned their axes on to the department’s budget.

Last year, the general fund allocations to the department were slashed from $110 million to just $80 million. Now, the backers of the recently killed SB 6813 want to cut upwards of $10.8 million more from the already decimated WDFW budget. That means we’d see nearly 40 percent budget cuts for the department in the last biennium.

According to the Department, these additional cuts will jeopardize future salmon production with the closure of up to 5 hatcheries, impacting Grays Harbor, Coastal and Puget Sound fisheries. In addition, the number of enforcement officers will be reduced and staffing levels for important salmon recovery efforts will be lower. Many department facilities and public lands would be closed, popular lakes wouldn’t get stocked with trout, and youth education efforts would be reduced.

Bottom line: NO other state agency has seen cuts this deep, or this aggressive. The Senate cuts will cripple the Department’s ability to successfully manage our fish and wildlife resources and will have a long-term negative impact on all endangered species recovery efforts in our State.

If you care about public lands, wildlife and fisheries, now is the time to take action. Call, email or write your local state senator and/or representative and tell them you oppose these draconian cuts to our state’s wild resources.

Use this link to contact your elected officials:

Fishers, a small predatory mammal, rarely »»]]> Not a creature was stirring, except for the 40 or so fishers being reintroduced to the former habitat in Olympic National Park.,

Fishers, a small predatory mammal, rarely eats fish. These close cousins of martens and weasels are mostly nocturnal hunters of any small critters, including birds and occasionally fish, that live in the forest. Fishers are about the size of large housecats and are natives to the Olympics and Western Cascades. Fishers were valued for their thick, soft pelts so much that  over trapping in the mid to  late 1800s and rampant habitat loss through the first half of the 20th century led to their extinction in Washington.

Fishers were listed as a state-endangered species in 1998 by the state Fish and Wildlife Commission and were designated as a candidate for federal listing in 2004 by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service under the Endangered Species Act.

One of the new Olympic National Park colonists. Photo by ONP.

As part of a recovery plan developed in the early 2000s, about 45 fishers will be released starting next week in the third and final year of reintroduction of the species to the North Olympic Peninsula. The released fishers were captured in northern British Columbia. The capture and release program is part of in intensive recovery plan involving multiple agencies and public parties. The coalition of parties includes:

• BC Ministry of Environment
• British Columbia Trappers Association
• Conservation Northwest
• Doris Duke Foundation
• Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe
• U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
• U.S. Forest Service
• Washington Department of Natural Resources
• Washington’s National Park Fund
• Wildlife Conservation Society

The first release of fishers occured two years ago, in December 2007, and the second took place last December.  During each release event, the individual animals are each fitted with a small radio transmitter so biologists may track and monitor their movements.  Of the  49 fishers released in the last two years, only 22 are still monitored.  Only 15 of the missing fishes are confirmed dead. Others have somehow ditched their transmitters and other radios may have simply stopped working.

Despite the loss of monitoring opportunites for more than half the fishers, there are signs of hope for a population recovery. Biologists did find three birthing dens last summer with several kits in them.  The goal of the three-year reintroduction program is to create a sustainable population of  100 or more fishers.

The Proposed »»]]> Thanks to a push from Senators Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell, legislation that expands Washington Alpine Lakes Wilderess Area moved one giant step closer to completion.

The Proposed legislation received Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee approval and now awaits full Senate Confirmation. The legislation includes an Alpine Lakes Wilderness Additions as well as protections of the Pratt and Middle Fork Snoqualmie Rivers. The total package provides protection for  22,000 acres of wilderness adjoining the existing Alpine Lake Wilderness Area, as well as 10 miles of the Pratt River, nearly 30 miles of the Middle Fork Snoqualmie River, and 14.3 miles of Illabot Creek – a tributary to the Skagit – as Wild and Scenic Rivers.

The bills was simultaneously submitted in the U.S. House by Rep. Dave Reichert, R-Wash. and Reichert gathered several co-sponsors for bi-partisan support of the bill. The Wilderness Area was designated in 1976 by President Ford.  The Alpine Lakes Wilderness is one of the most heavily used wilderness areas in the United States since it can be accessed directly from Interstate 90, just a few minutes after leaving downtown Seattle. Several million people live within 30 minutes of the remarkable wilderness area.

After years of frighteningly low levels of funding, »»]]> In a move that would have made Tim Burton’s Jack Skellington proud, Congress gave conservationists a Christmas gift this Halloween!

After years of frighteningly low levels of funding, Congress gave an incredible gift this Oct. 30 to the Department of Interior – most notably, the National Parks Service and the vital Land & Water Conservation Fund – as well as the woefully underfunded US Forest Service in the Department of Agriculture.  After decades of deteriorating funding levels, those agencies received a remarkable $4.6 billion funding increase for 2010.

The 16.8-percent increase cleared Congress on Oct. 30, passing both houses with wide majorities,  and will help the USFS and Park Service address some maintanenace backlogs as well as launch some new intitiatives including research into how climate change will impact public lands. The funds also will help revitalize the the National Wildlife Refuge System and provide a boost to the Land & Water Conservation Fund, which helps promote outdoor recreation opportunities for our nation’s youth.

The Omnibus Public Lands Management Act of 2009, which President Obama has already signed into law,provides that funding boost, and provides some specific recreational benefits. The Act protects thousands of miles of scenic, historic and recreational trails, and establishes an 807-mile Arizona National Scenic Trail running from the the Mexican border to Utah, through the state of Arizon.

Other specifics of the Omnibus Bill:

The bill also provides:
– $90 million for the Legacy Road and Trail Remediation Program to help protection and enhance recreational opportunities by decommissioning obsolete roads and maintaining trails on federal lands;
– $75 million for the National Landscape Conservation System, which protects some of the most spectacular scenery managed by the Bureau of Land Management;
–  $306 million for the Land and Water Conservation Fund, a program that promotes outdoor recreational opportunities and preserves wild spaces  in all 50 states;
– $77 million for the Forest Legacy Programto help promote true multiple-use programs that conserve open space, wildlife habitat and clean water while allowing for sustainable timber harvesting.

“The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) has published a Draft »»]]> Gray Wolf Conservation and Management | Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife.

“The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) has published a Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) titled: Wolf Conservation and Management Plan for Washington. This is a non-project review proposal. Non-project review allows agencies and the public to focus on issues that are ready for decision.

Gray wolves were classified as endangered in Washington at the federal level in 1973 and at the state level in 1980. They were delisted under federal law in 2009 in the eastern third of Washington, and remain federally listed in the western two-thirds of the state; they continue to be state listed throughout Washington. Expansion of a currently small breeding population of wolves in Washington is expected as a result of increased dispersal of wolves from recovering populations in Idaho and Montana, and dispersers from British Columbia.

In response to this, and in anticipation of the eventual return of all wolf management to the state, the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife initiated development of a state wolf conservation and management plan. A determination of significance and request for comments on scope of an environmental impact statement (EIS) was issued August 1, 2007. WDFW appointed an advisory Wolf Working Group comprised of 17 citizens to provide recommendations on the plan to WDFW. The draft plan establishes conservation/recovery objectives for downlisting and delisting the species, and identifies strategies to address conflicts and achieve recovery. This draft plan and DEIS incorporate recommendations and suggestions from public scoping comments, peer review comments, WDFW reviews and the Wolf Working Group recommendations.

Gray Wolf Conservation and Management | Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife.

In the intervening years, more than 100 million acres of public land in the United »»]]> On September 3, 1964, President Lyndon Johnson signed the Wilderness Act into law.

In the intervening years, more than 100 million acres of public land in the United States have been protected from development and natural resource exploitation. In honor of this history event, President Obama issued this statement on September 3, 2009, applauding the  Wilderness Act and proclaiming September as National Wilderness Month – he then took off on a family vacation that included stops at some of the premiere National Parks in the western states.

Making the designation of September as National Wilderness Month, Obama said:

Forty-five years ago, the United States achieved a landmark success in protecting these magnificent wild spaces. The Congress passed and President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Wilderness Act, which sought to secure “for the American people of present and future generations the benefits of an enduring resource of wilderness.” The Act has been widely recognized as one of our Nation’s most important conservation laws. This law and the National Wilderness Preservation System it established have served as a model for wilderness protection laws in many of our States and in countries around the world.

The vision and structure established in the Wilderness Act continue to receive broad support. This pioneering law created a framework for bringing Federal public lands under additional protection. Over the past 45 years, the Congress has enacted numerous laws extending wilderness protection to vast swaths of public lands. These laws have enjoyed bipartisan support. Ranchers and anglers, small-business owners and conservationists, and Americans of diverse backgrounds have come together to preserve many of our Nation’s most cherished public spaces.

My Administration has already demonstrated a commitment to protecting our wilderness heritage. On March 30, 2009, I signed the Omnibus Public Land Management Act of 2009, which established the most recent additions to our Wilderness System. As my Administration continues to prioritize wilderness protection, we will work closely with the Congress, organizations, and private citizens to ensure that all stakeholders can make their voices heard. United by a common purpose of preserving our precious natural spaces and our wilderness heritage, we will ensure that future generations inherit the unique gift of knowing nature’s peace.

Only a handful of wolves live in Oregon, where they are beginning to recolonize the state after a 60-year absence due to »»]]> From the Center for BIological Diversity:

Only a handful of wolves live in Oregon, where they are beginning to recolonize the state after a 60-year absence due to human persecution. With just two confirmed litters of pups born over the past two years, every wolf in the state is important.

Right now, a federal sharpshooter in a plane is tracking a pair of wolves near eastern Oregon’s Eagle Cap Wilderness. Homing in on a radio collar worn by the male wolf, the sharpshooter is under orders to shoot both wolves because they killed livestock.

The targeted wolves killed sheep and a cow near Baker City in April and May, but after ranchers took steps to protect their stock they suffered no more losses through June, July, and most of August. In the meantime, the wolves were sighted feeding on an elk. Now they are reported to have killed three more sheep and a goat.

In other areas, wolves have ceased killing stock entirely on their own accord. Oregon Department of Wildlife should continue helping livestock owners develop effective means to protect their stock. In the meantime, occasional but rare depredations should not preclude the survival of these precious recolonizing wolves.

Full Story HERE

A diverse group of  hunting, fishing and environmental groups, along with an array »»]]> It’s an impressive feat, and one that bureaucratics and politicians ignore at their own risk.

A diverse group of  hunting, fishing and environmental groups, along with an array of businesses (outdoor gear manufacturers, retailers, guide services, travel companies, etc), work, teamed up to fight Bush-era rules that opened the Bristol Bay area of Alaska to hardrock mining and other exploitive uses.

The coaltion of group – numbering the hundreds – representes tens of millions of America’s conservationists,  anglers, hunters, hikers, outfitters, guides, lodge owners and outdoor industry members. Today, this group formally petitioned Interior Secretary Ken Salazar and Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Director Bob Abbey to protect from mining 1.1 million acres of federal fish and wildlife habitat near Bristol Bay, Alaska. Trout Unlimited (TU), one of the leaders of the coalition, described the Bristol Bay area as  “a large swath of BLM land near one of the world’s most productive salmon and rainbow trout fisheries.”

According to a TU press release, the letter to  Salazar  expressed deep concern that during their final days in office, Bush Administration officials finalized a plan to remove existing protections for fish and wildlife on the BLM lands and to open the area for mining. The group called on Salazar to direct Abbey to reverse that decision.

“Sport fishing in Bristol Bay is a $60 million business while commercial fishing pumps another $300 million into the economy,” said Chris Wood, Chief Operating Officer of Trout Unlimited.  “One out of four wild fish sold in America comes from Bristol Bay.  Thousands of Alaska Native families depend on the area for subsistence.  Never before have commercial fishermen, recreational anglers and subsistence users been so united on a single issue. Secretary Salazar and Director Abbey have a chance to do the right thing for Alaska Natives, commercial fishermen, and recreational anglers and hunters who come to Alaska from all over the world.”

TU’s press release continues:

The acreage under consideration has been closed to mineral development for more than three decades. In Nov. 2008, just weeks before leaving office, Bush Administration officials finalized a plan to lift the prohibition on mining. The BLM plan for its lands around Bristol Bay is especially troubling in light of a proposal to build one of the world’s largest open-pit copper and gold mines in virtually the same area. The Pebble deposit is located on state land in the headwaters of the Kvichak and Nushagak Rivers, systems that host some of the biggest runs of sockeye and king salmon left on the planet. The developers (Anglo American and Northern Dynasty) recently stated that they are months away from applying for state permits to build the giant mine. The controversial project poses the risk of acid mine drainage, a catastrophic release of mine waste, and irreparable harm from habitat alteration to the Bristol Bay watershed.

“The Pebble mine is bad enough but to have the BLM opening the door for a mining district in Bristol Bay is simply unacceptable. My business and so many others like it out here depend on the world-class salmon and trophy-sized trout that this area is famous for. You can’t have a mining district without putting these fish at serious risk,” said Brian Kraft, owner of the Alaska Sportsman’s Lodge and Bear Trail Lodge, both in the Bristol Bay region.

In addition to the threat Bristol Bay faces from proposed offshore oil and gas development and the Pebble project, the signatories to the Salazar letter maintain that opening the BLM lands to mining creates enormous potential for a development rush in the watershed. They believe the cumulative impacts to Bristol Bay over time could destroy the fishery. The group wants Salazar to maintain the mining prohibition while the BLM works to produce a better land use plan for Bristol Bay that will generate economic opportunity while conserving commercial, sport and indigenous fishing traditions for future generations.

“Director Abbey has the opportunity to protect Bristol Bay and make these biologically important federal lands permanently off-limits to mining. This fishery is too rare, too productive, and too valuable to put it at risk,” said Gary Berlin, President of the American Fly Fishing Trade Association.

FInd out more about Trout Unlimited here: www.tu.org

These amazing raptors favor wild, open desert country »»]]> Canaries can keep their mines. When it comes to indicating threats to the living desert, look to the ferruginous hawk.

These amazing raptors favor wild, open desert country like that found near in southeast Washington. They favor undeveloped, open terrain. But these big birds are in danger. They numbers are in decline, in large part because their food and their homes are being destroyed.

ORV’s have driving off, or destroyed, much of the prey base around the desert country in which hte hawks hunt. And development continues to push in on the home terrain in which hte hawks live.

There are other species that do well around human developing – including the majestic redtail hawk – but the ferruginous deserves its place in the world, too. The decline of this shy raptor tells us a lot about ourselves and our world. We must respond to the challenge before us and work to restore the habitat and health of this species.  I

Ferruginous hawks in decline – Mid-Columbia News | Tri-City Herald : Mid-Columbia news.