It’s summertime, and if a song of note is to be believed, the living is supposedly easy. Salmonids are jumping and the unshorn hayfields are high.
Between the bending blades white spotted fawns abound in the scrub brush fields. They lie down in green pastures and cuddle in silence beneath a scorching sun. Their midday siesta would be jealousy inducing, if not for the impending doom implied as rampaging mowers and crumpling balers roll through.
The likelihood of perilous misfortune draws in hawking predators with eagle eyes. They descend upon lonesome and mangled prey. An over-eager eagle attempts to abscond with and angular fawn. Clasp and flap and fall to earth. Circle and repeat. The young deer is too large for the relentless bird, whose eyes are decidedly larger than its hollow leg stomach.
A confused deer ambles onto a roadway with clumsy hoofed fawns in tow. Dazed eyes stare blankly at headlights. Cars zoom by. Fate breaks in an instant and the ill-fated future crumples lamely on the shoulder. Roadkill scavengers flock in 4-by-4 formation. Birds and varmints, too.
Observant hunters sit on the sidelines and root for fawns to outlast the long odds. A good day in the sun is a good day for everyone. After all, a fawn’s survival today means more quarry for tomorrow. Even supposed cold hearted hunters have a tender underbelly that goes sight unseen by casual passers of judgment. A young Bambi is an inspiring sight, even to the gun- and bow-toting set.
Hunters, most of all, understand the fleeting innocence of youth and the fickle flicker of the flame of life. Every living thing eventually meets its maker, but we all deserve at least one season in the sun.
In closing we can look to another song, this time in the unassailable words of Robert Hunter, the lyricist and poet extraordinaire of the long lost Grateful Dead. In the song Fire on the Mountain, the appropriately surnamed Hunter wrote:
“Almost aflame still you don’t feel the heat; Takes all you got just to stay on the beat; You say it’s a living, we all gotta eat; but you’re here alone there’s no one to compete. If mercy’s in business I wish it for you; More than just ashes when your dreams come true.”
Hunter’s too, you see, are prone to sunshine daydreaming.
FISHIN’
Summer fishing is in full swing these days of summer with salmon, steelhead, shad and trout chasing lures around the region. Anglers are free to chase summer Chinook, sockeye and steelhead on the lower Columbia River all the way down to the Astoria-Megler Bridge, while shad angling is allowed all the way out to Buoy 10.
Steelhead have been running particularly hard as of late, especially on lower Columbia tributaries like the Cowlitz River. However, a persistent run of kings and a better than expected push of sockeye up the mighty river have kept anglers busy with an assortment of fish. Last Saturday the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife noted the most angling success in the Columbia River gorge where boat anglers averaged 0.67 Chinook and 0.07 steelhead per boat.
Additional sampling by the WDFW on the length of the lower Columbia during the first three days of July noted 1,150 salmonid anglers (216 boats) with a haul of 100 summer Chinook, 99 steelhead and 10 sockeye. Only 41 of the Chinook were kept, while 72 of the steelhead and eight of the sockeye were kept.
The hatchery Chinook and sockeye fishery below Bonneville Dam is scheduled to remain open through July 31. The Technical Advisory Committee recently met and updated the in-season forecast for salmon to 350,000 returning sockeye and 91,000 returning Chinook. The Chinook run is down just over 2,000 fish from preseason estimates while the sockeye run is up by nearly 249,000 fish.
Shad angling has declined slightly in the past week. The bite has been down along with returning numbers at Bonneville Dam. Last week the WDFW sampled 22 bank anglers with 28 shad on the string. Daily counts at the dam are now less than 10,000 fish per day.
Sturgeon fishing below Bonneville Dam is all catch and release these days but recreational anglers have still been baiting the big fish. Last week the ODFW checked 16 anglers with 36 sublegal, 97 legal and 25 oversize sturgeon released.
Out on the Cowlitz River the steelhead run is picking up just in time for the Cowlitz River Steelhead Derby sponsored by the Toledo Lions Club. The derby will take place on Saturday, July 23 from 5 a.m. until 4 p.m. Anglers must be signed up by July 22 to be eligible for prizes.
After the derby a barbeque featuring steelhead caught by the Cowlitz Indians will be held at the downtown Toledo boat launch. The cost for the barbeque will be $10 for the general public and $5 for registered anglers. Entry in the derby will cost $35 per angler, with a top prize of $500 for the biggest fish.
Cowlitz River anglers can find a sign up form for the derby online at http://www.toledolionsclub.org/steelhead-fishing-derby.html. Additional information can be obtained by email at info@toledolionsclub.org, or by calling Rick and Tonya Lovell at 360-864-2121 or 360-880-7025.
Coinciding with the Cowlitz Steelhead Derby is Tacoma Power’s annual steelhead recycling program. From June 15 - Aug. 15 the WDFW has approved Tacoma Power to truck shipments of returning steelhead from the barrier dam down past the I-5 Bridge in order to release them back into the emerald waters where anglers will have a second chance to hook one of the hatchery honkers. By the end of this week Tacoma Power expects to have re-released some 750 fish since June 15. On the week of the derby Tacoma Power anticipates recycling 600 steelhead, including 300 the day before the derby.
Last week on the Cowlitz River the WDFW sampled 41 boat anglers with two adult springers and 27 steelhead to show. During that same time the WDFW noted 49 bank anglers with 12 hatchery adult Chinook, 2 jacks and six hatchery steelhead to show. Last week 302 spring Chinook, 95 jacks, 18 mini-jacks and 300 summer-run steelhead made it back to the barrier dam. River flow at Mayfield Dam on Tuesday, July 5, was reported at about 2,620 cubic feet per second with water visibility of about 10.5 feet.
On the Kalama River 42 bank anglers sampled by the WDFW last week kept just two hatchery steelhead and released one wild steely. Twelve of their boating counterparts kept just one hatchery steelhead.
In tasty trout news the WDFW stocked numerous regional waterways with thousands of trout last week including 4,966 rainbows into Rainey Creek in east Lewis County on June 29.
SHRIMPIN’
Out on the Puget Sound shrimpers will have another eight days to target spot shrimp beginning July 9. The fishery, which will include all species of shrimp, will run through July 16 in Marine Area 7 South.
Marine Area 7 South includes the Iceberg Point and Salmon Bank shrimp fishing grounds. After reviewing catch data the WDFW determined that there are enough shrimp remaining in the preseason harvest quota to allow the extra eight days of shrimping.
The daily limit will be 160 shrimp which is similar to the current bag limits in Marine Areas 6, and 7 West. Regulations allow shrimpers to remove shrimp heads prior to coming ashore.
WILDLIFERS
The WDFW is seeking public input on the future of Washington’s wild-things. The effort began in 2015 when the department began listening to public proposals, perspectives and priorities regarding the great out of doors. The initiative is titled “Washington’s Wild Future: A Partnership for Fish and Wildlife.”
The first phase of the initiative included seven regional public “listening forums” where the department received thousands of emails, social media posts and feedback from online advisory committees, legislators and other groups.
That input has since been turned into a set of proposed strategies and policy ideas by the WDFW. With those proposals completed the WDFW is now soliciting public feedback.
A press release signed by WDFW director Jim Unsworth noted that, “These initial revenue proposals are designed to help solidify the health and strength of the agency as an initial step toward tackling major management challenges and grasping new opportunities over the next several years.”
The public can view and comment on the propsoals by going online to http://wdfw.wa.gov/wildfuture/.
One area where the WDFW is not looking for feedback is on the subject of human and wildlife interaction. The agencies take on the subject is cut and dry. With humans out and about and enjoying the sunny months now interactions with wild animals are surging. With that in mind the WDFW is imploring people to leave the wild-things alone.
Deer fawns, seal pups, baby birds and other young critters are making some of their first forays into the wild world. This is of course natural, but even still, it typically prompts a wave of calls to the WDFW from concerned wannabe, if well-intentioned, Rescue Rangers wondering what to do with the animals that they naively believe need rescuing.
“People find young animals and birds alone and assume they’ve been abandoned by their parents,” said Mick Cope, WDFW game manager, in a press release. “In fact, their parents are usually nearby and may even be watching as their fawns, kits and chicks are removed by would-be rescuers.”
Deer for instance will leave their fawns alone for hours during the middle of the day while they forage for food. The fawns are instructed to lay still in the grass to avoid predators, and to the untrained eye, may look abandoned. In this situation the best thing a person can do for the unsupervised youngins is to leave them alone.
“Even with the best intentions, removing animals from the wild greatly reduces their chance of survival,” Cope said in the release.
Even when the WDFW is able to find a rehabilitation center for “rescued” wildlife the animals often do not survive. After all, mama’s medicine is the best medicine .
Cope noted that holding wildlife in captivity is a misdemeanor in Washington state. Under state law, only licensed wildlife rehabilitators can hold wildlife in captivity. Additional information on appropriate human and wildlife interactions can be found online at http://wdfw.wa.gov/conservation/health/rehabilitation/when_not_to_rescue.html.
WILDFIRES
The arrival of steady hot and dry weather in eastern Washington has prompted the WDFW to restrict fires east of the Cascades. The restrictions took effect on July 1 on all agency managed lands.
“Following fire restrictions and exercising common sense are the most important steps people can take to preserve public recreation lands and wildlife habitat,” said Clay Sprague, manager of the WDFW Lands Division, in a press release.
The new restrictions ban fires or campfires, including those within rings at designated areas. Personal camp stoves and lanterns fueled by propane, liquid petroleum or liquid petroleum gas are still allowed, but smoking is prohibited except inside of an enclosed vehicle. Additionally, the use of welding equipment or chainsaws is prohibited. That restriction includes the use of all torches with an open flame and all equipment powered by an internal combustion engine. Likewise, motor vehicles are required to stay on developed roads and to park only in designated parking areas. Lastly, fireworks are prohibited all year-round at all 33 WDFW wildlife areas and 700-plus water access sites around the state.
The WDFW owns and manages more than 700,000 acres of land in eastern Washington. The emergency fire restrictions will remain in place until conditions improve and the risk of wildfires decreases. Updates to fire regulations around the state can be accessed online at http://wdfw.wa.gov. The Department of Natural Resources implemented their own batch of similar restrictions on July 2. More information on DNR fire restrictions can be found online at http://www.dnr.wa.gov.
BACKROADERS
Forest Service Road 23, also known as Cispus Road, is scheduled for maintenance work this summer. Those repairs will close the major forest access route intermittently between June 27 and Sept. 16.
The forest road, which is east of state Highway 131 near Randle, will be subject to repair activities between mileposts 0 and 9.53 during that time.
Additionally, Cispus Road will be closed completely between milepost 2.71 and 5.27 from 10 a.m. on July 25 through 4 p.m. on July 28.
The Cispus Road Improvement Project will include pavement repairs and culvert replacement intended to make fish passage easier, as well as improving travel for vehicles. Drivers should anticipate 20-minute delays during construction. Construction will not interfere with public road travel on holidays or weekends between 6 p.m. Friday and 6 a.m. the following Monday.
Around mileposts 12 and 24 Forest Road 23 suffered complete washouts in two places and partial washouts in multiple locations. Due to the extent of the repair work required, those sections will not reopen in 2016.
Elsewhere, Forest Road 25 is back open. Forest Road 25 was damaged by a large slide south of Elk Pass which closed the road between the Muddy River (north of Forest Road 90) and the intersection of Forest Road 99. Repairs on that road were slated to be finished on July 1.
Backroad travelers who have questions about road access can contact Amanda Grindle, of Saybr Contractors, by phone at (253) 531-2144, or by email at agrindle@saybr.com.
