Grant,

Thanks for the information, I haven't been there for years. See any
deer?

Recent news from the refuge has been in regard to a controversy over the
dramatic decline of these white-tailed deer, already classified as an
endangered species; the deer suffered greatly from pathological ailments
as a result of flooding in recent winters. The USFWS wanted to
immediately minimize further mortality, and saw coyote predation as
something within their means of control. Animals rights activists
viewed the coyotes as poor scapegoats and successfully got the USFWS to
back down (with a lawsuit) and to call off the hunt for coyotes; I
thought might be unfortunate due to its shortsightedness in regard to
such a small population of deer. I'm not sure of current numbers just
now, but it's on the order of <200; the only other population is a much
larger one in Roseburg, OR. Their habitat is restricted to low riparian
areas, which have been heavily impacted by agriculture. The coyotes may
indeed be a scapegoat, but an immediate choice had to be made.

Anyone else with insights on this?

Check out our lakes web page!
http://splash.metrokc.gov/wlr/waterres/lakes/index.htm

Kevin Li
King County Environmental Lab
322 W. Ewing St.
Seattle, WA 98119-1507

Mail Stop: LAB

(206) 684-2344
(206) 684-2395 fax
kevin.li at metrokc.gov


>---------From: grant[SMTP:grant at brigadoon.com]
>Sent: Tuesday, December 09, 1997 6:22 PM
>To: tweeters at u.washington.edu
>Subject: Elk, Deer, Nutria and Birds
>
>Spent a fascinating couple of hours on Monday at the Columbian White-tail
>Deer Refuge near Cathlamet. It was tough concentrating on the birds for
>looking at the assembled mammals. 13 magnificent bull elk, all with truly
>spectacular antlers, were grazing among the deer. Nutria were browsing
>the meadows. Anyone who has never seen a mature bull elk in the wild
>might consider the drive to this great spot. The way the refuge is laid
>out, the elk are always visible (at least any time I have visited). They
>seem to congregate here every winter.
>
>Good variety of birds. Most notable were four Trumpeter Swans and 20+
>pair of Eurasian Wigeon with one Pintail pair with them. The habitat
>variety in the refuge is great: the open Columbia river, the tidewater
>section of the Elochoman River, mixed forest, swamp, brush, creeks, and
>open meadow.
>
>Grant Hendrickson
>grant at brigadoon.com
>Redmond, WA
>
>