I can speak with some knowledge to this issue.

I know this is rather off topic... but maybe not. Folks need to be aware of
some of the issues out here in Eastern Washington when birding. Many of
these birding spots are very remote and you are on your own in regards to
crime. It may be an hour or two in some cases before someone else comes
along. And if you are out there on a weekday, it may be 24 hours or more
before someone else comes along. There is alot of country out here and no
one can expect to fund the officers at a level to patrol all of these areas
with the relatively little use that occurs.

The Quincy State Wildlife Area (SWA) is a modest but good example though it
does have a rather high use in the spring. A great place to bird in the
spring too. Excellent actually. It is just a few miles north of the Columbia
River Gorge Amphitheater. In any event, folks from the concerts were camping
and partying on the adjacent State Fish and Wildlife Lands. I can speak from
experience in that it was causing a lot of disruption to those who were
truly using those lands for their intended purposes. I camp there quite
regularly.

Similarly, there was a gang of youth that utilized the State Fish and
Wildlife Lands adjacent to the Columbia Basin Wildlife Refuge. On one
occassion, we had a group of youth with both full automatic rifles and some
kind of bombs that were detonated over Heart Lake about 3 or 4 years ago.
Yes, fully automatic and I know the difference between "semi" and "fully"
automatic. And yes, I was there. Shells were fired at the rate of 10-20
rounds per second. These guns are and always have been completely and
entirely illegal in all of the US and the laws had not kept them from being
owned by a gang of thugs. The next year, there was a sign posted -
apparently some cattle had been shot in the area. And I would guess it was
that group of thugs. They also drove their 4x4's off-road around Heart and
the other lakes and pretty much raised hell. They were definitely intending
to intimidate the recreational users in the area. It all reflects badly on
both the Fish and Wildlife and the recreationist in the area. Private
property I believe was lost that day too.

Unfortunately, stickers are not going to stop this type of activity. And in
fact, a single officer checking these folks for 'sticker' compliance may
have triggered a significant encounter and even a potential loss of life. I
am almost glad there were no officers in the area that day.

Now, with all that said, I was a youth once. And kids I think need a place
to vent and get it out of their system. But with the concert theater right
there, and in the case of the gang mentioned above at Heart Lake, it was all
getting to be too much.

For the most part, I think the wildlife stickers are a good choice to remove
the inappropriate uses of the area, a wake up call to the concert goers and
a motivation for them to respect the true users of the area. But what I fear
is that the state will use them as an opportunity to tax folks. I fear that
$30 fee becoming mandatory in the years ahead. But until that happens, I
think they have been a good thing. It can be locally enforced where problems
occur and maybe ignored in areas where there is no conflict of interest. So
I think the stickers work fine as they are today. In particular, my interest
has not been to remove the youth but to set up some areas for legitimate
wildlife users undisturbed by such blatant partying.

By the way, there are orioles with beautiful black and orange markings out
there in the few places where there are some trees. I never knew we had them
until I was out there camping and fishing the lakes. They are not common in
my experience. And I don't see them every trip. But there none the less.

If you come out this way, especially after 'opening-day fishing', you will
find a more rural populace using those lakes and that area, it is a very
primitive recreational area. And rightly so. This is not State Park but
State Fish and Wildlife. Some good folks as well as some rather onery ones
too. Not a lot of money out this way and you will notice it in the
communities and the good people that use these areas. For the most part,
folks get along out here in the unique culture of eastern washington.

Just be cautious in the more remote areas. Sorta like rattle snakes. There
are not enough officers to patrol all these lands so you will be on your own
in some cases. Keep a cell phone handy and travel in groups.

-Ken
ken at wildlanders.com

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