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US agency says water plan wouldn’t doom species

June 6, 2008

A federal plan to reduce water flows in the Apalachicola River won’t irreversibly doom four federally protected species, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said.

Flows in the Panhandle river are being reduced as part of U.S. Army Corps of Engineers drought management plans that keep more water upstream in Georgia. One plan is expiring, but the Corps has a new plan going into effect.

Some biologists and environmentalists have raised concerns about the impact on the Gulf sturgeon fish, and three mussels: the fat threeridge mussel, the purple bankclimber and the Chipola slabshell.

But the Fish and Wildlife Service released a biological opinion Monday saying the Corps’ new plan won’t “appreciably reduce the likelihood that the four listed species can survive nor would it preclude their future recovery.”

The opinion did say there could be some negative impact, notably with the fat threeridge mussel, which could lose up to 9 percent of a population that’s already declining largely because of drought conditions.

The opinion was greeted with disappointment by many in Florida, where politicians, and environmental and seafood industry officials have been pushing for more water to be allowed to flow into the Apalachicola River.

Florida Gov. Charlie Crist said the new plans for reduced water flow jeopardize more than just the species targeted in the Fish and Wildlife study.

“This revised plan creates significant challenges in managing one of the most productive and diverse estuaries on the Gulf of Mexico,” Crist said in a statement released by his office. “Regrettably, today’s decision jeopardizes the hope of Florida’s downstream communities which rely on proper flows to sustain a vibrant ecosystem.”

Florida and Alabama officials rely on downstream water flows for power plants and commercial fisheries.

Florida, Georgia and Alabama have been in a legal and political battle over water rights since the early 1990s, but the fight has intensified in the past year as a drought has gripped the southeast, particularly Georgia.

The decision is expected to allow Georgia to keep more water in north Georgia lakes, including Lanier, which provides metro Atlanta with most of its water. Despite recent rains, Lanier remains more than 13 feet below full pool – and Corps engineers said it could drop more during the summer.

“Until Mother Nature gives us something better, we have to manage those conditions,” said Brig. Gen. Joseph Schroedel of the Corps.

Meanwhile, some Georgia advocates complained the plan still doesn’t allow the state to keep enough of its water. Pat Stevens of the Atlanta Regional Commission said it was only a “slight improvement.”

“We need the Corps to put in a more balanced plan because the harm to the upstream users is tremendous,” she said, noting the dwindling levels of north Georgia’s Lake Lanier. “The economic harm is huge and we’re going into the dry part of the year with the lake lower than its ever been.”

While the Fish and Wildlife Service opinion validates the move to reduce flows to Alabama and Florida and keep more water upstream in Georgia, it also gives the states more breathing room to come to an agreement over how to share water rights after talks between their governors fell apart earlier this year.

The biological opinion is set to expire after five years and designed to bridge the gap until the three states can come up with their own agreement, said Sam D. Hamilton, the service’s southeast regional director.

With no water pact, the Corps has had to play referee in the yearslong tri-state “water wars” over allocations from the region’s two major river basins.

Both fisheries officials and the Florida Department of Environmental Protection spokesman complained that the water flows in Florida are being reduced while Georgia still isn’t doing enough to restrict water use there. Some watering restrictions in that state were recently reduced, although outdoor watering is limited in much of north Georgia.

“Even more troubling is the expectation that, as outlined in the Service’s Biological Opinion, municipal and industrial consumption will increase by 27 percent by 2017, further emphasizing the need to for Georgia to recognize its overall effect on the system and implement reasonable and prudent actions to better manage water resources,” said Florida DEP Secretary Michael Sole.

Kevin Begos, a spokesman for oystermen and other seafood industry workers in Franklin County, Fla., said harvests haven’t been as bad as feared yet – but he fears they will be with lower flows. He also expressed concern that the entire river, bay and nearshore Gulf ecosystem doesn’t seem to be being considered by federal officials, who have focused only on the four species in danger.

Written by fandw08 · Filed Under Wildlife 

Fish & Wildlife is sued to gain jaguar protection

June 6, 2008

Seeking a conservation plan to protect the American jaguar, one of the rarest animals native to Arizona, Defenders of Wildlife has sued the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and several ranking officials.

The federal suit comes six months after Fish and Wildlife ruled there would be no recovery plan for the American jaguar, saying such action would not help the cats return to the region.

In its suit, Defenders of Wildlife argues Southern Arizona and New Mexico are crucial areas in the jaguar’s habitat. The construction of a border fence, particularly without a recovery plan, will all but eliminate the jaguar’s presence to the region.

The “decision not to prepare a recovery plan for the jaguar is especially shortsighted in light of the current pronounced threats faced by the species within the U.S., most notably ongoing and proposed border-wall construction that would block jaguar migratory corridors along the U.S.-Mexico border that are essential to the species’ continued existence in this country,” the suit says. “Much of this border wall is being constructed without any environmental review.”

Efforts to reach a Fish and Wildlife spokeswoman Wednesday afternoon were unsuccessful.

While the prospect of a border fence certainly ups the ante, Craig Miller, Southwest representative for Defenders of Wildlife, said there has been a need for a plan since 1997, when the American Jaguar was placed on the Endangered Species List.
Fish and Wildlife has been slow to adopt conservation plans for species whose habitats span international borders, he said.
“This is symptomatic of a broader trend within this administration’s Fish and Wildlife Service to remove protections for wildlife which have ranges that span international borders,” Miller said.

The American jaguar at one time roamed from Monterey Bay to the Appalachian Mountains and from the Grand Canyon to well into Central and South America.

For decades, the big cats have hardly been seen in the U.S., with rare sightings in Southern Arizona and New Mexico.
This scarcity is one of the reasons Fish and Wildlife called the American jaguar a “foreign” species that could not be recovered in the U.S., according to the suit.

Lately, though, jaguar sightings have become slightly more common, suggesting any jaguars appearing near the U.S.-Mexico border are living in the region and not merely passing through it, the suit says.

Trail cameras placed in Arizona between 2001 and 2007 captured 69 photographs of jaguars, five video clips and 28 sets of tracks, according to the suit.

And while the Southwest U.S. represents the northern edge of the jaguar’s habitat, Miller said developing a conservation plan in the U.S. is crucial for those jaguars throughout the northern range in Mexico. The jaguar is losing habitat to the south in Argentina, he said, and there is also the threat of climate change and development.

“The importance of the northern range is increasing because of the changes in human activities and land use and also climate change,” Miller said. “We believe that in order to preserve jaguars to make sure they have a future throughout their northern range, that habitat is essential to their recovery.”

The suit notes the Fish and Wildlife Service has, in the past, extended recovery plans for wildlife species that have much larger ranges outside the U.S. It also states that, in the past, Fish and Wildlife has considered the jaguar a domestic animal.
Defenders of Wildlife’s suit will likely be joined with a similar suit filed by the Center of Biological Diversity in 2007.

Written by fandw08 · Filed Under Wildlife 

Suit seeks to stop elk feeding on Wyoming refuge

June 6, 2008

Five conservation groups have asked a federal court to stop the artificial feeding of elk on Wyoming’s National Elk Refuge.

By feeding thousands of wild elk, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has turned the 25,000-acre refuge into a breeding ground for diseases harmful to wildlife and livestock, the groups claimed in a lawsuit filed Tuesday.

The lawsuit challenges a 2007 management plan for the refuge that continued the feeding despite its potential risk. It claims the government is violating its mandate to protect and improve refuge habitat.

“Continued feeding on the refuge will maintain ideal conditions for transmission of brucellosis,” the lawsuit states, “and also is highly likely to invite a devastating outbreak of lethal chronic wasting disease — the elk equivalent of `mad cow’ disease.”

Brucellosis can cause pregnant animals to prematurely abort their young. Chronic wasting disease is a neurological sickness that can be fatal to elk, moose and deer.

Last winter, an estimated 8,300 elk and 920 bison consumed more than 8.4 million pounds of alfalfa pellets at the refuge near Jackson, Wyo., said the facility’s manager, Steve Kallin. That’s the equivalent of 175 semitrailer loads of feed.

Kallin declined to comment on specifics of the lawsuit, but he said the 2007 plan called for the refuge to reduce feeding over time.

The practice dates to the early 1900s, when homesteaders began feeding elk to keep them from starving after much of the natural forage in the area was consumed by newly introduced cattle herds.

Despite growing awareness of the increased risk of disease transmission when the animals congregate, artificial feeding has continued at the refuge under pressure from hunting groups.

Bob Wharff, executive director of Wyoming Sportsmen for Fish and Wildlife, said an abrupt end to feeding could have negative consequences.

“There comes a point where you don’t feed them and they get to a weakened state. They’d get far more susceptible (to disease),” he said.

Wharff said a study done for his organization several years ago indicated elk populations would decline by 60 to 80 percent if feeding stopped.

“I don’t think anybody is going to sit back and let them all starve to death,” he added.

The feeding grounds also inadvertently attract hundreds of bison every winter from Grand Teton National Park. That led to a hunt last winter in which 266 bison were killed to stave off damage caused when the animals trample the landscape.

Kallin said irrigation systems are being built and natural habitat restored to increase forage. Also, increased hunting will be used to trim the elk population to about 5,000 animals, while the bison population is to be reduced by up to 700 animals.

“It’s a complex situation,” Kallin said. “The existing plan recognizes a potential for disease, and it addresses that in the plan.”

The lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., by Defenders of Wildlife, Jackson Hole Conservation Alliance, National Wildlife Refuge Association, Greater Yellowstone Coalition and the Wyoming Outdoor Council.

Written by fandw08 · Filed Under Wildlife 

‘This is not bear country.’ Grizzly surprises rancher

June 6, 2008

“It’s the first time I’ve ever seen a bear out here. This is not bear country,” said J.C. Seewald, whose family owns and operates Landslide Farms northwest of Cut Bank. “There’s no way he was more surprised to see me than I was to see him,” said Seewald of the encounter last week.
Blackfeet Fish & Wildlife agent Kevin Vaile, above, inspects the 285 lb. male grizzly, which was shot by J.C. Seewald last week. A very surprised Seewald came upon the bear feeding on this cow, below, on Wednesday evening. He reported the incident to the Blackfeet Fish & Wildlife authorities the next morning. Photo by Brian Kavanagh

Seewald shot the grizzly, first with a .22 and then later with a .338, after he came upon him unexpectedly around sunset on Wednesday, May 28, about a mile from his home. Seewald was checking cows when he came up and over a hill and nearly ran into the bear, which was feeding on a dead cow.

Seewald had spotted a dead cow the night before in another pasture and had seen coyotes eating on it. He recalled hearing two calves bawling at the time but didn’t think much of it.

The following night, after checking “lick tubs” and hauling mineral to another pasture, he started for home. And that’s when he got the surprise of his life.

“I was booking for home on my four-wheeler after checking cows and when I got over the hill I braked hard, skidding within about 10 yards of a grizzly bear. The whole thing took about seven or eight seconds, I suppose. The grizzly stood up on his hind legs and barked two or three times,” he recounted. “I braked hard and locked up the wheels on the four-wheeler, which sent my dog flying off the back.”

Seewald continued, “I reached for my .22 as I saw the bear step over the cow toward me. I hit him with at least two or three shots before he backed down and then took off to the north. Then I turned south and took off for the house.”

Seewald and his wife, Hapi, have three young sons and usually at least one, if not all three, are with him when he’s out doing chores. “They stayed with Hapi to plant trees around the house,” said J.C. The house where his family was working outside was “about a mile as the crow flies” from the area he shot the bear.

“I went running into the house, yelled to Hapi what happened and told her to keep the boys inside. I grabbed my .338 and when I went back to where the cow was, the bear was there feeding on it again,” said Seewald. This time he fired three shots at the bear’s shoulder.

He explained, “99.9 percent of the time I have at least one of my sons with me and I would have that night except I had my four-wheeler loaded with mineral.”

“We called the Blackfeet Fish & Game folks the next morning and they came out to investigate,” said Seewald. “They did a good job and were very thorough and fair in their investigation.”

“J.C. called first thing in the morning, so we went out to start what is standard procedure because of the grizzly’s threatened status under the Endangered Species Act,” said Dan Carney, bear biologist at Blackfeet Fish and Wildlife.

Carney was accompanied by Blackfeet Fish and Wildlife agents Kevin Vaile, Fred Crossguns and assistant Joey Crossguns Thursday, May 29, in investigating the shooting death of the 285 lb. male grizzly bear.

“It was way out east, north of Mission Lake, and about five or six miles from the Canadian border,” Carney continued. “It was a male with a radio collar and transmitter, that was caught by Montana Department of Fish Wildlife and Parks east of Dupuyer last fall. There was a man who was mobbed by grizzlies there last year, and they caught this one, but it wasn’t the same bear.”

DNA tests showed the bear they’d caught didn’t match samples of the one that attacked the man. “So it was basically a non-target capture,” Carney said. “It was relocated around Ear Mountain and the next thing you know it popped up here.”

Although the bruin was radio-collared, Carney noted, bears are only tracked by air once per month by the state agency, and the Blackfeet agency doesn’t ordinarily look for grizzlies that far east.

Nonetheless, bears frequently make it out onto the prairie, following creeks and rivers. “There are more and more reports of bears on the creek bottoms,” Carney said. “They follow way out east to Alkali Lake on the Two Medicine and east on Cut Bank Creek. This was the first time on the Milk River, but it wasn’t a huge surprise to me.”

Carney explained the investigation now underway is meant to determine whether the shooting was in self-defense. He added the U.S. Department of Fish and Wildlife is conducting their own investigation as well.

Seewald said he met with officials from the U.S. Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks on Friday.

No charges by either agency had been filed against Seewald as of press time.

“It all happened so fast,” said Seewald of last week’s incident.

Written by fandw08 · Filed Under Wildlife 

NC wildlife refuge fire grows, spreads ash, smoke

June 6, 2008

A wildfire in a national wildlife refuge in rural eastern North Carolina grew to more than 16 square miles Thursday, spreading smoke and ash that affected parts of neighboring Virginia.

But officials don’t know the exact size of the fire at Pocosin Lakes National Wildlife Refuge because smoke is so dense that airline pilots are unable to see the fire’s boundaries.

No injuries were reported and no structures were damaged, said Bonnie Strawser of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The fire started Sunday from lightning, officials previously said.

“There’s a loss of timber and those sorts of things,” she said.

Smoke and ash filled the air in the town of Manteo, about 45 miles east of the fire, as well as in Chesapeake, Va., some 75 miles north of the refuge, officials said.

The fire continued to burn in eastern North Carolina counties of Hyde, Tyrrell and Washington. Voluntary evacuation orders were issued Thursday for homes in parts of Tyrrell County and for a Hyde County subdivision because there was no way out if the fire reached it, officials said. Authorities asked 39 homeowners around Lake Phelps to leave on Wednesday.

The fire could last two months or more unless the area gets substantial rainfall, said Tony Spencer of Hyde County Emergency Management.

Written by fandw08 · Filed Under Wildlife 

Reeling In an Elusive Catch

June 6, 2008

In Florida, the report would have been routine: an alligator in a pond. But in Glen Burnie, reports of a baby gator in a lily-pad-covered pond near a miniature golf course prompted a six-day hunt.

Anne Arundel County police first learned of the creature Friday, when a resident reported seeing a tiny alligator floating in a pond near the Arundel Golf Park, which features miniature golf, batting cages and a driving range. Animal control officers set a trap baited with food; the alligator, assumed to be an abandoned pet, showed no interest.

“We didn’t know anything about catching alligators or what they like to eat, so I used cat food and dog food,” said Officer Glenn Johnson, a 20-year veteran of the animal control unit who is assigned “all the weird stuff.”

The gator played hard to get, and at times Johnson doubted that the little fellow existed. Other nonbelievers included instructors at the Arundel Golf Park.

“We all thought it was a big bullfrog or something,” said Ron Jefferson, an assistant professional at the range.

Although he stopped by the golf course nearly every day, Johnson never spotted the gator. But sightings began to pile up, including one from an off-duty police officer who nearly hooked the gator while fishing in the pond.

Determined to make a catch, Johnson arrived at the pond Wednesday morning with fishing poles and treble hooks, which a wildlife expert in Florida had told him could be used to safely hook a gator’s scaly skin. By mid-morning, Johnson had caught a few glimpses of the gator.

“I was waiting for my boss to get all of these calls that there was an on-duty officer in uniform with his big animal control van fishing on the job,” Johnson said.

By lunch, Johnson was frustrated. But, as he sat beside the pond for a quick bite of fast-food fried chicken, the gator began to glide his way. Johnson grabbed a fishing rod and quickly hooked the gator.

Now, as Johnson tells it, this is the point in the story where he would like to claim he wrestled the gator to the ground, avoiding chomping teeth and death itself. But the gator was only 18 inches long, and Johnson was able to simply grab him behind the neck and place him in a cage.

The gator appeared none too happy in the cage or in an aquarium back at the office. But he was a hit with the officers who stopped by to snap photos. The police public information office sent out a news release announcing the capture: “The alligator is available for interviews. lol.”

The Catoctin Wildlife Preserve and Zoo near Frederick invited the gator to live in their “Louisiana Bayou” with a dozen other alligators, and Johnson delivered the animal yesterday morning.

Officials at the family-owned zoo say the gator is in quarantine so he won’t infect his future roommates with any pond ailments. He will need to see a veterinarian, as he is a little thin and his left back leg looks as if it was attacked by a wild animal. And he still doesn’t seem very happy.

“He’ll need some time to adjust to yet another new environment,” said June Bellizzi, the general curator at the zoo. “It might take him a little while.”

Written by fandw08 · Filed Under Fishing 

Spring: Time for bear safety awareness

June 6, 2008

Bears have been seen in the Big Sky area recently and their appearance is a reminder that spring is a prime time for outdoor enthusiasts and homeowners alike to be aware of techniques to avoid problems with the lumbering omnivores.

According to Kevin Frey, Wildlife Management Specialist with Fish, Wildlife and Parks, black bears and grizzlies call Big Sky country home and it’s possible to encounter them practically anywhere at any time except during the winter when they typically go into hibernation.

The best strategy for dealing with reawakening bears in the spring is to avoid running into them in the first place, said Frey.

“It is fairly easy to avoid bears. Learn to recognize bear sign, make noise near creeks and in thick timber and stop once in awhile to look around for movement,” Frey said.

Bears fresh out of hibernation tend to remain around their dens for a few days, or if the snow is too deep and spring is slow in coming, they move to lower elevations to search for green grasses.

Frey urged homeowners in bear country to be particularly careful to keep food sources contained to avoid tempting bears. Secure garbage in bear-proof containers, bring bird feeders inside at night and be sure to collect fruit from fruit trees right away. Pet food should be kept inside a garage or storage building as should barbecue grills.

He said seeing a bear is to be expected in Montana, but in most cases conflicts can be easily avoided. When conflicts do occur it is often because the bear has been surprised, teased, fed or meets a person over a big game carcass or huckleberry bush.

“If a bear cannot be avoided, the next best thing is to prevent the bear from feeling threatened,” Frey said.

“A bear may watch a person, or even stand on its hind legs to sniff the air. That is normal bear behavior, it is just trying to figure out what it is seeing,” he said.

Here are the questions Frey asks when he encounters a bear: Is this a grizzly or a black bear? Grizzly bears are generally more aggressive than a black bear. If it isn’t clear, assume grizzly.

Is the bear preoccupied? Has it noticed me? If not, immediately back up and leave quietly.

Is the bear looking at me? If so remain alert but relaxed as the bear tries to identify what it is seeing. Then call out in a calm, firm tone so it can hear your voice. The bear will generally turn and leave or huff and appear anxious.

Give the bear time to react and avoid any threatening movements or sounds. If a bear begins to bounce on its front legs it is trying to scare you away or preparing to bluff charge.

If a bear is moving toward you straight backed, head down and picking up speed it is charging. A bear will often run past a person and then away if there is an easy avenue of escape. In a surprise encounter, if the bear knocks you down, stay down until you are certain it has moved completely away.

Bear pepper spray is a last resort to use when a bear charges. While Frey urges people who recreate or work in the outdoors to carry bear pepper spray, he says it is a “last defense” and is not foolproof.

Inexperienced bear pepper spray users can benefit from mentally reviewing possible bear-conflict scenarios and from test-spraying the product until they are confident they can use it safely and effectively.

For more information on bears contact FWP at 994-4042.

Written by fandw08 · Filed Under Wildlife 

FGCU wooing back wildlife in Lake Trafford

June 1, 2008

This week a team from Florida Gulf Coast University planted 360 shoots of the aquatic grass vallisneria, also known as tape grass and eel grass, in shallow water on the southwest side of the 1,500-acre lake near Immokalee. Over the summer, the team will plant several thousand vallisneria shoots in the lake.

Later this year, the state will plant bulrush in the same area.

“The lake is imperiled,” research associate David Ceilley said. “The EPA and the state have recognized that it needs to be fixed. What we’re trying to do is jump-start restoration of the lake.”

Lake Trafford, a popular fishing spot for Southwest Floridians, including Lee County residents, started going downhill decades ago when its water became choked with the exotic pest plant hydrilla.

As the plant died naturally, it sank to the bottom, rotted and became muck.

Hoping to solve the hydrilla problem, officials sprayed it with herbicides in the 1970s. Tons of dead plant material rotted to increase the muck layer until it was 6 feet thick and smothered the lake’s bottom vegetation.

As muck rots, it depletes the dissolved oxygen in the water. High winds stir up the muck, and trapped nutrients become suspended in the water, sparking algal blooms. The algae suck more oxygen from the water, and fish suffocate – rotting fish also add nutrients and remove oxygen.

Over the past 12 years, the lake has experienced several major fish kills.

In November 2005, a $10.3 million project got under way to remove the equivalent of 30,000 dump-truck loads of muck from the lake. The demucking project is being paid for by Friends of Lake Trafford, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, Collier County, state monies, and the Big Cypress Basin, which is part of the South Florida Water Management District.

Most of the muck has been removed, but dredging has been temporarily stopped because water levels in the lake are too low for equipment to work.

Removing muck leaves a nice, clean lake bottom, but nice, clean lake bottoms don’t support much life.

Muck is gone, plants are going in Plants set in de-mucked lake bottom

To be healthy, a lake needs vegetation, and vallisneria is one of the most important freshwater plants in North America.

Found in many freshwater bodies of the contiguous United States and parts of Mexico and Canada, vallisneria is food for fish, turtles, manatees and birds. It provides habitat for small fish, crabs, shrimp and clams and traps nutrients to help prevent algal blooms.

“We have the opportunity to re-establish native plants that are good for the environment,” said Clarence Tears, director of the Big Cypress Basin, which is putting up $25,000 for the tape grass project. “If we don’t establish native plants soon, exotic vegetation, which often grow faster, can take hold.”

To keep grazers such as turtles from eating the newly-planted vallisneria, the FGCU team covered 12 plots of 30 plants each with inverted 3-foot-diameter plastic wading pools, whose bottoms had been cut out and replaced with wire mesh.

“The idea is to get dense plots established and protected, then remove the covers and monitor the sites,” Ceilley said. “With the muck gone, the water quality will improve, and we expect nothing but improvement over time.”

In addition to FGCU’s vallisneria efforts, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission will plant $250,000 worth of bulrush just shoreward of the vallisneria.

Lack of rain has dropped Lake Trafford’s water levels to about 3.5 feet below normal for this time of year, and state biologists are waiting for water levels to rise before starting to plant.

“Bulrush is an emergent plant – it grows up out of the water,” said biologist Jon Fury. “Vallisneria doesn’t grow up out of the water. Both are good fish and wildlife habitat.

“Small invertebrates attach themselves to the bulrush. The invertebrates attract small fish, which attract bigger fish. We’ll plant it in the littoral zone, the shallow areas, where we find most fish reproduction and recruitment.”

As part of the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan, demucking the lake and planting native vegetation will help habitats downstream.

“Places like Corkscrew Sanctuary will benefit,” Ceilley said. “But the primary mission is to restore recreational fishing in the lake. That’s an important resource for this area. As a fish guy myself, I’m all for that.”

Written by fandw08 · Filed Under Environmental News 

Outdoors notebook | Program pays anglers for catching squawfish

June 1, 2008

How would you like to get paid to go fishing?

One way is the Northern Pikeminnow Bounty Fishing Reward Program that is underway in the Columbia and Snake rivers.

Not only can you earn some bucks while wetting a line, but you can also do your part in getting rid of these juvenile salmon- and steelhead-devouring predators better known as squawfish.

The cash-reward project funded by the Bonneville Power Administration began in 1990, and is open through Sept. 28 from the Columbia River mouth to Priest Rapids Dam, and from the Snake River mouth to Hells Canyon Dam.

The first 100 fish (9 inches or longer) caught by each angler is worth $4 apiece; the next 300 are $5; and after 400 fish it is $8. Specially tagged fish are worth $500 apiece.

The weekly field catch report from May 19-25 showed 1,144 anglers caught 4,523 for a 4.0 fish-per-rod catch. Overall, 3,873 anglers have caught 12,369 fish.

Last year, 26,827 anglers caught 191,154 fish, including 168 tagged fish. Since 1990, more than 3.1 million squawfish have been eradicated from both rivers. The highest catches started at the end of May and went through July 1, and ranged from 12,234 fish per week to a high of 14,008.

Some anglers haul in hundreds of dollars during the season, but a few make much more catching these pesky fish.

In 2006, David Vasilchuk of Vancouver caught 5,714 squawfish (eight were tagged fish) and earned $48,348 before taxes. Second was Nikolay Zaremskiy of Gresham, Ore., who got $45,351, and third went to Thomas Papst of West Linn, Ore., with $42,388. That year, the top 20 anglers cashed in 61,262 fish (47 tagged) for $487,229.

Some of the best catches came from the The Dalles Boat Basin check station; Boyer Park in the Snake River below Lower Granite Dam; and the M. James Gleason ramp in the Lower Columbia River Washougal.

It didn’t take long this spring for someone to possibly break the state squawfish record.

Pamela Ramsden of Deer Park was fishing near Boyer Park when she caught a 26.25-inch fish that weighed 7.91 pounds on May 16, said Melissa Dexheimer with the state Fish and Wildlife’s Sport Reward Fishery.

The previous record (caught by Andrew J. Wallman) was 7.36 pounds from Mason Lake near Shelton on April 5, 2000.

The fish caught aren’t just thrown away in the trash; they are used to make liquid organic fertilizer for agriculture and fish meal for poultry and dairy cattle feed.

There are 17 check stations along both rivers. Anglers must register in person each day before fishing.

Catches must be checked in at the station each day, and reward vouchers will be given.

The fish prefer rocky areas with fast currents near dams, islands, river mouths, points, eddies, rows of pilings and ledges or bars in the river. They prefer depths of 7 to 25 feet.

Early morning, near sunset and at night are prime time to catch them. Baits of choice include worms, salmon eggs, fish entrails, chicken livers, crayfish tails, shrimp and grasshoppers. Artificial plastic lures like grubs, worms or shads work well. Squawfish are attracted to light-colored lures in the day and darker ones at night.

Written by fandw08 · Filed Under Fishing 

Nature Restoration Trust Awards Over $310,000 to California Fish and Wildlife Habitat Conservation Projects

June 1, 2008

SAN FRANCISCO, May 29 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — The Nature Restoration Trust, a collaboration between Pacific Gas and Electric Company and the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF), today announced it is donating over $310,000 in grants to 10 community organizations to foster stewardship of California’s diverse wildlife and habitats. With these grants, PG&E and NFWF are renewing their successful program, which previously invested over $2 million in projects to conserve and enhance wildlife in habitat from Redding to Bakersfield.

“Conservation at the local level builds community connections to the land and is a solid, long-term investment in our natural resources,” said Jeff Trandahl, executive director, National Fish and Wildlife Foundation. “We are extremely proud to collaborate with PG&E and pleased that The Nature Restoration Trust is the newest member of NFWF’s Five Star Restoration Program, which brings together diverse organizations to help restore America’s streams and wetlands.”

The Nature Restoration Trust brings together public and private resources to conserve and enhance the natural habitats of fish and wildlife. Major funding for the program comes from PG&E, which has committed $1 million over 2008-2010 to support projects throughout the company’s northern and central California service area. In addition, federal funding of the program is provided by the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Office of Wetlands, Oceans and Watersheds, and in-kind contributions are made by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, EPA Region IX, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Restoration Center Southwest.

“Since this unique, public-private team was launched in 1999, it has helped advance critical habitat and wildlife restoration projects, while inspiring our youth to protect California’s natural heritage for generations to come,” said Ophelia Basgal, vice president of civic partnerships and community initiatives at PG&E. “PG&E is proud to be part of this creative program which empowers communities to restore native habitats in urban, suburban and rural areas.”

Winning projects were ranked and selected by an Advisory Panel that included representatives from NOAA, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, EPA Region IX, PG&E and Foundation staff. Consideration for funding was based on hands-on experiential education opportunities, benefits to the resource, partnership with other organizations and geographical distribution in California — from coastal dunes and tidal marsh to Sierra streams.

The 2008 recipients of Nature Restoration Trust grants are: Organization Grant Project American $31,500 Sediments & the Next Generation: Restoration Rivers & Education in Deer Creek American Rivers will work with multiple partners and integrate their work in-field water quality monitoring, floodplain restoration along a Sierra stream, and historical and cultural research into local 7th – 12th grade curricula. High school students will partner with middle school students in an “Eco-Pal” program to jointly learn about a riverine system. Audubon $40,000 Audubon Bobcat Ranch Oak Woodland Corridor California Audubon California Landowner Stewardship Landowner project will re-establish an ecological Stewardship connection between the Dry Creek tributaries Program and the main channel of Putah Creek while creating a viable wildway managed by local landowners. High school students will do restoration work to better learn about the connection between a healthy ecosystem and responsible stewardship of working landscapes. Children’s $11,290 BioSITE SEED Discovery The BioSITE (Students Investigating Their Museum of Environment) SEEDS program of Children’s San Jose Discovery Museum of San Jose will work with the San Jose Unified School District, the Santa Clara Water District, and other entities to restore riparian habitat in the Guadalupe Watershed. Students will conduct vegetation surveys, remove invasives, re- plant appropriate natives, and collect data at three sites to measure the success of the project. Community $30,504 Enhancing Red-legged Frog Habitat at Alliance Serendipity Farms with Working with the Monterey Bay Aquarium and Family the Wild Farm Alliance, Community Alliance Farmers with Family Farmers will restore wetland and riparian habitat for the endangered red- legged frog and Carmel River steelhead trout and monitor water quality and vegetation on Department of Parks and Recreation land at Serendipity Farms. Students will learn principles of on-farm biodiversity conservation practices and benefits for wildlife. Friends of $38,800 Community-based Coastal Dune Restoration at the Dunes Manila Dunes Friends of the Dunes will develop a service learning curriculum for the Adopt-A-Dune education project and work with Humboldt county students, community volunteers, and the California Conservation Corps to restore 4 acres of coastal dune habitat at the Manila Dunes Recreation Area. Three rare plant species occur on the property: beach layia (Layia carnosa), dark eyed gila (Gilia millefoliata), and pink-sand verbena (Abronia umbellata ssp. Breviflora) and the endangered Humboldt Bay wallflower is expected to spread onto the property in the future as a result of increased suitable habitat created. Golden $20,000 Eco-Oakland Environmental Education Program Gate Golden Gate Audubon Society will provide Audubon experiential learning opportunities for Society Oakland children and their families to help restore critical marshlands at Martin Luther King, Jr. Regional Shoreline Park’s wetland complex and additional riparian lands. The wetlands are a critical habitat for endangered California clapper rails and endangered brown pelicans and California least terns. Golden $20,000 Mori Point Habitat Restoration Gate Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy will National work with local youth and community groups to Parks remove and control the spread of non-native Conservancy plants and debris and revegetate with native plants near Pacifica on the coast to create and improve breeding and foraging habitat for the threatened California red-legged frog and endangered San Francisco garter snake. Round $40,000 Mill Creek Enhancement Project Valley The Round Valley Indian Tribes will enhance Indian instream and riparian conditions for salmon, Tribes steelhead, migratory birds, and sensitive species on nearly 2.5 miles of Mill Creek. Working with the tribes, local schools will incorporate the project area into their “Adopt-A-Stream” program for hands-on learning experiences. Save the $40,000 San Francisquito Creek Restoration Project Bay Save the Bay will mobilize and train 750 middle school, high school, and community volunteers to revegetate and enhance tidal salt marsh and restore over 6 acres of critical habitat at the mouth of San Francisquito Creek in Palo Alto for the benefit of fish, shorebirds, and other wildlife. Urban $39,573 Rheem Creek Restoration and Watershed Creeks Education Project Council Urban Creeks Council will reach out to neighborhoods close to Contra Costa College to help restore native riparian habitat on Rheem Creek. The Council will establish a Watershed Curriculum at the college and provide stipends to 10 interns to design and install the project.

PG&E has a long history of making charitable grants tailored to the wide variety of needs of the communities it serves. The company’s broader program of support to communities includes cash grants, in-kind contributions, and volunteers for community-based nonprofit organizations, and for schools and other governmental programs throughout northern and central California. All charitable contributions are entirely funded by PG&E Corporation shareholders and the level of charitable giving does not affect gas and electric rates.

Pacific Gas and Electric Company, a subsidiary of PG&E Corporation, is one of the largest combined natural gas and electric utilities in the United States. Based in San Francisco, with 20,000 employees, the company delivers some of the nation’s cleanest energy to 15 million people in northern and central California. For more information, visit http://www.pge.com/.

A nonprofit established by Congress in 1984, the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation sustains, restores and enhances the Nation’s fish, wildlife, plants and habitats. Through leadership conservation investments with public and private partners, NFWF is dedicated to achieving maximum conservation impact by developing and applying best practices and innovative methods for measurable outcomes. Since its establishment, NFWF has awarded nearly 9,500 grants to over 3,000 organizations in the United States and abroad and leveraged — with its partners — more than $400 million in federal funds into more than $1.3 billion for on-the-ground conservation. For more information, visit http://www.nfwf.org/.

Written by fandw08 · Filed Under Environmental News 

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