Posts Tagged ‘wildlife’

Winter Road Closures in Place on Gifford Pinchot National Forest (Washington)

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Chris Strebig (360) 891-5005

VANCOUVER, WA – Due to the unusually low snowpack this year, officials with the Gifford Pinchot National Forest would like to remind all forest visitors that there is a winter recreation road closure from December 1 to April 1 that prohibits wheeled vehicles on certain roads. These closures are to protect wildlife during the winter period and to provide for winter sports such as skiing, snowmobiling, and snowshoeing. This closure helps to prevent damage to the surface of the groomed snowmobile and ski trails. Compliance with this closure will help save money targeted for snow grooming. Please check with your local Forest Service Office for the list of roads that are closed.

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Create Holiday Memories in Nature

For Release on December 16, 2009
Contact: Valerie Fellows (703) 358-2285

The weather may be chilly, but it’s still a great time to get outside and see birds, mammals and a host of other wildlife species in your own neighborhood. This holiday season, create lifetime memories and establish new family traditions by getting outdoors with your camera and capturing photos of yourself and your family and friends exploring nature.

Visit a national wildlife refuge, a national fish hatchery, or even a stream or woods in your own neighborhood. Then share your best photos of you and your family enjoying the natural world with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and its Let’s Go Outside photo project, which already includes more than 4,000 images. Your photos will become part of an online image mosaic being compiled from thousands of photos.

Here’s all you have to do:

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Gifford Pinchot Forest Roads 25, 81, and 83 Gated for Winter Season (Washington)

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACT:
Chris Strebig (360) 891-5005 cell (360) 901-2131

Vancouver, WA – Increasing snow at higher elevations is causing the closure of some Forest roads for the winter. Winter recreationists should keep in mind that roads to Sno-Parks will not be plowed until December 1 or later.

Forest Road 25 is now gated at the south end due to increasing snow levels at higher elevations. The north end of Forest Road 25 is gated at Benham Creek, five miles north of Forest Road 99, due to an ongoing landslide. Forest Road 81 is closed beyond Cougar Sno-Park, and Forest Road 83 is closed beyond Marble Mountain Sno-Park.

Forest Service Road 52 (Skate Creek Road), from Packwood to Highway 706, is still open, however, wintry conditions should be expected. Gates at both ends of the road will be closed when snow accumulates.

On the west side of Mount St. Helens, State Route 504 remains open east of the Hoffstadt Bluffs Visitor Center as far Coldwater Lake recreation site. The Johnston Ridge Observatory is closed for the winter. Travelers on State Route 504 should watch out for ice in shaded areas and on bridges as well as for wildlife. The Washington State Department of Transportation plans to maintain State Route 504 for winter travel to Coldwater Lake and the Hummocks Trail as weather conditions and available equipment permit. Winter visitors need to be aware that road conditions can change quickly due to blowing snow. For the latest information on State Route 504 and other Washington State Highways visit WSDOT’s web site at: www.wsdot.wa.gov/regions/Southwest/. Motorists can receive updates by calling 511.

As winter snows arrive many roads on the Gifford Pinchot will be closed for the winter months. As winter closures take effect, vehicular access will be restricted to many popular spots on the Forest. These closures are to protect wildlife during the winter period and to provide for winter sports such as skiing, snowmobiling, and snowshoeing. All closed areas, are open to the public with access by foot. Wheeled vehicles are restricted from all-winter sports travel routes. Snowmobiles are not allowed in wildlife winter range areas. Once implemented winter wildlife and winter sports closures will be in effect until April 1, 2010.

Please make sure you and your vehicle are prepared for winter travel. Remember to carry emergency equipment and chains. Your safety depends on good planning and good judgment. For updates on weather and road conditions, contact Forest Service offices and for statewide road information visit www.wsdot.wa.gov/traffic/.

http://www.fs.fed.us/gpnf/news/2009/documents/final-20091025a-Roads-closures.pdf

Ashton/Island Park Ranger District Travel Regulations (Idaho)

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Patty Kraayenbrink 208-524-7639

Idaho Falls, ID – Caribou-Targhee National Forest winter travel regulations for Ashton/Island Park Ranger District go into effect Thanksgiving Day. The official Travel Map for the Ashton/Island Park Ranger District describes winter travel opportunities for both winter cross-country use and winter designated routes. This map along with the snowmobile map produced by the Island Park Chamber of Commerce shows winter recreationists groomed snowmobile trails; groomed cross-country ski trails, areas with seasonal closures and areas closed to protect wildlife winter ranges or designated Wilderness. Maps may be obtained through the Ashton/Island Park Ranger District or the Island Park Chamber of Commerce.

Light snow conditions may still allow passenger vehicle traffic on National Forest roads open to summer motorized travel. Vehicle travel will be allowed until snow depth prevents cars and trucks from using the roadways or Fremont County begins snowmobile trail grooming. Roads maintained by Fremont County are not open to snowmobile use.

Most of the Ashton/Island Park Ranger District is open to winter cross-country motorized use. However, there are a few areas displayed on the map in purple hues that are closed to winter cross-country motorized use. The area known as Big Bend Ridge is closed to winter cross-country use until January 1st for the security of the elk and deer migrating to their winter range west of the Forest. Another large area closed to over-snow motorized vehicles is an area from the south side of the Island Park Reservoir east to Henrys Fork River, south to Highway 20 and Green Canyon Road. This area is the Thurmon Ridge area and Harriman State Park. Winegar Hole Wilderness and Jedediah Smith Wilderness are closed to snowmobile use.

People recreating on snow machines are asked to be respectful of private property. District Ranger, Adrienne Keller, has received complaints from area property owners about people on snow machines who ride their machines wherever they please and don?t pay attention to private property boundaries. “I’ve received complaints about people riding their snow machines around private cabins, running over trees in yards and leaving trash when they’ve stopped for a break on a deck of an unoccupied residence.” The groomed snowmobile trails in Fremont County depend on the approval of private land owners to allow the trail to cross their property to connect the trails to the National Forest. Keller adds, “If private property owners near the trails are affected by this rude behavior of some people on snow machines, we could lose their support for the trail going across their property, affecting the connectivity of the trail system in the Ashton and Island Park areas in Fremont County.”

For more information on winter recreation opportunities on the Ashton/Island Park Ranger District, contact either the Ashton Ranger Station at (208) 652-7442 or Island Park Ranger Station at (208) 558-7301. Safe riding!!

USDA Forest Service
Caribou-Targhee National Forest
1405 Hollipark Drive
Idaho Falls, Idaho 83401

http://www.fs.fed.us/r4/caribou-targhee/news/2009/09-61%20ashton-islandpark_winter_travel_regs.doc

Public Comment Sought on Proposed Land Exchange Between WDFW and WDNR (Washington)

NEWS RELEASE
600 Capitol Way North, Olympia, WA 98501-1091

November 18, 2009
Contact: Jennifer Quan, 360-902-2508

Olympia, WA – The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) invites public comment through Dec. 16 on a proposal to exchange additional land in eastern Washington with the Washington Department of Natural Resources (WDNR).

In the second phase of a major land exchange proposed by the two agencies, WDFW would acquire approximately 25,849 acres of shrub-steppe and lower-elevation forest habitats, while WDNR would acquire approximately 12,424 acres of higher elevation forest habitat.

The proposed exchange would affect properties in Kittitas, Okanogan, Klickitat, Yakima, Asotin and Chelan counties.

“This proposal continues our work with WDNR to more efficiently and effectively manage lands for wildlife that have been fragmented for more than a century,” said Jennifer Quan, WDFW lands division manager.

WDFW and other agencies involved in the proposed land exchange are accepting comments on a joint Environmental Assessment document that addresses both state and federal regulatory requirements.

Because the proposed land exchange is administrative in nature, WDFW has proposed a determination of non-significance (DNS) in the Environmental Assessment under provisions of State Environmental Policy Act (SEPA).

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Park Service, which provided funding for some of the lands involved in the exchange, are also accepting public comments on the proposed action under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA).

A copy of the joint Environmental Assessment, which includes a description and maps of the proposed land exchange, is available on the WDFW website at http://wdfw.wa.gov/hab/sepa/sepa.htm. Comments on the document can made through Dec. 16 on that webpage, by FAX (360-902-2946), or by postal mail to WDFW SEPA Desk, 600 Capitol Way N., Olympia, WA 98501-1091.

In the first phase of the land exchange, finalized in August, WDFW acquired 9,000 acres and WDNR acquired 5,100 acres.

Quan said much of the public land owned by the state in eastern Washington is arranged in a checkerboard pattern, due to the way lands were distributed after statehood in 1889. That left wildlife habitat fragmented, increasing both the cost and the difficulty of effectively managing those lands over the long term.

In one large area of central Washington, WDNR and WDFW own or manage every other square mile across a 170,000-acre landscape with different management goals and legal mandates. Exchanging lands would allow each agency to better address its specific management goals without reducing the total amount of public land available for wildlife or recreation, Quan said.

The primary benefits of the exchange would:

• Protect and enhance habitat for big-game species (e.g. elk, mule deer, bighorn sheep), shrub-steppe species (e.g. sage grouse, sage thrasher, sage sparrow, Brewer’s sparrow), and forest species (e.g. goshawk, pileated woodpecker, white headed woodpecker, forest grouse).
• Maintain public access and recreation on public lands.
• Generate revenue for WDNR trust beneficiaries such as public schools.

http://wdfw.wa.gov/do/newreal/release.php?id=nov1809b

Enjoy Fall at a National Wildlife Refuge

For Release on August 4, 2009

Contacts:
Vanessa Kauffman, 703-358-2138, vanessa_kauffman@fws.gov
Martha Nudel, 703-358-1858, martha_nudel@fws.gov

Enjoy Fall at a National Wildlife Refuge

A world of seasonal wonders awaits you this fall at a National Wildlife Refuge. The National Wildlife Refuge System, managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, is the world?s premier system of public lands and waters
set aside to conserve America?s fish, wildlife and plants. There is a National Wildlife Refuge within an hour?s drive of most major cities.

Premier Hunting Experiences Accessible?

Where is the closest National Wildlife Refuge that offers turkey hunting for people with disabilities?

You don?t need to guess or start phoning names on a long list. A new National Wildlife Refuge System interactive Web site, Your Guide to Hunting on National Wildlife Refuges, (http://www.fws.gov/refuges/hunting) provides
hunters with an easy search mechanism to find a refuge by special interest, such as game species (i.e. deer, waterfowl, big game), zip code, youth or special needs (i.e. universally accessible), or using any combination of
topics. You can also search by a refuge name or state name.

More than 2 million hunters visit National Wildlife Refuges each year. Hunting, within specified limits, is permitted on more than 300 refuges. Of these, 43, including Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge in Maryland and
Bald Knob National Wildlife Refuge in Arizona offer accessible turkey hunting; 97 refuges offer youth hunts.

While definitions of hunting categories vary by refuge and state, migratory bird hunting generally includes ducks and geese. Small game hunting includes animals, such as rabbit, squirrel and raccoon. Big game hunting may cover animals like elk, moose and bear.

Refuge hunts are carefully managed to give hunters a quality experience according to four guiding principles: manage wildlife populations consistent with approved management plans; promote visitor understanding and appreciation for America?s natural wildlife resources; provide quality recreational and educational experiences; and minimize conflicts with visitors participating in other wildlife-dependent recreational activities.

The instructive Web site offers additional information and includes tips to hunters, facts on archery hunting, special stories about hunting in Alaska and becoming a more effective waterfowl hunter. In addition, information on state hunting licenses is provided. For those who wish to bring the guide with them; it is available as a downloadable publication organized by state.

The mission of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is working with others to conserve, protect and enhance fish, wildlife, plants and their habitats for the continuing benefit of the American people. We are both a leader and
trusted partner in fish and wildlife conservation, known for our scientific excellence, stewardship of lands and natural resources, dedicated professionals and commitment to public service. For more information on our work and the people who make it happen, visit www.fws.gov.

Mid-Columbia National Wildlife Refuges Issue Fire Prevention Order

Contact: Chris Schulte, (509) 546-8330

Due to extremely dry conditions, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) has imposed a complete ban on activities likely to start a fire on refuges in the Mid-Columbia. Included in the order are the Hanford Reach National Monument and Columbia, Cold Springs, Conboy Lake, McKay Creek, McNary, Toppenish and Umatilla National Wildlife Refuges. Building any fire, including the use of charcoal briquettes and cooking stoves, is prohibited. Also banned are fireworks, smoking outside of an enclosed vehicle, and operation of any motor without an approved and working spark arrester.

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