Drought, wildfires combine to impact region’s wildlife

Are the region’s wildfires cooking wildlife?

Generally no, wildlife biologists say. Rather than perish in the flames, critters are more likely to starve later if a harsh winter compounds the impacts of charred winter ranges.

“Most of the fires don’t blow up so fast that wildlife can’t go underground or move out of the way,” said Wayne Wakkinen, Idaho Fish and Game’s regional wildlife manager in Coeur d’Alene.

“Certainly there’s some short-term stress on animals and some die as they redistribute in response to fire,” said Nate Pamplin, Washington’s Wildlife Program director. “It’s the severity of the fire on the land and how habitat responds after the fire that impacts how it will play out in terms of forage available for deer and elk.”

Agencies manage wildlife on a population level as opposed to trying to save every individual animal, Pamplin said.

“In the 2014 Carlton Complex fires, we were very concerned about the impact to deer winter range and what the loss of so many deer fences would mean to crops. But some rains came last fall; we had a little green-up followed by a mild winter, so we came through better than many would have expected.

“That could happen again, but we’re also looking at this new Okanogan Complex fire on top of the shrub component lost in last year’s fires and once again we’re very concerned about the impacts for this deer herd this winter.”

Washington responded to the Carlton fires not by curbing hunting seasons, but by adding special hunting permits in areas to bring deer herds into balance with the carrying capacity of the fire-impacted land.

But Pamplin said it’s too soon to provide specifics for this year.

“The severity of the fires on wildlife habitat and the dangers the burned areas and snags pose to humans has not been assessed because the fires are still ongoing,” he said. “We’re literally waiting for the smoke to clear to make those assessments.”

Drought is the deepest concern for wildlife. The record low snowpack and dry summer has dried up potholes and left streams running too warm for fish and at record lows. Sockeye salmon died by the thousands on their migration up the Columbia this summer and decades-old sturgeon were going belly up.

Drought creates the tinder-dry conditions that foster wildfires and leave even unburned lands poor in forage.

“We’ve got bears at low elevations in the Selkirks and other areas already,” Wakkinen said, noting that a grizzly was killed by a landowner near Moyie Springs this month. “This time of year, bears are in the high country hitting huckleberries, but I was up in (Game) Unit 4 last week and it’s pretty crispy up there.”

Reports of bears at lower elevations are an indication forage isn’t in good shape and animals roam farther to feed.

If there’s a silver lining to the dry conditions, it’s that elk calves seemed to have endured the light winter in good numbers and the easy winter and mild spring has resulted in a good crop of whitetails.

“And mountain grouse seem to be doing very well – they didn’t have the normal killing rains of June,” Wakkinen said. “A dry spring is a good thing for most birds, including turkeys. We may be up to our necks in wild turkeys this fall.”