Donors Boost Drive To Feed Hungry Deer

Feeding wildlife through this unexpectedly harsh winter likely will cost the Washington Fish and Wildlife Department a million dollars more than anyone could have anticipated.

In planning for the winter, agency officials figured they would spend about $400,000 to sustain deer and elk in central Washington areas where range conditions are still recovering from forest fires several years ago.

With deer still in dire snowbound condition in much of Central Washington, the estimate for feeding has soared to $1.4 million.

The Legislature seems somewhat sympathetic to this winter’s emergency, but other groups are not waiting for debate.

The Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation has chipped in $25,000. Safari Club International has suggested a $10,000 gift.

The Colville Tribal Gaming Division has anted up $10,000 for deer feeding in the Columbia Basin.

Visitors, who have come to watch elk being fed, have plunked about $8,000 into a collection box at the Oak Creek Wildlife Area near Yakima.

Randy Kyle, who owns a Yakima sport shop, took the campaign to another level.

“I went on TV and and told the public we need donations,” he said. “We got on the local stations first. Then KING-TV in Seattle came over and we got $6,500 in one day.

“CNN ran the story two days in a row. We have money coming in from Oregon, Arizona and Idaho. About $30,000 altogether.”

A blanket of crusty snow is still making life miserable for deer in north-central Washington. But moderate weather has bared some hillsides near Yakima and feeding needs have been somewhat reduced.

“In another 45 days, we might have this licked,” Kyle said. “But I could be wrong.”

Deadly dogs: A nasty winter has brought a bitter end for irresponsible dog owners in rural areas of Washington.

In the past month, Fish and Wildlife Department agents have shot several dogs in Ferry and Okanogan counties after the dogs were caught chasing deer.

The Spokane office has a photo of one dead dog along with the deer it chased and killed in the crusty snow of Ferry County.

“This dog had been seen doing this over and over,” said Madonna Luers, department spokeswoman in Spokane. “Officers have the authority to shoot dogs that are doing harm to wildlife in these severe winter conditions, but it’s usually the last drastic resort.

“We try to give warnings to the owners, then a ticket before we ever think about shooting a dog.

“In Okanogan County, there’s little tolerance at this stage. The problem is so prevalent and the deer are in dire straits.”

Bird swap: Seventeen wild turkeys were trapped near the Seven Bays area of Lake Roosevelt on Wednesday. The Washington Fish and Wildlife Department plans to swap them and another dozen turkeys to be trapped near the Tucannon River for a flock of sharptails from southern Idaho.

The turkeys will go to the Payette River area. The sharptails likely will be released in Okanogan County or Lincoln County.

Muzzleloaders overlooked: It’s official. Traditional muzzleloader deer seasons in the Cheney and Roosevelt areas were not approved for this fall because of a Fish and Wildlife Department oversight.

“Because it’s not an error that will cause a conservation problem for wildlife, it’s not likely there will be any emergency change to authorize the hunts,” Luers said. “In case of landowner damage problems, we would respond with hot-spot hunts.”

Significant interest has been shown for the hunts in recent years. According to department records, 662 muzzleloaders killed 186 bucks and does in units 130 and 133 in 1995.

Chief may come: New Forest Service chief Michael Dombeck has tentatively accepted the invitation to deliver the keynote address in Spokane for the Ecosystem Management in the Interior Columbia Basin conference March 3-5 at the Ag Trade Center.

Info: Washington State University Office of Conferences, (800) 942-4978.

Corrections: Last week, I erred in saying that the Mica Peak unit was eliminated from the late archery deer hunt. Also, there was a typo in the e-mail address for telling Gov. Gary Locke to appoint more Eastern Washington representation on the state Parks and Recreation commission as well as the Fish and Wildlife commission.

The governor can be reached at governor.locke@governor.wa.gov or by calling his Spokane office at 456-4417.

Kid kudos: Young Idaho anglers Amberlee Wells, 10, of Spirit Lake and Jeff Meyer, 13, of Osburn won the recent Castin’ Kids tournament sponsored by the Post Falls bass club.

The club gave each of the local winners $300 to help with their travel expenses to the regional competition.

Hats off: Fifteen-year-old Andrew Gemmill broke 25 straight targets at the Spokane Gun Club skeet range last week.

Then he broke tradition.

Normally, a shooter who dusts his first 25 in a league match must toss his hat into the center of the range so it can be well-ventilated with 12-gauge pellets by the rest of the squad.

But Andrew, a student at Gonzaga Prep, was wearing a specially prized Ducks Unlimited hat. The other shooters granted him a rain check.

Sunday, however, Andrew will be at the range to throw in his hat - a carefully selected old one.

“What’s left of it will be a memory he’ll keep the rest of his life,” said his mother, Patt.

, DataTimes MEMO: You can contact Rich Landers by voice mail at 459-5577, extension 5508.

The following fields overflowed: CREDIT = Rich Landers The Spokesman-Review