Volunteers Needed For Rabbit Survey

Volunteers can take part in the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife’s survey of pygmy rabbit burrows on March 22 and April 6.

The endangered rabbits, at 8-11 inches long the smallest in the bunny world, were thought to be extinct until burrows were found in the 1980s. For the survey, volunteers will walk 3 to 5 miles per day to document the animals’ recovery.

The survey runs both days from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. and starts in Ephrata. All volunteers must attend a 1-1/2-hour training session unless they surveyed last year. Training at Ephrata’s regional wildlife office (1551 Alder St. NW) is scheduled for:

March 22, 7-8:30 a.m.

March 25, 7-8:30 p.m.

March 29, 7-8:30 a.m.

April 1, 7-8:30 p.m.

April 3, 7-8:30 p.m.

Contact the Ephrata WDFW office at (509) 754-4624 for information.

Steelhead numbers up

After steelhead fishermen posted a catch rate on the upper Salmon River on March 1-2 ranking among the best in the last 15 years, some Idaho Fish and Game officials already are predicting a spring season to remember. 299 anglers at the North Fork check station spent 3,801 hours fishing, landing 434 steelhead for an average of 7 hours per fish.

The weekend catch ranks as the fourth-best in 11 years.

Salmon fishing options released

Most ocean-fishing proposals by the Pacific Fishery Management Council would take advantage of this year’s expected increase of harvestable coho and chinook salmon.

In part, this increase in fish is a result of a drastic reduction in funding at Oregon fish hatcheries. With cuts in programs there, they no longer need fish for hatchery purposes, so more chinook and coho are potentially available for recreational and commercial harvest off the Washington coast.

“This is a once-only dividend. The offspring of those Oregon hatchery fish won’t be in the ocean to provide fisheries in future years,” warned Bern Shanks, director of the state department of fish and wildlife. “Washington and other northwestern states also must focus on rebuilding their salmon runs.”

Final decisions on ocean salmon seasons will be made April 7.

, DataTimes