NEARLY RECOVERED

The Columbian white-tailed deer population of Washington has rebounded from the verge of extinction, and wildlife officials are starting a process that may remove the species from the federal Threatened and Endangered Species list.

If that occurs, the southwest region of the state would score a rare endangered species success story. It’s uncertain, though, whether delisting would mean greater flexibility in preventing deer-related crop damage in the Puget Island and Cathlamet areas.

In Oregon, the distinct Douglas County population of Columbian whitetails was removed from the federal list in 2003 after recovering to numbers exceeding 5,500.

These are the only two surviving populations of Columbian whitetails.

Hunting and habitat loss had put the deer, which live in river bottomlands, on the brink of extinction. Federal biologists have worked four decades to recover the species by securing protected habitat, improving forage opportunities and enforcing the Endangered Species Act, which prohibits harassment or injuring any listed species.

At their lowest number, fewer than 100 deer were counted along the lower Columbia, said Joel David, manager the Julia Butler Hansen Refuge for Columbian White-Tailed Deer near Cathlamet.

Experts believe they’ve met their recovery target of 400 deer in Washington, said Ted Thomas, a senior ecologist for state Department of Fish and Wildlife.

Before paperwork is drafted to remove the deer from the list, Thomas wants to count deer on private lands. He’s seeking permission from landowners, as a courtesy, to allow biologists to count deer from a low-flying helicopter with a thermal imaging camera.“What I would like to see is more security in the numbers,” Thomas said.

Columbian whitetails were protected even before President Nixon signed the Endangered Species Act into law in 1973. About 10,000 acres of protected land has been acquired since that time and various relocation efforts have been completed to disperse and increase the population.

“That’s a long time to be on the endangered species list and not show any improvement,” Thomas said.

David, manager of the white-tailed deer refuge near Cathlamet, helps maintain thousands of acres of habitat for the deer. That includes mowing grass (the deer seem to like short grass best) and removing invasive species, such as reed canary grass.

Although the Julia Butler Hansen deer refuge is something of a tourist attraction, the deer have been a bane to farmers in the area because of forage damage. One Wahkiakum County farmer got a $300 fine and three years’ probation for shooting a deer in his field out of frustration in 1988.

If deer are removed from the endangered species list, wildlife officials will need to decide and set acceptable management tools for the deer, David said. Even if the deer are delisted, they’re often protected by state rules, he said.

Once on the Endangered Species List, animals rarely come off.

As of August, only 44 species out of 1,327 species have been delisted. Of those, 19 are considered “recovered,” such as the bald eagle. Nine have gone extinct.

In the case of Columbian whitetails, biologists have met the major recovery goals for the species, including establishing three separate populations on protected lands. These include the Hansen refuge, Tenasillahe Island near Skamokawa and Wallace Island near Clatskanie.

Having multiple populations helps protect the species in case of a natural disaster or disease hits one group.

Meeting the recovery plan goals, though, doesn’t automatically remove white-tails from the endangered species list, Thomas emphasized.

The deer likely would be monitored over a five-year trial period – during which hunting, for example, wouldn’t be allowed, Thomas said.

“If we see that it declines, we may make the decision it does need to be (back) on the Endangered Species List,” he said.

Thomas sees several advantages for removing the deer from the list. For starters, people won’t have to worry about accidentally killing whitetails, which can be tricky to distinguish from blacktails, he said.

“I’m not encouraging that (hunting) or saying it’s going to happen, but it’s something that could happen,” he said.

Also, delisting the animals proves that the system works, Thomas said. It shows “the protections have protected the species from being extinct.”