Field reports: 2013 hunting rules adopted by panel

HUNTING – Allowing lighted nocks for bowhunting was among 17 measures adopted for the 2013 hunting seasons during the Washington Fish and Wildlife Commission meeting last week in Olympia.

Advocates say electronically illuminated nocks can be helpful in retrieving arrows. Traditional bowhunters had originally opposed any use of electronics in primitive weapon seasons, but the commission agreed that lighted knocks have little impact on harvest success.

Other new rules will:

• Restore archery hunts for antlerless elk in Yakima County in game management units 352 (Nile) and 356 (Bumping).

• Rescind the five special hunting permits previously available for the Tieton bighorn sheep herd, which the state recently eliminated to prevent the spread of a deadly outbreak of pneumonia.

• Restrict importation of dead game animals from Missouri, Texas and Pennsylvania, which are among a number of states with deer and elk populations known to harbor chronic wasting disease.  

Oregon town targets local wild turkeys

WILDLIFE – Jefferson, Ore., pop. 3,000, is done making room for the 50-60 wild turkeys roaming the Willamette Valley town.

A Marion County deputy is authorized to begin shooting turkeys next week under a new city ordinance that aims to regulate domestic animals and keep out wild populations that could cause a nuisance.

The prospect of killing the birds has one resident trying to organize a last-minute effort to trap and relocate some of the birds to a rural area.

Wild turkey numbers are growing in Oregon, resulting in complaints about messy lawns, ruined gardens and harassment from aggressive male birds. Corvallis and Dallas have taken similar steps in recent years.

The ordinance gives the city authority to arrange for state permits to shoot the birds. The meat must be donated to a food bank.

Kalispell Cabela’s to break ground

GEAR – Outdoors retailer Cabela’s plans to begin construction of its Kalispell store next month.

The Nebraska-based company has submitted a building permit for a 42,000-square-foot store with a goal of opening in mid-October.

In September, Cabela’s said it would open an Outpost Store and employ about 75 full-time and part-time seasonal employees.

The Post Falls Cabela’s covers 130,000 square feet.

Federal culvert ruling may be costly to state

FISHERIES –The state may need to spend more than $2.4 billion because of a federal ruling concerning culverts and salmon.

The ruling came more than a decade after an injunction was sought by 21 tribes claiming that poorly planned culverts were blocking salmon from reaching spawning grounds. The tribes say the culverts would infringe on treaty-protected tribal fishing rights.

Culverts are often built under roadways to allow streams to flow under them.