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WDFW reviews status of 19 native species

In this May 9, 2008, photo, male sage grouses fight for the attention of females southwest of Rawlins, Wyo. (Jerret Raffety / AP)
From staff reports
In this May 9, 2008, photo, male sage grouses fight for the attention of females southwest of Rawlins, Wyo. (Jerret Raffety / AP)

The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife is seeking the public’s help to provide information on 19 wildlife species as part of a periodic review of native populations, according to an agency news release.

WDFW will review the following species: steller sea lion, killer whale, lynx, western gray squirrel, woodland caribou, Columbian white-tailed deer, brown pelican, white pelican, bald eagle, peregrine falcon, greater sage grouse, sandhill crane, snowy plover, marbled murrelet, northern spotted owl, streaked horned lark, Oregon vesper sparrow, western pond turtle and Taylor’s checkerspot butterfly.

For a preliminary schedule of presentations to the Fish and Wildlife Commission, visit WDFW’s Species Status Review website.

The species have all been listed, have been recently delisted or are being reviewed for listing as endangered, threatened or sensitive.

“We are interested in obtaining information from the public, including nongovernmental organizations, universities, private researchers and naturalists, to supplement current data,” said Hannah Anderson, listing and recovery section manager for WDFW’s Wildlife Diversity Division.

“Such groups and individuals likely have valuable data, such as annual population counts or privately developed habitat management plans,” she said.

WDFW is looking for information on: species demographics, habitat conditions, threats and trends, conservation measures that have benefited the species, and new data collected since the last status review.

Public input is an important part of gathering the best available scientific data for any species, Anderson said.

“We greatly value this information and all the people who work with us to conserve and protect species,” she added.

Wildlife managers will use the information to help update status reports. More information on the process is available on WDFW’s Species Status Review website.

To share information, email TandEpubliccom@dfw.wa.gov, or mail to Hannah Anderson, Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, P.O. Box 43141, Olympia, 98504-3141.