CATHLAMET — When people visit the Julia Butler Hansen Refuge for the Columbian White-tailed Deer, they typically ask at least one of three questions, said manager Joel David:
“Where are the deer?”
“Where are the elk?”
“Where can I go walk?”
A proposed management plan for the federal refuge, located along the Columbia River between Cathlamet and Skamokawa, includes a couple of trails that will attract walkers to a refuge that currently has limited public facilities.
But seeing animals may not get easier. Ongoing tree planting will provide more places for the endangered deer to hide and the plan calls for keeping the elk herd much smaller than it used to be.
The 1½-inch thick draft Comprehensive Conservation Plan for the refuge also suggests establishing another population of Columbian white-tailed deer at a new location upstream of Cathlamet.
Overall, though, few major changes are suggested in the plan, which has been under development since 2006, David said. This is the first time a management plan has addressed all aspects of the refuge, from wildlife to public use, he said.
The Hansen refuge was established in 1971 and today totals more than 6,000 acres of pasture, tidal swamps and sloughs. The refuge’s main purpose it to provide a sanctuary for the Columbian white-tailed deer, which are listed as endangered on the federal Endangered Species List.
“The goal is to de-list these guys,” said refuge wildlife biologist Paul Meyers. “I’m optimistic about that happening in the long-term future.”
Deer to get more dispersed
The largest chunk of the Hansen refuge is a 2,000-acre expanse on the mainland between Cathlamet and Skamokawa. About 70 whitetails currently live there; the goal is 123.
The 2,000-acre Tenasillahe Island, an undeveloped isle in the Columbia River, is also part of the refuge. About 150 deer live there, with about an equal number on Puget Island.
About 20 to 30 whitetails live on Crims Island just downstream of Stella, and another 25 to 35 live in Willow Grove.
Though there are enough whitetails to get them out of endangered status, three viable herds must be established on public lands. The current distribution counts as two herds.
The plan calls for establishing yet another population of deer upstream — though no location is specified.
This fall, the Cowlitz Indian Tribe plans to move 15 to 20 whitetails to Cottonwood Island, which is between Kelso and Kalama. Another transfer could happen the following year. The 650-acre island “potentially could be the third sub-population if it can support 50 deer,” Meyers said.
A population of more than 6,000 Columbian white-tails near Roseburg, Ore., has been removed from the endangered list. But that doesn’t count in the effort to get the deer along the lower Columbia River de-listed, Meyers said.
The Hansen refuge plan calls for continuing habitat improvement work that’s been going on for years. Last week, a crew of tree planters from Salem was busy planting ash, cottonwood, willow and Sitka spruce trees.
The deer do best when their habitat is about half open land — where food is available — and half wooded cover, Meyers said. Only about 30 percent is woods now.
The 90,000 trees that have been planted already make it harder for human visitors to spot the deer.
Trapping to continue
The proposed plan calls for killing coyotes year-round as needed if the predators are taking too many fawns.
The refuge started trapping coyotes in the mid-1990s, but was challenged in a lawsuit by two animal-rights groups, so the refuge eventually agreed to trap coyotes in the winter only.
That avoids the time when coyotes have pups — but also the time deer fawns are most vulnerable to predators.
The refuge contracts with federal wildlife control officers to trap and kill coyotes when the deer population falls too low, Meyers said. In 2008, the most recent year for which a count is available, 20 coyotes were trapped.
Live trapping and relocating coyotes doesn’t work, Meyers said.
“Moving them is basically destroying them” because they conflict with coyotes whose territory they’re entering.
Inadvertent killing of the endangered whitetails during blacktail deer season hasn’t been a big problem, David said. “Most of the areas around here that have whitetails are closed to hunting,” David said.
Whitetails and blacktails don’t overlap extensively, Meyers said — the whitetails prefer open parklands while, black-tails prefer heavier woods.
Elk numbers have decreased.
In the late 1990s, about 120 elk lived on the mainland part of the refuge, David said. Bulls could often be spotted from Ocean Beach Highway.
But the elk competed with the deer for food, and in years past the refuge and state Department of Fish and Wildlife captured refuge elk with nets dropped from helicopters. The elk were released nearby but seemed to find their way back, despite fences built around the refuge designed to keep them out.
Muzzleloader elk hunt
Starting in 2005, the refuge and state Department of Fish and Wildlife started a permit-only muzzleloader elk hunt. Hunters took only six cows over two years, David said, but their efforts apparently scared off many of the elk and the population has stabilized around 25.
That’s few enough so conflicts with deer are acceptable. Wildlife watchers, though, aren’t as likely to spot elk from the refuge viewing stand on Ocean Beach Highway.
“The bulls that are left are fairly skittish,” David said.
For safety reasons, the refuge plan calls for ending waterfowl hunting along Steamboat Slough Road, which goes by the refuge headquarters.
“We have had a couple of people shooting right next to the road,” David said.
However, Crims and Price islands would open to waterfowl hunting.
Compared to other federal wildlife refuges, the Hansen facility gets relatively few visitors, David said.
It might attract more with two proposed trails.
The refuge currently has no hiking trail, though in summers walkers are allowed on a service road that cuts through the middle of it.
That road floods in winter and is used by refuge vehicles at other times, so it’s not a good place for a hike, David said.
The plan calls for establishing a 0.8-mile trail from refuge headquarters along Indian Jack Slough out to the Columbia River.
Walkers could make a 2½ mile loop by coming back on Steamboat Slough Road, which gets little traffic.
Also proposed is establishing a bicycle route that starts at the wildlife viewpoint on Ocean Beach Highway, goes along one dike and then onto Brooks Slough Road, a dike-top route which also gets few vehicles.
“The best areas to see wildlife are up on the dikes,” David said.
Other federal wildlife refuges, such as those at near Ridgefield and Washougal, have trails on boardwalks.
“We didn’t see a good place to put a boardwalk trail,’’ David said.
