WWP Online Messenger #126

News Release

March 26, 2007

Western Watersheds Project Sends a 60 Day Litigation Notice Letter Under The Endangered Species Act To The Washington Department Of Fish And Wildlife In Regard To Proposed Cattle Grazing In The Whiskey Dick And Asotin Wildlife Areas In Eastern Washington.

Contacts:

Bob Tuck: 509-945-7250
Dr. Donald Johnson: 509-923-9367
Dr. Steve Herman: 360-894-0751
Jon Marvel: 208-788-2290

Western Watersheds Project (WWP), a regional conservation organization, has sent the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) a 60-Day Notice Letter, notifying the Director, Jeff Koenings, of an impending lawsuit under the Endangered Species Act challenging proposed cattle grazing in the Whiskey Dick Wildlife Area on the Columbia River near Ellensburg and the Pintler Creek unit of the Asotin Wildlife Area near Asotin, Washington.

The cattle grazing proposal for the Whiskey Dick Wildlife Area would reintroduce privately-owned cattle to lands where they were removed over a quarter century ago so the land could recover. WDFW owns tens of thousands of acres purchased specifically for fish and wildlife habitat. In many cases federal dollars helped pay for these important wildlife areas.

The Whiskey Dick and Asotin Wildlife Area units proposed for cattle grazing include thousands of acres of shrubsteppe ecosystem, one of the most endangered landscapes in the American West. A combination of sagebrush and native bunchgrasses, this habitat supports a number of endangered and declining species, including sage grouse and the loggerhead shrike. Many species of birds are endemic to shrubsteppe habitats and cannot survive elsewhere. In addition to the sage grouse –which now number fewer than 1000 in Washington State - Brewer’s sparrows, sage thrashers, sage sparrows are all shrubsteppe obligates wildlife species. Endangered and rare mammals and fish –including pygmy rabbits, Chinook salmon and bull trout- also depend on streams located on the Wildlife Areas.

The proposal to reintroduce cattle on these protected wildlife lands reverses an existing trend of reducing grazing on Washington state lands, and contradicts a policy the WDFW has followed in recent years. Less than ten percent of the original shrubsteppe in Washington State remains intact. The proposal includes drilling wells, building fences, and putting in additional cattle management installations at public expense that will lead to the degradation of these otherwise disappearing landscapes.

Dr. Steve Herman, an emeritus Faculty Member at Evergreen State College, who has studied Washington shrubsteppe with his students for more than thirty years says: “I watched while the WDFW grazed one of the best areas - the Sagebrush Flat Wildlife Area - so abusively that much of it was physically destroyed. That was the last place the Columbia Basin pygmy rabbit was found. When that little rabbit was almost gone, it was declared Endangered, and the cattle were finally removed. The last surviving Washington pygmy rabbits were trapped and put into a captive breeding project, where most of them died.”

“The Whiskey Dick Wildlife Area, a half hour from Ellensburg, is one of the places where cattle, their waste products, fences, electric lines, wells, pipelines troughs, and new roads are to be reintroduced. This is an area of unmatched beauty, especially for spring wildflowers”, Herman said. “Losing it to cattle would be a tragedy for all Washingtonians.”

Dr. Herman, also emphasizes “The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife has as one of its mastheads, ‘A Sound Stewardship of Fish and Wildlife” and in a recent report that WDFW Director Koenings presented to the Fish and Wildlife Commission, he stated the “FISH AND WILDLIFE GOAL; ‘ACHIEVE HEALTHY, DIVERSE AND SUSTAINABLE FISH AND WILDLIFE POPULATIONS AND THEIR SUPPORTING HABITAT’. Increasing the number of cattle on state wildlife areas can only contradict and erode that goal.”

Other WDFW lands targeted for grazing are the steep sloped canyon grasslands of the Asotin-Pintler area near Clarkston-Lewiston. They are habitat for Mountain Quail, and the threatened Spalding’s Catchfly, a rare native flower in the carnation family. Threatened Steelhead, Chinook salmon, bull trout or other native fish are found in many of the streams.

Domestic cattle grazing was terminated by biologists on many WDFW lands, due to serious conflicts with fish and wildlife habitats. Cattle contribute to the spread of noxious weeds and can trample steelhead eggs in streams. Cattle herds often displace elk and other big game.

Fisheries biologist Dr. Don Johnson of Carlton, WA said: “This defies all reason. Many of these areas were purchased as fisheries/salmon mitigation. Fifty years ago, I hunted and studied range management in the Pintler Creek country, and it was so steep that when the cows went out too early in the spring they fell off the hills and killed themselves.”

Bob Tuck, a Consulting Fish and Wildlife Biologist from Selah, WA said: “Department biologists aren’t making the decisions here. They are being ordered to justify grazing, despite professional concerns. This has been kept very quiet, and most of the public isn't even aware it is taking place. This needs to be halted and full public and scientific scrutiny applied. Putting cattle back on these fragile shrubsteppe habitats defies any ecological or fiscal rationale”.

WWP has also written a separate letter to Washington Governor Christine Gregoire, requesting to discuss the situation and impending environmental losses with her.

Western Watersheds Project Is A Regional Conservation Organization Working To Protect And Restore Western Watersheds And Wildlife
http://www.westernwatersheds.org

Consider joining Western Watersheds Project yourself or enrolling a friend with a gift membership. Joining is easy at WWP's secure online membership page

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