In the Blues, a tale of two elk populations

D E E R A N D E L K H U N T I N G In the Blues, a tale of two elk populations

Oregon herds doing better than ones in Washington, but both face same challenges

By ERIC BARKER

OF THE TRIBUNE

Elk in the Blue Mountains straddle both sides of the Washington-Oregon stateline.

North of the border, the herds are in decline and too few calves are surviving for the population to stabilize or grow.

South of the line, in Oregon, the herd is doing better.

“We have a few areas where distributions are shifting a little bit for a variety of reasons, things like drought and water and habitat condition, and in some cases, the wolves are moving animals around to new areas, but the populations themselves are doing pretty good,” said Don Whittaker, ungulate species coordinator for the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife at LaGrande. “We don’t have a lot of huge concerns about the population.”

Why?

Whittaker said the Oregon herds have calf-to-cow ratios in the low 30s to high 20s compared to 17 calves per 100 cows for the Washington portion of the Blues.

The habitat is largely the same. But Whittaker said conditions may be a bit wetter in the Oregon portion of the Blues. Predator densities are likely in the same neighborhood.

“We aren’t dramatically different in our efforts and capabilities on predator harvest. We are very similar,” he said. “We are very similar on our predator cohorts — we have cougars, black bears and wolves, and (Washington) has cougars, black bears and wolves.”

Whittaker said his agency has been tracking climate changes that could affect habitat and trickle down to cow and calf health. In short, plants are drying as many as four to six weeks sooner than they once did and the change is happening at a time when elk calves need access

to high-quality forage. “We are talking in late May or June, where it used to be late June and July. So that is a pretty dramatic difference,” he said. “When you have a few days on either side of that grass-isgreen period, it adds up on both ends. For cows, that is a pretty important time period; they need lots of energy in to provide adequate nutrition for their calves.” Poor forage quality at that time may lead to “weak calf syndrome.” “When they are weak, they are much more susceptible to predation,” he said. Whittaker stressed that he cannot say the same thing is happening in Washington and that in Oregon, it is just one factor in a complicated tangle of conditions and players on the landscape, including climate, weather and predators. “Predator numbers are changing, nutrition is changing, temperatures Rick Swat/Oregon Dept. of Fish and Wildlife are changing, energy A herd of Rocky Mountain elk grazes on the breaks of the canyon above Camp Creek in the Blue requirements are changMountain range of northeast Oregon. ing, energy sources are changing,” he said. “It’s a big ugly, messy picture, a cascading stack of dominos.” He said researchers from his agency and the U.S. Forest Service will soon publish the work on the changes in plant phenology. Barker may be contacted at ebarker@ lmtribune.com or at (208) 848-2273. Follow him on Twitter @ezebarker.

Officials mull ban of domestic sheep, goats in some wildlife areas

OLYMPIA — In an effort to protect bighorn sheep, the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife is inviting public comment on a proposed rule that would prohibit visitors from bringing domestic sheep or goats onto some units of the state’s wildlife areas.

The proposed rule is intended to reduce the risk of transmission of Mycoplasma ovipneumoniae (Movi), a type of bacteria that causes pneumonia and can be deadly to bighorn sheep, according to an agency news release.

Past pneumonia outbreaks among bighorn sheep in Washington and other parts of the West have been linked to contact between wild sheep and domestic sheep or goats, which carry the bacteria.

The proposed rule would apply to select wildlife area units of Asotin Creek, Chelan, Chief Joseph, Colockum, Columbia Basin, L.T. Murray, Oak Creek, Scotch Creek, Sinlahekin, Wells, Wenas and W.T. Wooten wildlife areas.

The proposed rule is available for review at bit.ly/3ETYwTh.

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