HOOK AND FUR: A plan for elk herd is in the works

By Bob Brown

The North Cascade elk herd, also known as the Nooksack herd, covers a large portion of Skagit and Whatcom counties and is the smallest of the state’s 10 elk herds. Its population is estimated to be around 1,950, and although small in comparison to the rest of the state’s herds, it is an important resource providing recreational, aesthetic, and economic benefits to residents of both counties, native Americans and the state as a whole.
Even though elk can be an important resource, they can also generate the potential for elk-human conflicts, damage to private property, and public safety issues. To address those and other management issues, the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) has a new draft plan for future management of the North Cascades herd and is accepting public comments on it through Sept. 7.
Key goals of the plan are:
• Preserve, protect, perpetuate, and manage elk and their habitat to ensure sustainable populations.
• Minimize elk versus people conflicts, ensure public safety.
• Offering sustainable hunting opportunities, including an increase of at least 100 square miles available for hunting on private and public lands.
• Cooperation with the Point Elliott Treaty tribes on herd management and setting hunting seasons.
• Increasing elk viewing, photographic opportunities and scientific studies.
The WDFW will consider comments in drafting the final version of the plan. In addition to the public comment period, state wildlife managers plan to hold a public meeting on Aug. 29 in Sedro. Written comments can be submitted online or mailed to North Cascades Elk Herd Plan, Wildlife Program, Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, P. O. Box 43200, Olympia, WA 98504.

Fishing report

Locally, fishing has been ho-hum for the most part. Lake fishing has slowed due to the rise in water temperatures and fishing has only been fair in local rivers.
However, a Zittel Marina spokesperson reported saltwater fishing has been good near the mouth of the Nisqually River, and Wendy Beeghley of the WDFW reported Ilwaco anglers have been averaging just over a salmon per rod. While the coho catch has been increasing, the chinook catch is slowing. Also, fishing from the North Jetty has been slow. Fishing has been about the same in Marine Area 2 (Westport-Ocean Shores).
Meanwhile, the daily limit of hatchery steelhead has been reduced on the Cowlitz River from three to two fish, effective July 31. The action was initiated because of low steelhead returns to the Columbia River, and low returns of summer steelhead to the Cowlitz Salmon Hatchery. The reduced daily limit was taken as a precautionary measure to ensure enough fish can be collected to meet hatchery broodstock needs.
Joe Hymer of the WDFW reported samplings taken during July 17-23 from the I-5 Bridge upstream counted 82 rods with 12 chinook and nine steelhead kept. Two adult chinook, one jack chinook and two cutthroat were released. One hundred and seventy-two boat rods (56 boats) kept 57 steelhead and released two steelhead and six cutthroat. Hymer also reported spring chinook are being caught at the salmon hatchery and steelhead mainly around the trout hatchery. From the I-5 Bridge downstream 12 bank rods and three boats had no catch.

Bob Brown lives in Roy and is a freelance outdoors writer. He can be contacted at robertb1285@ centurylink.net.