(PRESS RELEASE/Washington DNR)

Agency will lift its wildfire danger closures, but urges the public to stay vigilant and abide by burn, target shooting bans…

The Washington State Department of Natural Resources (DNR) is reopening all recreation lands east of the Cascades to recreation beginning Friday, Sept. 18. Eastside recreation was initially closed on Sept. 8 due to critical wildfire danger. While fire danger overall has decreased slightly, it is extremely important to stay diligent when it comes to fire safety.

“We are optimistic the weather will continue to cooperate, allowing us to reopen eastside recreation areas closed due to extreme wildfire danger and the risk to the public as they enter those lands through wildfire-impacted roads and towns,” said Commissioner of Public Lands Hilary Franz, the elected official who oversees DNR. “I urge everyone to continue to follow all safety regulations, the statewide burn ban and target shooting ban, keeping in mind it only takes one spark to start a devastating wildfire.” More

(PRESS RELEASE/WDFW)

The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) staff in the Colville office gets a lot of questions from the public. One we’ve heard recently is: how do you survey for deer and what did you find out during your recent surveys?

Northeast Washington is heavily timbered, making helicopter deer surveys impossible.

Instead, WDW biologists drive around in the early evening for two weeks every August and September. Typically, deer are surveyed in pastures where they are easier to see, using binoculars and spotting scopes to classify the deer. “Classifying” means determining whether the deer are bucks, does, or fawns. More

(PRESS RELEASE/WDFW)

The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) responded to a report of a cougar-dog incident and resulting bite to an individual that occurred early Thursday morning in South Pend Oreille County.

Just after midnight on August 27, an individual let two dogs outside at a residence. A short time later, a commotion was heard and a cougar was observed attacking one of the dogs. The individual intervened and was subsequently bit on the leg. The incident was reported later that day to the Pend Oreille County Sheriff’s Office who relayed the information to WDFW Police, who responded.

With houndsmen assistance, officers quickly located and euthanized the cougar. It was in poor health and suffering from atrophy. Upon further examination, officers found that the cougar weighed approximately 100 pounds and that bite marks confirm it was the same cougar involved in the initial attack on the dog.

(PRESS RELEASE/Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife)

The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife office in Colville gets a lot of questions from the public, and one heard recently is: I have a dead tree on my property. Is it okay to cut it down?

If it isn’t posing a safety issue, you may want to leave that tree standing, as trees can actually provide more habitat for wildlife dead than alive. Standing dead and dying trees, called “snags”, are important in both natural and landscaped settings, whether they occurred as a result of disease, lightning, fire, animal damage, drought, or other causes. More