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9A THE DAILY ASTORIAN • FRIDAY, APRIL 29, 2016 Deer: The Columbia River deer have had to adapt Continued from Page 1A Although federal wild- life managers are calling the Columbia River recovery effort a success, Washington Department of Fish and Wild- life biologists are less opti- mistic. In an April report, the department recommended keeping the deer on the state’s Endangered Species List. The biologists said that while their range has expanded some- what, their small population size, fragmented habitat and low-quality food sources are hurting chances of recovery. Checkerboard habitat EO Media Group/File Photo Caught in net traps, two Columbian white-tailed deer are prepared for transplantation to another location by U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service employees after a roundup in February 2013. Cold, wet, sick The Columbia River deer have had to adapt to conditions that don’t meet their needs. Researchers have found that deer in different parts of the range eat very different diets — a sign that the deer “are selecting food items on the basis of avail- ability and less as a result of their actual food preferences.” In theory, a white-tailed deer can live up to 20 years, but most Columbia River deer live somewhere between ive to 10 years. Fawn survival rates have improved in recent years, but they still luctuate “dramatically from ‘Mixed success’ Since the 1980s, wildlife managers have “translocated” 314 deer between sites. When a dike near the Julia Butler Han- sen Refuge threatened to break in 2013, the U.S. Fish and Wild- life Service used helicopters and dart-nets to capture 37 deer and move them to Ridgeield. These efforts have had “mixed success.” The 58 deer moved to Ridgeield in 2013 and 2014 seem to be settling in, but ASTOR IA FOR D G N I R P S LI NG F AUTO SALE ASTORIAFORD.COM 2014 N issa n Versa ASTORIAFORD.COM W a s $16,991 ASTORIAFORD.COM 2011 H o n d a Elem en t 50M PG. #P11275 Auto, AC, clea n. #N 215263A Now $ 1 7 , 74 0! W a s $17,991 Now $ 1 6 ,8 99! ASTORIAFORD.COM 2014 Do d ge G ra n d Ca ra va n 2012 Fo rd Tra n sit Co n n ect SX T, Sto-n-go. #P11236 #P11228 W a s $21,991 Now $ 1 8 ,788! W a s $16,991 Now $1 4 ,900! All offers expire at the close of business April 30, 2016. 710 W . M a rin e D r., Asto ria 888.760.9303 | What’s it take? State wildlife manag- ers believe some actions have shown promise. According to the report, Tenasillahe Island, near Skamo- kowa, is “the one site” where translocated deer have con- sistently done well. Since the last translocation in 1988, the population has reliably stayed between 100 and 200. Tenasillahe is compara- tively large and dry, with the mix of pasture and deciduous forest habitat white-tailed deer prefer. There are no humans or elk living on the island, so the deer don’t have to compete for resources. Wildlife managers will have to igure out how to duplicate those conditions elsewhere, study authors said. Upcoming studies should provide valuable new information about how big the population needs to grow to become self-sustaining, and how to connect the isolated pieces of habitat and expand the Columbia River range. UP TO $90 DAYS NO PAYMENTS A PRIL 29 TH RU M AY 1 Now $1 3 ,987! 2013 Fo rd C-M a x W a s $19,991 W EEK EN D #P11263 Only $1 2 ,988! continued. In 2013, USDA also began “removing” coyotes from Ridgeield. On-site financing Special dealer pricing TH IS 2014 Fo rd Fu sio n SE Auto, AC a nd m ore. #P11282 scientists say it’s “still too soon” to say whether they’ll thrive there. A group of islands near Longview “have failed to main- tain ... the target population of 50 deer,” with many departing for nearby private lands. A total of 27 deer were moved to Cotton- wood Island in 2010 and 2013. Now, 12 to 20 deer remain. Since 2006, deer have been moved both to and from the Julia Butler Hansen Refuge, but the population has never stabilized. According to the report, Wal- lace/Westport and Puget Islands “have shown greater stabil- ity” than “the protected, though much more lood-prone JBH mainland unit.” The Fish and Wildlife Ser- vice has tried to make the ref- uge more hospitable through habitat restoration, lood con- trol, and planting better food sources. Refuge managers have also contracted the U.S. Depart- ment of Agriculture to help con- trol coyotes. Between 1997 and 2008, the USDA “removed” 46 coyotes from the refuge, accord- ing to a separate 2013 Fish and Wildlife report. Fawn survival improved as a result, so the “coyote control” program has w w w .A sto ria Fo rd .co m Visit us online for details 2014 Jeep Ch ero kee SE 4W D . #P11262 W a s $18,991 Now $1 5 ,996! 2013 Fo rd Fiesta SE #P112093 W a s $11,991 Now $ 8 ,999! 2013 Do d ge Jo u rn ey 7-pa ssenger. #P11240 W a s $19,991 Call for price! ASTORIAFORD.COM Historically, white-tailed deer probably preferred grass- lands and lightly wooded areas, rather than soggy lowlands, according to the report. They like areas with streams, and a variety of grasses, shrubs, fruits and other foods. They don’t like competing with livestock or elk. As the human presence in the Northwest expanded starting in the 1850s, the Columbia River deer were forced into wetter, more lood-prone places. Since the 1970s, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has focused on re-establishing deer populations at the Ridge- ield National Wildlife Refuge in Clark County, the Lewis and Clark National Wildlife Refuge — a series of Lower Colum- bia River islands east of Asto- ria — and the Julia Butler Han- sen Refuge for the Columbian White-Tailed Deer in Wahkia- kum County. year to year and from site to site.” Fawn survival is closely tied to environmental conditions and coyote predation. A 2010 study at the Julia Butler Hansen Ref- uge found only about 20 percent of 131 radio-collared fawns sur- vived the fawning period. Coy- otes killed at least 69 percent of the fawns that died, with disease and starvation killing still more. On top of all that, cata- strophic looding has caused large losses of Columbia River adults and fawns, especially at the refuge, the report said. Mal- nutrition, disease, vehicle colli- sions, poaching, predation and fence entanglement killed other adult deer. ASTORIAFORD.COM Homeland, not heartland Just because these sites are protected, doesn’t mean the deer actually like them. With a long history of looding and erosion problems, the Julia Butler Hansen Refuge, which was established in 1971 to aid in deer recov- ery, is arguably the least hospi- table of the sites. In fact, deer on some pieces of nearby privately held land seem to be doing better than refuge deer. Currently, there are about 228 deer on the almost entirely privately owned Puget Island, near Cathlamet, and about 100 at the refuge. ASTORIAFORD.COM “In general,” the report said, “these are issues that existed when (the deer) was irst listed as a state endangered species, and are still issues to this day.” ASTORIAFORD.COM Until the mid-1800s, Colum- bian white-tailed deer occu- pied a 60,000-square-kilometer range that extended across much of western Oregon and Wash- ington. Over-hunting and hab- itat loss nearly wiped them out in the early 1900s. By the time they were placed on the fed- eral Endangered Species List in 1967, there were as few as 300 on the Lower Columbia. Now, two isolated groups occupy a tiny fraction of that ter- ritory. The Roseburg population includes at least 6,000 animals, on a range of about 300 square miles in Douglas County. The Colum- bia River population has luctu- ated from a low of 545 deer in 2002 to an estimated high of 966 in 2015. Their 93-square-mile range is a checkerboard of main- land and island habitats along the Columbia River, in Clatsop and Columbia counties in Oregon, and Cowlitz, Wahkiakum and Clark counties in Washington. State biologists say six or more small subpopulations are isolated by both natural barri- ers, like rivers, and man-made barriers, like State Route 4 — a deadly obstacle that slices through the middle of their Wah- kiakum County range. Researchers are still trying to learn what size white-tailed deer population is self-sustaining, but they are conident most of the Columbia River subpopulations aren’t yet at that level. With such low numbers, they’re especially vulnerable to inbreeding, dis- eases and natural disasters.