Tree planting and thinning dress up the western woods

Where there is surf, there usually is turf. So sets the scene at Klickitat Wildlife Management Area , a 14,700-acre property in western Klickitat County on the eastern slopes of the Cascade Mountains, about halfway between the Columbia River Gorge and Mt. Adams in Washington.

The state purchased the land for this WMA in 1948 specifically for access to the Klickitat River’s summer-run steelhead fishery. The river also supports federally listed spring Chinook and bull trout. The area offers premium habitat for a winter range for black-tailed deer and for the Western gray squirrel and Vaux’s swift. Elk herds roam freely.

Vegetation abounds — in forested riparian zones, south-facing hillsides of open grasslands, north-facing hillsides forested with conifers, and a flat plateau covered by mixed forests of oak and pine interspersed with small grassland openings. Water is plentiful, with 19 wildlife ponds and numerous springs in the area.
So what could be wrong with this paradise? There are too many oaks. Three areas in the Soda Springs Unit with overstocked white oak stands were thinned in 2009 to achieve better forest health and benefit wildlife. Thinning also reduces the risk of catastrophic wildfire.

Klickitat County bills itself as “the gateway to the Columbia River Gorge, the Cascade Mountains, the Gifford-Pinchot National Forest and the Mount Adams Recreation Area.” Camp at the mouth of the White Salmon River — just like Lewis and Clark did in 1805 — or take a wine tour of 10 local vineyards.

More thinning going on in Oregon

“This is a great story that features a partnership among the Crooked River Grasslands Ranger District, the Sisters Ranger District of the USDA Forest Service and the NWTF,” said NWTF biologist Gabe McMasters.
Two projects run concurrently in this area: the Flymon and West Side.

These are not the first projects that the ambitious Central Oregon Chapter has tackled. During the past decade, the chapter has funded Guzzlers for Gobblers and habitat enhancements, seeding old logging roads and planting riparian shrubs — often with the support of the Oregon Hunters Association and Quail Unlimited.

The Flymon project contains a natural highway system for Rio Grandes as they go from higher to lower elevations and on and off the nearby Warm Springs Indian Reservation. The project involves thinning junipers as its main objective, but also removes pine, fir and cedar for fire suppression. The program seeks to enhance bitter brush, valuable winter deer forage.

The West Side project also removes large numbers of junipers to encourage more wildlife to use the area, and it also leaves more moisture for remaining pine and wildlife-friendly vegetation.

New trees and shrubs set the table in Idaho

In the 3,100-acre Portneuf Wildlife Management Area on the western slopes of the Portneuf Mountain Range, NWTF volunteers have planted hard- and soft-mast producing trees and soft-mast producing shrubs. This vegetation will provide solid winter forage for turkeys and other wildlife. While these trees mature, there’s a back-up plan — planted food plots to carry wildlife through the winter.

Ever since 2000, when released Merriam’s from the northern part of the state found a new home near the town of Inkom on this WMA, this area has seen a marked increase in permit hunts for turkeys.
If you find yourself in Idaho, with its spring and fall Merriam’s hunts, you also may choose to fish world-class fly-fishing streams, lakes and reservoirs. And since McMasters hails from this region, he recommends eating at Buddy’s restaurant in Pocatello.

“Also, don’t forget that this is the potato belt,” McMasters said. “Take a tour and take home some potatoes to cook with your wild turkey. You will not see spuds like these anywhere else in the world!” — Barbara Baird