The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is inviting public comments on a draft plan to carefully monitor the Douglas County population of Columbian white-tailed deer. This population of the deer was removed from the federal list of threatened and endangered species in 2003, and the Endangered Species Act requires that it be watched to ensure it continues to thrive. The deer had been under federal protection since 1978.
The Fish and Wildlife Service, in partnership with the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife and the Bureau of Land Management, will implement the monitoring program. The required five-year monitoring period, which is considered to have begun in 2003, essentially continues the monitoring program that has been in place since before the deer was removed from the endangered species list.
The monitoring program is designed to track the status of the deers population and the incidence of threats that could compromise its recovery. The program has three key parts: 1) population trend surveys each year in spring and fall, 2) tracking the incidence of disease outbreaks, and 3) annual reviews of habitat to ensure that it is being managed to benefit the deer.
Comments on the monitoring plan must be received by close of business on December 23, 2005. The plan is available on the Internet at: http://www.fws.gov/oregonfwo/EndSpp/ESA-Actions/PDMonitorCWTDeer-05.htm.
One of two remaining populations of Columbian white-tailed deer, the Douglas county segment is found in Douglas County, Oregon, in the Umpqua River Basin. The lower Columbia River population, found in Wahkiakum County, Washington, and in Clatsop and Columbia Counties, Oregon, has not yet met targets set in the species recovery plan. Therefore, this population will continue to be listed as an endangered species.
The Columbian white-tailed deer is the westernmost representative of 30 subspecies of white-tailed deer in North and Central America. Reddish-brown in summer, and gray in winter, the medium-size deer has white rings around the eyes and a white ring around the nose. A relatively long, brown tail sports white fringe and white underneath. Early records indicate that these deer were once numerous from the western slopes of the Cascade Mountains to the Pacific Ocean, and from Puget Sound in Washington southward to the Umpqua River Basin in southern Oregon.
Habitat loss was a key factor in the decline of the Columbian white-tailed deer. Protection and active management of riparian riparian
Definition of riparian habitat or riparian areas.
Learn more about riparian habitats and open space in Douglas County have allowed the population to recover.
Interested parties are asked to send comments to: Field Supervisor, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 2600 SE 98th Avenue, Suite 100, Portland, OR 97266; by FAX at 503-231-6195; or via e-mail at cwtdeerplan@fws.gov. All comments must be received before close of business on December 23, 2005.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is the principal federal agency responsible for conserving, protecting and enhancing fish, wildlife and plants and their habitats for the continuing benefit of the American people. The Service manages the 95-million-acre National Wildlife Refuge System, which encompasses 545 national wildlife refuges, thousands of small wetlands and other special management areas. It also operates 69 national fish hatcheries, 64 fishery resources offices and 81 ecological services field stations. The agency enforces federal wildlife laws, administers the Endangered Species Act, manages migratory bird populations, restores nationally significant fisheries, conserves and restores wildlife habitat such as wetlands, and helps foreign and Native American tribal governments with their conservation efforts. It also oversees the Federal Assistance program, which distributes hundreds of millions of dollars in excise taxes on fishing and hunting equipment to state fish and wildlife agencies,
