No/VERY Limited Pheasant Release in Western WA

[REHJWA]

Just went and registered to hunt Joint Base Lewis McChord and was informed there will be NO PHEASENT releases  in the south training are as due to listing the Mazama Pocket Gopher as endanged.

The off leash use of dogs is not authorized in areas designated as critical for recovery.

I have not checked to see how it will effect the pheasent Release on the Scatter Creck release site but it too is in a designated Gopher zone.

[MP123]

What the heck is a Mazama Pocket Gopher? 

[Curly]

What the heck is a Mazama Pocket Gopher? 

It is basically a mole.  It is the latest tool of the enviro wackos to stop development or anybody from doing anything with their land.

[WSU]

What the heck is a Mazama Pocket Gopher? 

It is basically a mole.  It is the latest tool of the enviro wackos to stop development or anybody from doing anything with their land.

Who petitioned to have it listed?

[bobcat]

That sucks. I can't see how Scatter Creek would be any different. Except maybe Fort Lewis has to follow federal rules and the state doesn't. 

[Curly]

What the heck is a Mazama Pocket Gopher? 

It is basically a mole.  It is the latest tool of the enviro wackos to stop development or anybody from doing anything with their land.

Who petitioned to have it listed?

I don't know.  The answer may be at this site or one or more of the links on that site.

I know my neighbor's shop construction got held up for several weeks before the county was able to send out a bio and determine if gophers were living on his property before they would let him build his shop.

It is a bunch of b.s. that they are listed.  There is a crap load of them on the Oly airport property as well as Fort Lewis.  Apparently there is good habitat for them throughout a lot of Pierce and Thurston counties.

[Curly]

From the USFW website:

Conservation Efforts
Preserving and restoring historic and existing gopher habitat is essential for the conservation of this species. Since 2005, The Nature Conservancy has been working with Fort Lewis on prairie habitat enhancement and management on lands on and adjacent to the Fort. Restoration and management of prairie habitats have also been initiated in Thurston County on the Black River-Mima Prairie Glacial Heritage Preserve, Scatter Creek Wildlife Area, West Rocky Prairie Wildlife Area, Rocky Prairie Natural Area Preserve, and at Wolf Haven International.

Experimental translocation of gophers to land owned by Wolf Haven International
continues.  As of winter 2010, the gophers have persisted in this location.

[Curly]

Scatter Creek Wildlife area has been loaded with what I assumed were mole hills.  Back when I used to walk my dog out there, he used to try to dig up moles........but I wonder if they were really pocket gophers?  Probably won't be long before they shut down Scatter Creek.  

[Curly]

What the heck is a Mazama Pocket Gopher? 

It is basically a mole.  It is the latest tool of the enviro wackos to stop development or anybody from doing anything with their land.

Who petitioned to have it listed?

I found this from 2002 when they originally petitioned for listing:
"Joining the Center for Biological Diversity and the Friends of the San Juans in the petitions are the Xerces Society, Northwest Ecosystem Alliance, Oregon Natural Resources Council, Gifford Pinchot Task Force, and The Northwest Environmental Defense Center."
I don't know if there is a more recent petition, or if it just took that long for the USFWS to decide to list them.

[Torrent50]

I emailed Fish and Wildlife and asked about Scatter Creek and if it will be affected by this.  I'll let you know when/if they respond.

[REHJWA]

Here is a link to the base news paper...
http://www.nwguardian.com/2014/08/07/18517/hunting-regulations-change-for.html

[lokidog]

Why should hunting dogs be a concern for the pocket gophers?  I bet they haven't banned feral/ loose dogs and cats or coyotes....     Also, maybe dogs running around would be beneficial to the survival of these gophers since it will teach them to watch out for predators more and will increase their survival.   

I used to live down by Rochester and heard that the gophers weren't just being released on Wolf Haven property....   

[luvmystang67]

Wikipedia has them listed as "Least Concern" animals... except the super rare subspecies that lives in WA.  I hate this BS... its like trying to save the sub species of woodland caribou in wolf country.  Talk about a democrat's dilemma.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mazama_pocket_gopher

"The gopher is also listed as a pest in the state of Washington because it is known to cause damage to infrastructure. The gophers can destroy waterlines, endanger livestock, destroy crops and weaken levees and dams."

Perfect.