Fish and Game staff will begin draining the northwest pond (Pond 3) at the Ted Trueblood Wildlife Habitat Area, near Grand View, in early December in preparation for habitat improvement work this winter and spring.
Signs will be posted in the parking area nearest the pond to let hunters know it will be dry and to direct them to hunt the two ponds in the southeast portion of the WHA, which do have water.
After the pond is drained and the ground is sufficiently dry, Fish and Game and BLM staff will conduct a prescribed burn and apply herbicide to manage the bullrush and cattail that have begun to choke out open water in Pond 3, rendering it difficult to hunt, and limiting the quality of the habitat for waterfowl and shorebirds.
“Our goal is to open up around three-quarters of the pond with this treatment,” said Samantha Suszynski, Regional Wildlife Habitat Biologist. “More open water means more opportunities for us to grow duck food through moist-soil management techniques, as well as better hunting access for waterfowl hunters.”
Similar habitat-improvement work has been carried out on the other two ponds at the Ted Trueblood WHA over the past several years, which were also overgrown with cattails and bullrush. Following treatment on Ponds 1 and 2, habitat staff were able to plant and grow high-quality feed along the shoreline for waterfowl and shorebirds.
“Because of the recent habitat work we’ve done at the Trueblood ponds, there has been an increase in migratory birds using the ponds over the last two years,” Suszynski said. “We are hoping to have similar results on Pond 3 once the work is complete. The idea is to create more food for ducks and improve opportunities for waterfowl hunters.”
