Your Local Fish and Game - A Community Partner?

Part I By Jim Lukens, Salmon Regional Supervisor When someone mentions Fish and Game, most people think about selling licenses and tags, Conservation Officers looking for poachers, the fish truck stocking trout, check stations, setting rules and regulations along with various other tasks we typically perform. Rarely do people think of Fish and Game as a good community partner. The truth is, we participate in many projects and activities that directly benefit the community of Salmon. Are you a fisherman or do your kids like to fish? Maybe you don't fish but you would like your kids to learn how to fish and have a place to go fishing. No problem. The Department purchased and constructed Kid's Creek Pond on the southeast side of town at the intersection of Highway 93 south and Bean Lane. We stock it from February through December with 2,400 trout each year in addition to surplus steelhead from the Pahsimeroi Hatchery (over 1,200 in the last 10 years). We also stock 800 trout in Hyde Pond each year from May through November. Hyde pond is located south of town, near the airport and at the lower end of the road to Sunset Heights subdivision. If you or your kids don't have gear, again no problem. The Department has provided a number of fishing rods that can be checked out at the library. Maybe you are a steelhead angler. The Department constructed a parking area and provided a toilet for anglers fishing the Lemhi Hole at the mouth of the Lemhi River. The Department also cooperated with the City to construct the boat ramp at Island Park, and is in the process of a cooperative effort with the City to construct new toilet facilities in the same area. Back in 1993, the Department provided $10,000 toward the replacement of the small bridge at Island Park. Sometimes wildlife and humans conflict, even within the Salmon City limits. Occasionally, potentially dangerous animals like lions and black bears wander too close to town. Regional staff remove these animals humanely and swiftly. Maybe you have had a skunk living under your porch or a raccoon getting into your garbage. Our Regional office has a supply of loaner live traps to deal with those critters. If you have been unlucky enough to have hit one of our urban deer, Regional staff has euthanized many crippled animals and removed dead deer from City streets. Our urban deer often dine on your young trees, gardens, and ornamental vegetation. Department staff have partnered with City representatives to deal with these situations. Call City Hall or the Fish and Game office to describe your problem and one of our staff will contact you, visit your yard, and discuss options with you for preventing damage. Perhaps you have heard of West Nile Virus? Since the virus is carried by birds, especially members of the crow family, Regional staff monitor local bird populations for presence of the disease. Efforts include response to citizen reports of dead birds, dead bird retrieval, Wildlife Health Lab testing, and coordination with District 7 Health Department. We often receive reports of injured or orphaned birds. Our staff transport and care for these birds as well as train rehabilitation volunteers. Perhaps you and your family enjoy learning new outdoor skills or about local wildlife populations. Our Region boasts one of the most comprehensive and innovative Aquatic Education programs in the State. Every school year, each fourth grade class enjoys a program that takes students through the entire life cycle of a trout. They get to spawn fish, watch the resulting fry develop in their aquarium, dissect fish to learn about their anatomy, learn about life history and, at the end of the program, go fishing at Kid's Creek pond. Adults can learn about interesting fish and wildlife research, poaching cases made by our officers, fly tying and fishing, Dutch oven cooking, horse packing and many other interesting programs at Department-sponsored clinics and workshops. If you are a student, you may have had a class at the recently developed Outdoor Classroom and Wildlife Interpretive Area located on our property on Bean Lane, adjacent to the Alternative High School. Maybe you are an adult and would like to experience a little quiet, solitude, and wildlife habitat right near town. A visit to the Outdoor Classroom to walk on the trail, observe birds tending to young in the numerous nest boxes, or watch ducks or muskrats from the observation deck adjacent to the pond might be the perfect stress reliever. Before you go to the Outdoor Classroom or the hills around town, stop by the U.S. Forest Service, Salmon Fish and Game, City Office, or Sacajawea Center to pick up copies of the Birds and Mammals of the Upper Salmon Basin Checklists. These useful guides were produced by Idaho Fish and Game, Idaho Fish and Wildlife Foundation, and many local "Partners in Conservation". In 2003, 2004, and 2005, the Salmon Region nongame program hosted a summer lecture series covering numerous topics from pygmy rabbits to butterflies. This coming summer the program will move to the Sacajawea Center and include bird walks, and lectures on mountain goats and birds of prey. Watch for dates and times 1 in the newspaper and broadcast on the radio. Part II The Salmon Region of Fish and Game now has an outstanding nongame wildlife program, headed by Beth Waterbury. One of the more popular nongame programs has been the nest box give-away, including both bluebird nest boxes and bat boxes. We have been providing 50 to 100 free bluebird boxes annually to city residents. This is a cooperative program between Fish and Game and the Salmon Alternative High School. Each spring, many area residents enjoy watching osprey parents tending their young in the many nesting platforms in our community. Two are located within the City limits,one on Island Park and one at the Sacajawea Center. Construction and maintenance of these structures is a cooperative effort among Idaho Power Company, Fish and Game, and the City of Salmon. Not only do the platforms provide public viewing opportunities and nurseries for local ospreys but they also deter ospreys from trying to construct nests on light or electrical poles. Our nongame program organizes an annual Christmas Bird Count in coordination with the National Audubon Society. This count is centered in the City and relies heavily on the participation of city residents and birding enthusiasts. It is one of the largest citizen-science efforts in the Salmon Region. Similar to the bird count, we also coordinate an annual Butterfly Count in cooperation with the American Butterfly Association. This fun, educational, and scientifically valuable count is also centered in Salmon City and depends on the participation of city and county residents to make it happen. Our nongame program is heavily involved with the Sacajawea Center. We recently received a $4,050 grant from the Idaho Fish and Wildlife Foundation to construct and install interpretive signs along the Sacajawea Center's nature trail. Two local bird species were described by and named after Lewis and Clark, the Lewis's woodpecker and the Clark's nutcracker. Our nongame program provided funding for taxidermy mounts of each species and interpretive text to be displayed in the Sacajawea Visitor Center. If you enjoy bird watching or wish to learn more about this fun and rewarding hobby, our nongame program again partnered with the Sacajawea Center to provide needed resources. We assembled two "birding kits" consisting of quality binoculars, bird guides, and carrying cases which are available at the Center for visitors to check out. Following your birding experience, you can record your sightings on the dry erase board and easel Fish and Game also provided. Many folks don't realize that our Conservation Officers are full peace officers, certified by the Idaho Police Officers Standards and Training Academy. As such, they have full enforcement authority, statewide, over Idaho Code. The vast majority of their efforts involve enforcement of Title 36 of Idaho Code, which is the Fish and Game Code. However, particularly in smaller, rural communities like Salmon, our officers assist and cooperate with local law enforcement. Our officers have assisted local officers with narcotics investigations, DUI, sexual assault cases, stolen vehicles, attempted homicide, felony arrests, and high risk search warrants. In addition, Fish and Game officers have assisted local EMTs and Search and Rescue volunteers to help residents in need. Several of our officers are POST certified instructors and have provided training to City and County officers. Staff from our Fish Screen Program assisted City and County crews to construct a law enforcement firearms range adjacent to the public range. We are also providing a storage facility at that location. Folks often ask us what happens to the illegally taken wildlife that we seize as well as the occasionally edible road-killed animals we pick up. All that fish and wildlife is given to Eastern Idaho Special Services Agency for distribution to needy individuals. The amount is significant and has included: 4,396 steelhead over the last 6 years; 296 Chinook salmon in 2004; 20 deer, 29 elk, 1 moose and 1 antelope in 2004 and 2005. The meat is cut and wrapped courtesy of a portion of the court-mandated fine assessed to the guilty individual that poached the animal. Last year, the Pahsimeroi Hatchery donated 25 surplus Chinook salmon to the Sacajawea Center for use in their Heritage Days celebration. The staff from our Fish Screen Program are also contributing community partners. On two different occasions, they improved the old City police firearms range by hauling and spreading gravel and building berms. They have donated scrap iron to the Salmon High School and the Salmon Hockey Association over a period of many years. The crew removed asphalt and prepped the site at the Brooklyn School for application of playground sod. We donated an excavator and operator to help clean the side hill along Highway 93 near Buddy's. We also occasionally loan specialty tools to the City of Salmon and Lemhi County. They have also loaned us tools. As you can see, your local Fish and Game is a pretty good community partner. If there are any programs described in these articles that you would like to learn more about, do not hesitate to contact us. Also, if you have ideas about programs or efforts that are fish and wildlife related that we could adopt to become better partners, please do not hesitate to let us know that too.