[Tweeters] Quilomene WMA

[mary hrudkaj]

Earlier this month I stopped at Quilomene and saw the fire devastation.  In speaking with the folks at the Vantage rock shop the fire that decimated Quilomene was part of a 77,000-acre wildfire last year.  The fire burned almost to the Wild Horse Wind Farm and north all the way to Wenatchee.  A driver of a less that street worthy old car lost an axel or something under his car and sparks from it as he pulled off the road set the fire.  Fortunately, there were no human injuries.  Untold devastation though to range land and wildlife habitat.  Nary a bluebird or other feathered creature was to be seen or heard when we were there on April 11.

Mary Hrudkaj
Belfair/Tahuya
________________________________
From: Tweeters <tweeters-bounces at mailman11.u.washington.edu> on behalf of Hans-Joachim Feddern <thefedderns at gmail.com>
Sent: Thursday, April 27, 2023 1:25 PM
To: Tweeters <tweeters at u.washington.edu>
Subject: [Tweeters] Quilomene WMA

I used to stop at the access to the Quilomene WMA off Old Vantage Road to look for "Sage" birds and thought it was a great spot. Much to my surprise, when I tried to stop there the other day, I found that all the sagebrush was gone! I almost missed the entrance! Now i know of the recent large wildfires in that area, but this spot was not touched by them. It seems all brush was removed all the way down to the Columbia River.
When did this happen? I had not been there since last spring, but never heard anything about it in the news! This is a major habit loss for many species, including the endangered Sage Grouse.

Another great birding spot lost is Birders Corner. There is very little water left and appears that the landowner is trying to reclaim it to graze cattle.

Hans


--
Hans Feddern
Twin Lakes/Federal Way, WA
thefedderns at gmail.com<mailto:thefedderns at gmail.com>
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://mailman11.u.washington.edu/pipermail/tweeters/attachments/20230427/2517972e/attachment.html>