If you are like me, 2022 flew by at warp speed and, although it was filled with outdoor adventures, it seems like I spent too much time inside and looking at screens.
I’m vowing to do better in 2023 — more time floating rivers, wading in streams, hiking up mountains and sleeping under the stars. With any luck, there will be more fish in nets and more wild game in the freezer.
The past 12 months were filled with outdoor news, both good and bad. Here’s a quick recap and some predictions for the new year.
Washington commission’s hunting decisions prove controversial
The Washington Fish and Wildlife Commission and its divided decisions over spring black bear hunting and mountain lions were big news in 2022.
The year began with Washington Gov. Jay Inslee appointing three new members to the commission — Tim Ragen, of Anacortes; Melanie Rowland, of Twisp; and John Lehmkuhl, of Wenatchee. The newbies joined when the commission was in a bitter fight over the fate of the state’s long-running spring black bear hunting season and embarking on an effort to broaden the spectrum of fish and wildlife stakeholders beyond the traditional hook-and-bullet crowd.
Ragen, Rowland and Lehmkuhl quickly aligned with commissioners Barbara Baker and Lorna Smith and voted to scuttle the 2022 spring black bear season. Later in the year, the commission ruled, on another 5-4 vote, to end all recreational hunting of black bears in the spring. The decision left open the chance that a spring hunt could be crafted to address specific management objectives, such as a hunt designed to reduce tree damage or the predation of newborn elk calves.
In ending the hunt, some of the commissioners cited opposition from the nonhunting public who they said view the hunt as unethical. Many hunters asked the commission to retain the hunt, saying it is a long-standing tradition and, according to biologists from the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, does not pose a threat to the state’s black bear population.
The plight of elk in the Blue Mountains was sometimes intertwined in the black bear hunting debate. The herd is 35% below the state’s management objective. A monitoring program by the Fish and Wildlife Department indicated predation is the leading cause in elk calf mortality, and mountain lions are the leading cause of predation on young elk.
The commission dismissed requests from local county commissioners to lengthen the mountain lion season in the Blues but did vote to increase the seasonal bag limit from one animal to two. Commissioner Lehmkuhl voted with commissioners Don McIsaac, Jim Anderson, Molly Linville and Kim Thorburn to increase the bag limit.
Prediction: The commission will see more heated debate in 2023 and likely more change. Commissioners are in the midst of rewriting the state’s Game Management Plan. They view the document as important to justifying hunting seasons and the process to revise it has already proved contentious. The change will come when Inslee appoints a replacement for McIsaac, who is stepping down. Commissioners Baker and Thorburn are also ending their first terms. Many observers expect Baker, who serves as commission chairperson, to be reappointed. Many, including Thorburn herself, suspect that Inslee won’t appoint the Spokane resident to a second term. That means two new commissioners could join in 2023.
Fight continues against wildlife diseases
There was good news and bad news on the wildlife disease front.
First the bad: Idaho was forced to join dozens of other states in the fight against chronic wasting disease. CWD was first detected in Idaho during the fall of 2021 when two mule deer bucks taken in Unit 14 tested positive. Early this year, the Idaho Department of Fish and Game implemented surveillance hunts designed to measure the prevalence of the fatal neurological disease. Those hunts and mandatory monitoring of hunts in the CWD Management Zone turned up other cases. So far it has only been found in Unit 14. But the disease is here and it’s likely here to stay.
The good news is that wildlife managers sometimes do come up with solutions to diseases that devastate wildlife. Case in point: the bighorn sheep herds of the greater Hells Canyon region.
The test-and-remove program implemented in Idaho, Washington and Oregon continues to produce promising results. Most herds in Hells Canyon are free of pneumonia and most of them are growing thanks to much higher lamb survival.
Another bright spot, despite a hot end to summer, epizootic hemorrhagic disease, which hammered whitetail deer in 2021, didn’t make a significant reappearance in the region.
Prediction: CWD will bedevil deer and elk herds for decades to come and continue to be found in new areas. The test-and-remove program will be exported to new areas, allowing wild sheep herds to grow.
Fishing for some salmon and steelhead not too shabby
Fishing for hatchery spring chinook, fall chinook, coho and B-run steelhead was better than it has been in years.
But some context is required. The anadromous fish of the Snake and Columbia rivers are pulling out of a horrible five-year period. During the bad times, some fishing seasons were canceled and others were dramatically limited. But 2022 mostly saw OK salmon and steelhead fishing. It started with a decent but not great spring chinook run. The fall chinook and coho runs both provided good fishing opportunities. More than 30,000 B-run steelhead returned at least as far as Lower Granite Dam this fall, the best run in several years.
It wasn’t all good though. The A-run tanked and was largely a no-show. However, more than 90% of A-run fish in 2022 spent two years in the ocean, making them bigger than average and providing a bit of a silver lining.
Prediction: It will be another mixed bag for salmon and steelhead fishing. Good ocean conditions measured in 2021 are expected to produce good returns of spring and summer chinook this year. But the poor return of A-run steelhead in 2022 likely will be repeated by the B-run in 2023.
More ups and downs on fishing scene
There were other pluses and minuses in the fishing universe. A University of Idaho study showed climate change is shrinking the viable habitat for spring and summer chinook in places like the upper Salmon River. A separate study revealed that Idaho’s wild salmon and steelhead aren’t being limited by catch-and-release fishing mortality.
The Nez Perce Tribe took over fish rearing responsibilities at Dworshak National Fish Hatchery. The tribe has a strong track record in fish production. It is largely responsible for the reintroduction of fall chinook upstream of Lower Granite Dam that now provides an annual sport fishery and solely responsible for restoring the once-extirpated coho run that also provides regular fall fishing opportunities.
The Upper Columbia River Tribes, or UCUT, continue to make progress on their long-term plan to restore salmon upstream of Grand Coulee and Chief Joseph dams. The construction of Grand Coulee in the 1930s blocked salmon and steelhead from accessing much of the upper Columbia River. Chief Joseph, built downstream of Grand Coulee, followed and also lacked fish passage, and multiple dams on the Spokane River upstream of Coulee impede the movement of fish. But the Coeur d’Alene, Colville and Spokane tribes are undeterred. They’ve been releasing juvenile spring chinook above the dams as part of an experiment. Tracking shows at least some of the fish are able to migrate downstream. A few adult fish have even been tracked swimming back upstream and making it as far as Chief Joseph Dam.
Keep on trucking in ’23
If you need inspiration heading into the new year, consider Paul Sauder, of Lewiston. His story was my favorite of the year. It doesn’t have anything to do with big policy decisions or fish and wildlife politics. Sauder is 99 and, as of last spring, the second-oldest licensed angler in the state. During the spring and summer, he haunts the dock at Mann Lake, where he menaces crappie. He caught walleye and fall chinook this fall and hunted deer. He hopes to bag his 20th elk this coming fall when he will be 100.
“I don’t know how long the Lord will allow me to have all this fun, but I thank him every morning,” Sauder said.
That’s a pretty good motto.
Barker is the Outdoors Editor of the Lewiston Tribune. He may be contacted at ebarker@lmtribune.com or at (208) 848-2273. Follow him on Twitter @ezebarker.
