Thanks to a “strong comeback,” the whitetails of the Lower Columbia River are on the verge of a federal delisting proposal.
The US Fish and Wildlife Service says that the population, which lives on islands in the big river and nearby mainland areas, “meets all the goals in its recovery plan, and the Service is recommending it be removed from the federal Endangered Species List.”
They recently completed a five-year status review and say that a population viability assessment “found that the risk of extinction for the Columbia River population is extremely low, further supporting the recommendation to consider delisting.”
The finding and recommendation don’t change the status of these deer, which comprise one of only two groups of whitetails west of the Cascades in the Northwest – the other is near Roseburg – but it “marks a major milestone in the decades-long effort to save the Columbian white-tailed deer, a conservation journey defined by collaboration, science, and persistence,” USFWS stated.
The feds touted the role their local national wildlife refuges have played in the recovery. The 6,000 acres of the Julia Butler Hansen Refuge for Columbian White-tailed Deer near Cathlamet – created in 1971, one year after the species was federally listed – is named for the animals and has served as the Lower Columbia “stronghold” for the population, and from there, deer have been translocated to Ridgefield NWR, “helping create a stable foundation for the deer’s recovery.”
According to the five-year review, from a low of just 300 to 400 in the 1970s, there are now an estimated 1,354, and they occur in 10 primary populations, including on Tenasillahe, Puget, Deer and Sauvie Islands and mainland areas near Westport (Oregon), Longview, Ridgefield and Scappoose.
The Westport and Tenasillahe Island areas have been particularly productive in terms of providing deer for translocations, the review shows.
Seven of the 10 subpopulations are considered to have a “high to moderate level of resilience,” and reestablishing populations such as at Ridgefield “increase both the geographic range of the species and connectivity throughout the landscape.”
Even if population growth stalled and the lowlands were flooded by excessive snowmelt from climate change, the deer would persist in 50-year scenarios, the review states.
“In conclusion, the Columbia River DPS of the Columbian white-tailed deer’s status has improved to the point where it no longer meets the definition of a threatened or endangered species under the Act,” the review states.
While vehicle collisions was once considered one of the threats to the whitetails – other primary worries inclue degradation of riparian habitat, poaching, fence entanglements, and competition with livestock – that wasn’t found to be the case, only occurring in limited instances. And earlier this year, WDFW lifted the ban on collecting roadkilled deer in Clark, Cowlitz and Wahkiakum Counties.
The other population of Columbia whitetails, which was delisted in 2003, is huntable under controlled tags issued by the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife.
