The Colville Tribes’ Wildlife Mitigation Project currently manages approximately 62,100 acres of wildlife habitat within the boundary of the Colville Indian Reservation.  This on-going project has been proposed to manage the operation and maintenance (O&M) and the administration operations to protect the Wildlife Management Areas (MA) from loss in habitat quality or "credits."  During the contract period (3/1/11 – 2/29/12), this project will provide direction and personnel to ensure the protection of the habitat values through fence construction and maintenance, livestock removal, law enforcement strategies, coordination with BIA and the Colville Business Council, providing input on code revisions, road maintenance, management plans, and management of invasive species including noxious weeds.

During this upcoming contract year, fence lines will be constructed on the remaining perimeter of the North Omak Lake Management Area (MAs), if this year's fence surveys identify areas for replacement fencing.  Fence surveys will be conducted for the perimeter of our new acquisition; the Wanacutt Basin MA, and if the fence surveys identify  areas for replacement, fence construction will occur.  In addition, the fences surrounding the Bridge Creek MA are not currently functioning as a livestock barrier due to extremely poor condition and will need to be completely replaced.  This new/reconstruction of fence lines surrounding these MAs will total approximately 10-12 miles.  Fence lines will also be reconstructed in areas where they have been damaged due to wildfires, livestock, tree blow down, or other factor.  Many MAs still have interior fence lines that prove to be a hindrance for wildlife and also a safety hazard and will be removed when scheduling allows.

Livestock are an increasing problem with rising prices in feed and storage fees.  Many fence lines around our MAs are deliberately cut by livestock operators and opened to allow for private livestock use of recovering habitats.  The Mitigation Project invests a large amount of time in the repair of these fences and also in the removal of the livestock.  Recent threats have been felt due to a rising feral horse population on the Colville Reservation.  These horses are extremely destructive to the range and habitats in the MAs, yet there are no codes nor enforcement to aid in our management.  The Colville Tribes are finalizing a Feral Horse Management Plan that will aid in the management of the horses.

Roads within and leading into our Management Areas are very primitive and are mostly not maintained by other agencies.  The Wildlife Mitigation Project, in turn, has had to maintain the access roads and internal roads with our own equipment and personnel.  Road maintenance ensures that Project equipment life does not expire prematurely.  Personnel safety is another reason we perform maintenance on the roads.

A Management Plan for the new land acquired in 2010 will be drafted in 2011.  The Mitigation Project has named the property, originally purchased from the Moomaw family, the Wanacutt Basin Management Area.  This MA needs complete fencing of the boundaries due to the current poor fencing that is not appropriately place along the area boundaries.

The Wildlife Mitigation Project’s Invasive Species sub-division will focus on the removal, containment, and overall reduction of invasive species and noxious weed infestations within the Wildlife MAs.  During this contract period, at least 6,000 acres of noxious weed control will occur using numerous methods including: herbicide application, Bio-control methods, vegetation removal, competition strategies, and prescribed burning.  These acres will be spread among most of the MAs.