Overview: The Scotch Creek Wildlife Area is a complex of 7 separate management units located in Okanogan county in North Central Washington State.  The project is located within the Columbia Cascade Province (Okanogan sub-basin) and partially addresses adverse impacts caused by the construction of Chief Joseph and Grand Coulee hydroelectric dams.  The total size of all wildlife area units is 24,947 acres.  The Scotch Creek Wildlife Area was approved as a wildlife mitigation project in 1996 and habitat enhancement efforts to meet mitigation objectives have been underway since the spring of 1997 on all Scotch Creek units.  

Background: The initial acquisition in 1991 was primarily for the recovery of the Columbian Sharp-tailed grouse, a state threatened species, and enhancement of their critical habitats. Population estimates of Sharp-tailed grouse on the Scotch Creek, Tunk Valley and Chesaw units increased steadily from the initial acquisition until about 2006 when the estimates leveled off.  Population estimates fluctuated around this number and could be due to a number of very wet and cold weather events during the spring nesting and brood reading time frame, and/or this could be due to a number of other factors including genetics or predation.  In the spring of 2015 our lek counts indicated the highest population estimate since acquisition.  Unfortunately later that same year we experienced the Okanogan Complex wildfire, the largest in Washington State history at over 400 square miles.  The out of control fire burned over all of the Tunk Valley and Pogue Mountain units, and 95% of the Scotch Creek unit causing the loss of numerous buildings, miles of fencing, and some historic sites.  Sharp-tails were displaced that winter, and breeding numbers in the spring of 2016 were some of the lowest on record at just 11 birds on the Scotch Creek unit.  In 2017 the lek count numbers rebounded with 39 birds displaying on three active lek sites.  

Sharp-tails were translocated from south east Idaho to the Scotch Creek Wildlife Area in 1998, 1999, and 2000 to supplement the existing population which was estimated to be 6 - 10 birds at the time.  The habitat enhancements and genetic supplementation through augmentation appeared to have success as the population increased steadily.  WDFW has formulated plans for 3 more years of translocation to the Scotch Creek area as source populations become available.  Plans for translocations from British Columbia populations to Scotch Creek and Tunk Valley in the spring of 2017 did not happen.  We continue to plan for these supplemented birds and are hopeful in 2019-20.    

Ongoing: Maintenance of BPA-funded habitat enhancements is necessary to protect and enhance shrub-steppe and riparian habitat characteristics to recover and sustain populations of Sharp-tailed grouse and other obligate species. This SOW reflects a continuation of prior management activities on the Wildlife Area, encompassing all operations and implementation actions to effectively improve and sustain habitat conditions across all 7 units of the wildlife area. It also provides direction and support for additional actions planned for implementation in the current and subsequent contract periods. Contract activities include project planning, implementation management, and construction oversight; ongoing site operations and facility maintenance; and limited assessment that is specific to evaluation of management strategies on the wildlife area and not part of a larger basin-wide data-gathering or monitoring effort.  

Contract support maintains shrub and tree plantings to ensure continued growth and survival, and the benefit of improved Sharp tailed grouse winter habitat. Contract staff inspect and repair boundary fence to prevent trespass livestock on all wildlife area management units; and 53 miles of boundary fence destroyed in the Okanogan Complex fire (2015) has been replaced with FEMA funding.  Weed control on all acres of the wildlife areas is performed to restore quality habitat as well as protection from new invaders and maintain existing HU's.  Noxious weed pressure is mounting following the 2015 Okanogan Complex fire, which fueled the proliferation of Scotch Thistle, Russian Knapweed, and Dalmatian Toadflax on the three affected wildlife area units.  We will continue to monitor and treat these expanding populations. Maintenance of signs, physical improvements, roads and parking areas will protect habitat by directing and informing the public.  Funding of administrative duties will keep project staff informed of new procedures and developments,  We will continue ongoing maintenance for a fleet of 7 vehicles, 3 tractors, numerous implements and pieces of equipment, and 14 buildings of various types and sizes to maintain and prolong their life necessary for management and maintenance of the wildlife area.  Keep BPA and WDFW personnel informed of on-going projects, planning and project reporting on track, and insure smooth operations between all interested parties. In addition we will continue the dialog with the public by hosting an annual Wildlife Area Advisory Committee meeting (WAAC).  This meeting outlines our accomplishments over the past year and informs the group about plans for the new year, as well as accepting comments and suggestions from a wide variety of stakeholders.  Fire protection contracts will be in place with local districts and the DNR to protect improvements and critical habitats.

Current Emphases: Planning and implementation management activities in the current contract periods also encompass or continue the following major tasks and initiatives (2019-2020):
(1) a property exchange or "land-swap" with an adjacent landowner at Happy Hill of approximately 200 acres of native Shrub-steppe habitat, south of the Conconully Road and in the Coulee Creek drainage. Entirely surrounded by the Wildlife Area, the exchange would reduce O&M costs and eliminate an inholding; it is intended to be an equal-value exchange for 88 acres of irrigated alfalfa, an existing ongoing maintenance cost.
(2) continued cultivation, possible summer fallow, and additional native seeding on up to 100 acres of degraded shrub-steppe habitats on the Scotch Creek unit. Shrub-steppe habitat improvements increase food and cover during a critical time of year for ground nesting birds like the Columbian Sharp-tailed grouse, and other obligates.  
(3) a focus on Riparian enhancements in the "area below the corrals" on the Scotch Creek unit to enhance critical winter habitat for Sharp-tailed grouse, at a location equal distance between 3 lek sites.  Sharp tails descend from these 3 sites to the Riparian habitat along Scotch Creek each winter to feed primarily on Water Birch, Wild Rose, and other deciduous trees and shrubs. This critical habitat is necessary for their survival during harsh winter conditions.
(4) continued hand-thinning of additional areas in the forested habitat around Strawberry Lake on the Chesaw unit to create openings and feeding lanes for the rare Great Grey Owl.