The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) is currently seeking volunteers to assist on a black-tailed deer project.
The goal of this multi-year study is to assess the effects of forest management (timber harvest and herbicide use) on black-tailed deer reproduction, in particular fawn survivability.
Volunteers will help WDFW staff to monitor radio-collared deer on Department of Natural Resources-managed lands between Port Angeles and Sequim.
See Below
Volunteers are needed who are willing to be “on-call” (contacted at any time of day) and are able to get into the field on short notice. Volunteers will need to provide their own equipment such as hiking boots, raingear and daypack. They must be willing to help carry minimal but necessary gear into a site. Volunteers may be required to drive on logging roads and must be able to hike off-trail (bush-whack through clearcuts and forests).
Volunteers are needed now through the coming winter months when deer mortality is likely to increase due to the cold weather. Volunteers will have the opportunity to learn radio telemetry and will use it to track a deer’s location in order to retrieve the radio collar and determine cause of predation.
However the bulk of the work will be in late May through July during fawning season when volunteers are most needed to help with fawn searches and attachment of radio collars on fawns.
If you are interested in helping or want to know more about this fun opportunity to do biological field work, please send an email with your name, address and phone number to:
Kim Loafman
Wildlife Biologist, Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife