Your PUD
News Release
Fish and Wildlife crew member with one of the barricades installed on an unauthorized trail on PUD wildlife habitat land west of Wenatchee.
Fences will protect wildlife habitat west of Wenatchee
Chelan County PUD
News Release
7/17/2008
Chelan County PUD Fish and Wildlife crews are installing barricades across unauthorized trails on PUD land in the hills west of Wenatchee to protect wildlife habitat required by the District’s federal license to operate Rock Island Dam.
The main trail across PUD land that links sections of the Sage Hills Trails managed by the Chelan-Douglas Land Trust will remain open spring, summer and fall. The trail is closed Dec. 1 to April 1 each year to protect deer on their winter range.
Employees are using salvaged wood fencing to build the barricades and installing signs urging compliance. The state Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) is concerned that unauthorized trail use compromises the function of the property for wildlife.
The PUD is also working with the Land Trust to protect the wildlife habitat, said Tracy Yount, PUD Natural Resources director.
“The goal is to keep access open on the permitted trail, while protecting the habitat mandated by our federal license to operate Rock Island Dam,” said Yount. “The Land Trust has agreed to work with the PUD on a plan to control access off the one trail allowed by permit, which crosses the land designated as wildlife preserve.”
The PUD owns about 960 acres in the hills west of Wenatchee and manages the area with WDFW oversight.
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Kimberlee Craig
Public Information Officer
(509) 661-4320, office
(509) 679-6858, mobile