TRINITY COUNTY. Board Item Request Form Phone

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1 County Contract No. Department Board of Supervisors TRINITY COUNTY 3.04 Board Item Request Form Contact John Fenley Phone Requested Agenda Location Consent Requested Board Action: Adopt a resolution supporting the Trinity County Fish and Game Advisory Commission's proposed 2014 Trinity County Elk Hunt Regulations; and adopt a resolution supporting the Trinity County Fish and Game Advisory Commission's proposed 2014 B-Zone Deer Regulations. Fiscal Impact: No fiscal impact. Motion: Second Roll Call: Ayes: Nays: Tabled To: Action: Notes:

2 Suzie White From: Sent: To: Subject: Attachments: Suzie White Thursday, January 16, :47 AM Agenda Items FW: BoS agenda item cover letter hunting recomm for 2014.pdf; Proposed 2014 Trinity County Elk Regulations.pdf; Proposed 2014 B-Zone Deer Regulations.pdf Have a great day Suzie White From: John Fenley Sent: Thursday, January 16, :46 AM To: Peter Finnie; Suzie White Cc: Sheila Brewer Subject: BoS agenda item Pete, As discussed last night; if you will be adding me as an additional contact to the Proposed Regulations for BoS consent agenda item, please get the third signature page changes to Suzie by Monday the 20th. I think an attachment is fine. Suzie White: suwhite@trinitycounty.org Suzie, Attached are supporting documents requesting two resolutions from the BoS in support of the recommendations made by the Trinity County Fish and Game Advisory Commission. If the third pages changes Pete requested above are not available by your deadline, I still would like to get these two resolutions on the BoS consent agenda for the January 28th meeting. I will bring you the original documents later today. Thanks, John John Fenley Supervisor Trinity County District 5 P.O. Box 1613, Weaverville, CA office Board of Supervisors jfenley@trinitycounty.org 1

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4 TRINITY COUNTY FISH AND GAME ADVISORY COMMISSION P.O. Box 112 Weaverville, Ca January 15, 2014 California Fish and Game Commission P.O. Box Sacramento, CA Re: Proposed 2014 Trinity County Elk Regulations Honorable Commissioners: The Trinity County Fish and Game Advisory Commission propose major changes to the 2014 Marble Mountain Roosevelt Elk hunts. Currently the Marble Mountain Elk hunts allow 47 elk tags plus landowner tags as permitted by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (DFW). In 2008 and to a limited extent in 2012, fires in western Siskiyou County limited hunter access and greatly increased hunting pressure on the Trinity County herds. This fire trend appears to be a reoccurring issue for our Trinity County Elk herds. During 2008, reports indicate eight mature bull elk were harvested from the Trinity County herd within a two mile radius of the Swift Creek area. This represents a significant increase in the elk harvest from the preceding years. The Trinity County elk herd is extremely smaller and has had less time to establish itself than the older Marble Mountain elk herds. There is no documented movement of elk between the Marble Mountains and the northern Trinity County herd. This can be verified by the absence of elk sightings from Scott Mountain divide area and along the popular Pacific Crest Trail which transects the northern Trinity County line. The geography also prevents the northerly movement of these elk during late fall and winter due to heavy winter snows along the northern Trinity County line. There is however, clear indication that the northern Trinity County herd and the second Trinity County elk herd,

5 Page 2. which was introduced at the same time in Grass Valley Creek drainage area south of State Highway 299 west, are coexisting and expanding south towards Shasta and Tehama Counties. This has been documented by elk sightings at the CDF Trinity River Camp, road kills along Rush Creek Road and State Highway 299 W and many other live elk sightings in Southeastern Trinity County. We have partnered with the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation and have assisted the DFW through our grant program with GPS and radio tracking collars to determine herd activity. Unfortunately, over the past two years no elk have been collared. The biological elk herd data for Trinity County is currently very limited in nature. If you were to ask our local DFW biologists on any of the basic herd analysis i.e., calf survival, cow to bull ratio, overall herd mortality, etc., they would be unable to provide these answers. Now, without any scientific data, the DFW have exponentially increased the southern boundary for the Marble Mountain elk hunt to State Hwy 36 in Northwestern Tehama County. The vast geographical size and diversity of this expanded elk zone is not biologically sound in todays world of wildlife management. We have been and will continue to be very supportive of biologically justifiable hunting opportunities. We strongly support establishing a separate Trinity County Roosevelt Elk Hunt with limited cow and bull tags for the 2014 season. Therefore, we propose the following changes in the 2014 Marble Mountain Elk Hunting regulations: 1) Remove all portions of Trinity County that are currently included in the Marble Mountains Elk hunt and create a new Trinity County Roosevelt Elk Hunt Zone. 2) Establish a tag quota for the new elk zone based on recent biological herd data. 3) Establish Trinity County as the boundary or the B-2 deer zone.

6 Page 3. The biological and geographical aspects of this proposal will greatly enhance the elk hunting opportunities for California hunters while managing our Trinity County elk herd. Should you have any questions or need clarification on our elk hunting recommendations, please contact Chairman, Peter J. Finnie at or Trinity County Supervisor John Fenley at Respectfully, Peter J. Finnie Chairman

7 TRINITY COUNTY FISH AND GAME ADVISORY COMMISSION P.O. Box 112 Weaverville, Ca January 15, 2014 California Fish and Game Commission P.O. Box Sacramento, CA Re: Proposed 2014 B-Zone Deer Regulations Honorable Commissioners: The Trinity County Fish and Game Advisory Commission propose to modify the existing deer hunting regulations for the B-2 Zone. Justification for our proposed regulation changes are explained herein and have been developed by the Trinity County Fish and Game Advisory Commission (TCFG) in consultation with the general public. The following data was developed by reviewing the California Department of Fish and Wildlife published documents for the B-Zone. In 1992 all of the B-Zones were combined into one large deer zone commonly called Big Green. Prior to 1992 deer tags for all of the B Zones combined was 40,003 (1990 data) with 16,002 sold for the B-2 zone portion. The first year of Big Green tag sales increased significantly by 38 percent to 55,338. There was no scientific biological analysis to support this increase in tag quota, the DFW just termed this Big Green Zone as opportunity hunts! The reported 2012 B-2 zone deer harvest of 6l5 deer is over 70 percent below the 1992 harvest level of 2,238 deer (refer to the attached B-2 Zone deer harvest chart). The DFW data clearly indicates a drastic and continuing trend of decreased deer harvest since the inception of Big Green.

8 Page 2. The Big Green concept never considered the extreme diversity in deer herd composition within the vast B-Zone area. The area consists of 10 northwestern counties, Del Norte, Siskiyou, Humboldt, Tehama, Shasta, Mendocino, Lake, Glenn, Colusa and Trinity. The deer herds vary from small resident herds to larger migrating herds traveling many miles to and from their winter and summer ranges. Why, also has the length of the deer season increased in Trinity County from 23 days in the 1970 s to the present 37 day season? With declining buck to doe ratio s this increased season makes absolutely no biological sense. Additional hunting pressure was also unintentionally created by closing the ending season date earlier on two of the six B- Zones. Re-establishing the existing B-2 Zones and/or creating new deer assessment areas would provide necessary biological data to better manage the deer herds. Now with the advent of game cameras, Google earth and smart phones, the deer movement is constantly under intense pressure plus, the enormous number of illegal marijuana plantations scattered throughout the B-Zone. This invasion of our public and private forestlands has been well documented by the DFW wardens and local law enforcement personnel. This untold attack on our deer and wildlife is unprecedented in Trinity County history. The current deer management strategy for the B-Zones has been a biological failure. Trinity County s deer herds have never recovered since the inception of Big Green. Siskiyou County has also provided DFW and the State Fish and Game Commission with a 100 page scientific deer herd analysis which clearly identifies the failure of Big Green. How long are we going to wait before we make the necessary regulatory changes to save our declining deer herds in Trinity County? Trinity County believes the regulations pertaining to the B-2 Zone must be modified with a goal of returning to a sustained harvest approximating those realized in the early 1990 s prior to Big Green. We understand there are many factors affecting our deer herds throughout California, however, there are two factors that we have control over; (1) length and time of the deer season and, (2) total tag allocation.

9 Page 3. Therefore, we propose the following changes in the deer regulations for the B-2 Zone: 1. Re-establish B-2 as a separately managed hunting zone. 2. Eliminate the two deer tag allotment and establish a one deer tag allocation for B Establish a tag quota for B -2 based on recent biological deer herd data. 4. Reduce the length of the B-2 deer season by one week, starting the season on the last Saturday in September and closing on the last Sunday in October (30 days). 5. Implement an archery only deer tag. We urge you to implement these proposed recommendations for the 2014 deer season in order to improve management of the deer herds within the B-2 Zone and Trinity County. Should you have any questions or need clarification on our deer hunting recommendations, please contact Chairman, Peter J. Finnie at cdfvet199@yahoo.com or Trinity County Supervisor John Fenley at jfenley@trinitycounty.org. Respectfully, Peter J. Finnie Chairman

10 B2 Reported Deer Harvest Start of Big Green Reported Harvest Day Season Recurent end of Season Year

11 RESOLUTION NO. XXXX-XX A RESOLUTION OF THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS OF THE COUNTY OF TRINITY SUPPORTING TRINITY COUNTY FISH AND GAME ADVISORY COMMITTEE S PROPOSED 2014 TRINITY COUNTY ELK HUNT REGULATIONS WHEREAS, in 2008 and 2012 fires in western Siskiyou County limited hunter access to the Marble Mountain elk herds and greatly increased hunting pressure on the Trinity County herds; and WHEREAS, fire trends appear to be a reoccurring issue for Trinity County Elk herds; and WHEREAS, the Trinity County elk herd is extremely smaller and has had less time to establish itself than the older Marble Mountain elk herds; and WHEREAS, the Trinity County Fish and Game Advisory Commission proposes major changes be made to the 2014 Marble Mountain Roosevelt Elk hunts; and WHEREAS, the Trinity County Fish and Game Advisory Commission strongly supports establishing a separate Trinity County Roosevelt Elk Hunt with limited cow and bull tags for the 2014 season; and WHEREAS, said proposed changes to the Marble Mountain Roosevelt Elk hunts include the following: Removing all portions of Trinity County currently included in the Marble Mountains Elk hunt; Creating a new Trinity County Roosevelt Elk Hunt Zone; Establishing a tag quota for the new elk zone based on recent biological herd data; and Establishing Trinity County as the boundary or the B-2 deer zone. NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Board of Supervisors of the County of Trinity is in full support of the proposed regulation changes suggested by the Trinity County Fish and Game Advisory Commission. DULY PASSED AND ADOPTED this day of, by the Board of Supervisors of the County of Trinity by motion, second (/), and the following vote: AYES: NOES: ABSENT: ABSTAIN: RECUSE: Supervisors JUDITH N. PFLUEGER, CHAIRMAN Board of Supervisors County of Trinity State of California ATTEST: WENDY G. TYLER Clerk of the Board of Supervisors By: Deputy

12 RESOLUTION NO. XXXX-XX A RESOLUTION OF THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS OF THE COUNTY OF TRINITY SUPPORTING TRINITY COUNTY FISH AND GAME ADVISORY COMMITTEE S PROPOSED 2014 B-ZONE DEER REGULATIONS WHEREAS, in 1992 all B-Zones were combined into one large deer zone commonly called Big Green ; and WHEREAS, during the first year of Big Green tag sales increased significantly by 38 percent from 40,003 to 55,338; and WHEREAS, the reported B-2 zone deer harvest of 615 deer is over 70 percent below the 1992 harvest level of 2,238 (Exhibit A); and WHEREAS, the Department of Fish and Wildlife data clearly indicates a drastic and continuing trend of decreased deer harvest since the inception of Big Green; and WHEREAS, the Big Green concept never considered the extreme diversity in deer herd composition within the vast B-Zone area which consists of 10 northwestern counties: Del Norte, Siskiyou, Humboldt, Tehama, Shasta, Mendocino, Lake, Glenn, Colusa and Trinity; and WHEREAS, Trinity County s deer herds have never recovered since the inception of Big Green ; and WHEREAS, the Trinity County Fish and Game Advisory Committee strongly urges the implementation of the following proposed recommendations for the 2014 deer season in order to improve management of the deer herds within the B-2 Zone and Trinity County: Re-establishing B-2 as a separately managed hunting zone; Eliminating the two deer tag allotment and establishing a one deer tag allocation for B-2; Establishing a tag quota for B-2 deer season by one week, starting the season on the last Saturday in September and closing on the last Sunday in October (30 days); Implementing an archery only deer tag. NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Board of Supervisors of the County of Trinity is in full support of the Proposed 2014 B-Zone Deer Regulations suggested by the Trinity County Fish and Game Advisory Commission. DULY PASSED AND ADOPTED this day of, by the Board of Supervisors of the County of Trinity by motion, second (/), and the following vote: AYES: NOES: ABSENT: ABSTAIN: RECUSE: Supervisors

13 Resolution No. xxxx-xx DATE Page 2 of 2 JUDITH N. PFLUEGER, CHAIRMAN Board of Supervisors County of Trinity State of California ATTEST: WENDY G. TYLER Clerk of the Board of Supervisors By: Deputy

14 B2 Reported Deer Harvest Start of Big Green Reported Harvest Day Season Recurent end of Season Year