Sierra County’s Wildlife Challenges Unaddressed at Commission Meeting

DOWNIEVILLE — The Sierra County Fish and Wildlife Commission met on Tuesday. Despite California Fish and Wildlife and the US Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services being heavily active within Sierra County this month after several concerning mountain lion incidents, none of those activities apparently warranted an agenda item or even a Commissioner Report. Barely any information was disseminated about county actions or those of state and federal agencies aside from some correspondence unrelated to recent events, and no representatives of those bodies attended the meeting.

In their reports, commissioners chatted about how they weren’t seeing much wildlife in their respective neighborhoods, speculating that the absence may be caused by mountain lions in the area. Commissioner Sig Ostrom noted that the head of a buck that had been found in Sierra City looked to have been cleaned up by someone, disputing conjucture that it may have been another mountain lion kill but raising concerns about potential poaching. Ostrom also mentioned that deer were drawn to the highway due to the de-icing brine used by Caltrans.

One piece of wildlife news shared by Commissioner Marilyn Tierney was that she spoke with Sarah Holm, Senior Biologist at Dokken Engineering, who informed her of a study looking into roadkill of elk near Sierraville. Holm was hoping to put tracking collars on elk in the area but could not find any elk. The commissioners discussed at length when and where they had seen elk in the Sierraville area.

The Commission also began the process of planning the annual Packer Lake Kids’ Fishing Day, which will take place on July 19th. $3,000 was allocated to buy rods and reels, stuffed animals, raffle prizes, and bait, to be purchased primarily from Sierra Hardware in Downieville. Last year, $2,145.22 was spent on the event. The Commission has around $8,500 in reserves.