Hunters fear losing favored spot if island returned to wild

SPENCER ISLAND -- Jim Gregory balances on the crumbly edge of an old dike that, at the moment, is barely keeping this popular Snohomish County duck-hunting spot from becoming one with the Snohomish River estuary.

Made of hog fuel -- old wood chips that turned a swampy tidal wetland near Everett into dry cattle-grazing pasture -- the spongy wall falls apart under his weight.


		Grant M. Haller / P-I
	Jim Gregory, board member of the Washington Waterfowl Association, is one of many hunters who frequent the dikes around Spencer Island to hunt waterfowl.

"It's like stepping on powdered snow," said Gregory, one of the many hunters who use the dikes encircling Spencer Island to stalk mallards, teal and other waterfowl that flock here.

Faced with spending a half-million dollars to repair decomposing dikes and culverts here, the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife is considering a plan to breach the dikes and let the area return to the tidal marsh it once was.

Already, dikes and other structures used to control flooding have deteriorated to the point that popular hunting spots such as the "first puddle" have turned into inaccessible lakes.

The proposed plan essentially would finish the job nature already has started, inundating much of the northern half of the island.

It would make great habitat for salmon but tough walking for people who hunt, walk dogs, bird watch or trail run on the secluded, tranquil 400-acre island that's just a stone's throw from Interstate 5.

"It's very frustrating, because there's very limited public-hunting access areas in Western Washington, especially near Seattle," said Dan Draper, a Redmond hunter who questions why the state let the island's water-control structures fall into such disrepair.

Although the proposal would increase duck-hunting opportunities for those in boats, it would significantly limit the parts of the northern island that can be reached on foot.

Under a proposed plan, the Department of Fish and Wildlife would shore up the westernmost stretch of the dike to maintain some foot access for duck hunters. But it would render a long stretch of dike and much of the island's interior inaccessible without a boat.

Snohomish County Parks and Recreation owns the southern half of the island, where roughly 50 acres have already been flooded to provide rearing grounds for salmon. It plans to repair an interpretive walking trail that's also been damaged by erosion.

Although that should cheer birdwatchers and runners who use the popular loop trail, it won't help hunters, because carrying or discharging firearms is illegal on the county-owned portion of the island.

At a recent public meeting, duck hunters from Bellingham to Spanaway showed up to complain about the dike breaching plan.

"I thought it sucked, pure and simple," said Jim Hayton, a camouflage-clad hunter from Everett who takes his black lab, Rock, for almost daily walks around Spencer Island during the off-season.

"If they've got the money to tear out 600 feet of dike, they've got the money to fix it," he said.

Curt Young, Snoqualmie wildlife area manager for the Fish and Wildlife Department, said it's been a constant struggle to maintain the eroding dikes and control structures.

They've been damaged by everything from logjams to a fire sparked by a cigarette or fireworks last summer. It smoldered underground in the wood chips for weeks.

"They just kind of keep decomposing and settling and flaking off, and we haven't been able to drive around and maintain them for the last three years," he said.

A recent study estimated it would cost $496,000 to repair the dikes and other structures.

But a statewide waterfowl committee, which decides how to spend money that hunters contribute to conservation by buying duck stamps, didn't believe spending that money to try to save the island made sense.

Maintaining a diked, manmade island also runs counter to the state's interest in letting estuaries revert to a more natural state to restore lost salmon habitat.

"You get into fish versus ducks," Young said. "Politically it's probably easier to find money to restore a wetland than it is to maintain it as a diked estuary."

Gregory, a board member of the Western Waterfowl Association, which advocates for waterfowl habitat conservation and hunter's rights, said while the plan would certainly create promising salmon habitat, it'll come at the expense of other species.

Ducks won't want to nest in a wetland where water levels change with the tides. They need stable dry land that's next to the water's edge, so ducklings won't be exposed to raccoons, snakes, coyotes and other predators as they waddle into the water.

He questions whether the state can legally flood waterfowl nesting habitat that was bought in 1989 with hunter dollars.

"It's a convenient location, it's great duck habitat, and it'll all be gone," he said, surveying a field of flooded cattails and bare maple trees that was lousy with ducks on a recent visit.

Donald DiPaola, an Everett resident and birdwatcher who frequently circumnavigates Spencer Island, said he hoped the state would find a way to preserve more foot access. It's a rare natural oasis smack in the middle of an urbanized area, he said.

"That's the beauty of it. When you walk out here, you really feel like you've left the city," he said. "It's such a valuable resource I think they have to be very prudent and make sure that everyone is equally treated in this."

P-I reporter Jennifer Langston can be reached at 425-252-5235 or jenniferlangston@seattlepi.com

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