This concerns the road on the west side of Vancouver Lake that dead-ends just north of the lake. Living in Felida, which is due east of that area, we hear the sounds of motorcycles racing, as well as gunshots, almost nightly during the spring through fall months. Is this a legally designated road for racing? Having just lost one of our own 14-year-old students through legal, supervised motorcycle racing, I question this use of that road. As for the gunshots, is this target practice or hunting? If so, I find it interesting that we hear the shots after dark on some nights. Does this not make it almost impossible to see the target?
— Sherry Rusunen, Felida
It may not be well-known that the area to the south, west and northwest of Vancouver Lake is a sort of crazy quilt of different uses and governing jurisdictions. There are city parks, county open spaces, industrial lands, private agricultural operations, state wildlife areas and more.
According to the state, the entire stretch totals 2,370 acres and it’s called the Shillapoo Wildlife Area. It’s a major wintering area for waterfowl along the Pacific Flyway, hosting Canada geese, mallards and other ducks, bald eagles, sandhill cranes, great blue herons, black-capped chickadees, western meadowlarks, yellow warblers and other species.
Hunting, target shooting and trap shooting are allowed here but each is highly regulated and restricted to certain areas. Rifles and pistols are banned as per Clark County rules. To learn what you need to know, visit http://wdfw.wa.gov/lands/wildlife_areas/shillapoo.
