WILDLIFE -- The state may acquire a 94-acre parcel in the Palouse grasslands to help assure mule deer, pheasants, sharp-tailed grouse and other wildlife have a corridor connecting with other protected habitats in Whitman County.

 The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife is taking public comment through Jan. 30 on a proposal to acquire the Pheasants Forever-Knott Property and for fish and wildlife habitat restoration and public recreation, including hunting.  The land would be donated by Pheasants Forever, a wildlife conservation group that's already secured the property.

Officials also are proposing to acquire 10 acres in Whatcom County for the Lower Nooksack River Project.

• Information on both properties is available on WDFW’s website. The webpage also includes projects pursued in 2014.

The two proposals represent critical components of larger landscape restoration efforts in the Palouse prairie habitats of Whitman County and the lower Nooksack River, said Cynthia Wilkerson, WDFW land conservation and restoration section manager. Both projects would complement existing adjacent WDFW Wildlife Areas, she said.

The Whitman County parcel helps join the state's Revere Wildlife Area and the Escure Ranch area along Rock Creek managed by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management.

The Whitman County property is being donated by Pheasants Forever. The Lower Nooksack River is funded through a National Coastal Wetlands Grant. 

• Email comments to Lands@dfw.wa.gov.

Washington's Fish and Wildlife agency owns or manages about one million acres in 33 wildlife areas, along with 700 public water-access sites to boost wildlife and outdoor recreation.