For FishingMagician.com, I'm Eric Granstrom. 12-hundred acres of habitat in the Stemilt Basin will be preserved thanks to a land purchase by the State Department of Fish and Wildlife. In a press release Monday, the State Fish and Wildlife Commission announced that it authorized the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife to purchase 1,275 acres in Chelan County’s Stemilt Basin to protect critical wildlife habitat. According to the release, purchase of the property will allow the department to complete a land exchange with the Washington Department of Natural Resources in 2007. The land exchange received strong support from the Stemilt Partnership. A broad community-based coalition established by Chelan County of agriculture, wildlife, recreation, conservation and economic development interests. The two parcels, with a purchase price of between 1.7- and 1.9-million dollars, is habitat to spotted owls, wolves, elk, deer, and other wildlife species. In the same statement, Fish and Wildlife announced that the limit for pintail ducks has increased from one to two a day; there will be a doe season on whitetail deer in the northeast corner of the state; and that the archery cow elk season in the Colockum will be reduced to six days. Until next time, Good Fishing!