State agency cited in biologist's death

OLYMPIA — The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife has been cited for violating state workplace-safety codes after a four-month investigation into a helicopter accident that killed a veteran wildlife biologist.

Rocky Spencer was killed in September when he walked into the rotating blades of a helicopter while on an assignment in the Yakima River canyon.

The state Department of Labor and Industries this week cited Fish and Wildlife for two violations, both stemming from the department's failure to have a written training program in place for the type of assignment Spencer was on.

Spencer, 55, had worked for the department since 1978. Though his main job in recent years was studying cougars and bears in Western Washington, he frequently volunteered for other assignments.

On the day of the accident, he was working from a helicopter on an assignment to capture and relocate bighorn sheep from private property near Yakima to a research facility at Washington State University.

Labor and Industries released its citation notice Thursday, but a spokesman said the department's full investigation into the fatality is confidential.

Labor and Industries fined the wildlife agency $4,200 for the violations and gave it a month to correct the problem. Labor and Industries classified the violations as "serious," the middle range on the department's severity scale.

"Rocky was a highly skilled wildlife biologist who had years of training and experience working around aircraft," Fish and Wildlife Director Jeff Koenings said in a news release responding to the citations. "We're committed to doing everything we can to prevent a similar tragedy in the future."

Steve Pozzanghera, deputy assistant director at Fish and Wildlife, said the agency has a safety-training program for employees who work around aircraft, but it was never put in writing. He said a written program will soon be in place.

Pozzanghera said Spencer was one of the department's most experienced biologists at working from helicopters on wildlife-relocation projects. In fact, he said, Spencer often trained others.

Pozzanghera said the agency plans to resume wildlife-capture operations next month.

Ralph Thomas: 360-943-9882 or rthomas@seattletimes.com