$77,000

[rosscrazyelk]

Thats what king 5 just reported it cost to hunt those 7 wolves.
I am thinking they could of made money if they would of let us hunt them 

[WAcoyotehunter]

wow- did the wdfw come forward with that cost finally?

[Fl0und3rz]

And I just heard that the Governor wants the feds to state a position on I502 before they spend any money implementing it.   So they don't want to spend any money on legal pot -  a proposition that was sold as a money maker - whereas they will spend money on killing wolves rather than entertain an idea where there would have been a clear path to making money off selling a limited number of wolf permits.

Sounds about right.

[Bradyfc]

http://www.king5.com/news/environment/Killing-NE-Washington-wolf-pack-cost-77000-179293801.html

[Curly]

 

[Bob33]

I wonder how many bonus points it took to draw the wolf permits?

I can see it now once they legalize hunting and sell permits: Quality Wolf, No Quality Wolf, Disabled Wolf, Master Hunter Wolf, Youth Wolf, 65 and Older Wolf, Big Bad Wolf...

[Boss .300 winmag]

SPOKANE, Wash. (AP) -- The state Fish and Wildlife Department spent nearly $77,000 to kill seven wolves in a pack that had been preying on cattle in Stevens County in northeast Washington.

Only one wolf was killed in a 39-day ground hunt that cost nearly $55,000. The other six wolves were killed in a four-day period in September using a helicopter and a marksman that cost $22,000.

The Spokesman-Review reports the cost was disclosed in a letter the Department of Fish and Wildlife sent to state Sen. Kevin Ranker of Orcas Island, chairman of the legislative committee overseeing the department.

Ranker has criticized the decision to kill the Wedge pack and is planning a legislative hearing next year.

I bet that could have been done by members here for free!

[RoyBoy]

they could have put out tags for that pack at like 50 bucks a pop and im sure allot of us would of bought one in a heart beat! but no lets spend thousands instead of making money.

[Bob33]

I am quite certain that money had little to do with WDFW's decision to use sharpshooters and helicopters.

The pro wolf crowd would have gone apoplexic had "untrained sport hunters out for blood" been used.

[LeeMajors]

I wonder how many bonus points it took to draw the wolf permits?

I can see it now once they legalize hunting and sell permits: Quality Wolf, No Quality Wolf, Disabled Wolf, Master Hunter Wolf, Youth Wolf, 65 and Older Wolf, Big Bad Wolf...

Big Bad Wolf hunting is open west of the river for modern firearm and muzzleloader.  East of the river in the Grandmother's House GMU is open to Archery Only.

[full strutting]

Terrible waste of taxpayers money. Guessing by issuing higher fees will be soon to follow. Instead of a limited number of tags to make money. 

[huntandjeep]

they could have put out tags for that pack at like 50 bucks a pop and im sure allot of us would of bought one in a heart beat! but no lets spend thousands instead of making money.

      $50.00  hell I would have paid $200 for a chance.

[NWWA Hunter]

$200. If I had it I would pay $77000 to smoke a pack of wolves in my home state

[Maybee-R]

So tax payer moneys are used to introduce the wolfs and tax payer moneys are used to eradicate a troublesome pack.
Yep! Some major planning was  used. Sounds about par for Washington. All so the Public is saved from the likes of Sportsmen.
WDFW needs cleaned and renewed personnel.

[Bob33]

"Yesterday, Defenders of Wildlife announced that it had filed yet another lawsuit against the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.  Defenders’ lawsuit attacks the scientific delisting of Wyoming’s wolf population.  Defenders’ suit is not about conservation or science; it is about stopping Wyoming’s wolf hunt. Defenders has asked all of its members to support their lawsuit and to make an “emergency gift” to help Defenders’ efforts to protect wolves and stop the hunt."

Try allowing WDFW to give out a few wolf permits and see what would happen.

[beauhuntr]

look up the endangered species act and see how the lawsuits are filed and see who gets paid and who pays for it.and what happens when the lawsuit doesn't  get a court date in a certain time frame. you won't be surprised

[CAMPMEAT]

I bet there are a few guys that can shoot out of helicopters on this sight that would of done it for practice and not charged a damn thing !!!

[nwwanderer]

I heard through the grape vine that the state is considering hiring the feds for wolf control.  That should solve all of the problems.

[Curly]

        

[wence5]

$11,000 a head, and we wonder why the state has a funding problem! If the WDFW commissioners would have pulled their heads of their a$$es a few years ago we wouldn't have this problem in the first place, but that is water under the bridge. 

[bobcat]

I'm not sure why some are blaming the WDFW for this. They didn't put the wolves here. I agree, I hate to see money being wasted on this. But what else could they do?

[Curly]

I'm not sure why some are blaming the WDFW for this. They didn't put the wolves here. I agree, I hate to see money being wasted on this. But what else could they do?

They could have delisted them.   

[bobcat]

I'm not sure why some are blaming the WDFW for this. They didn't put the wolves here. I agree, I hate to see money being wasted on this. But what else could they do?

They could have delisted them. 

Yes but we'd still have wolves.

[Bob33]

I'm not sure why some are blaming the WDFW for this. They didn't put the wolves here. I agree, I hate to see money being wasted on this. But what else could they do?

They could have delisted them. 

I think Wyoming's experience would suggest that is easier said than done.

[bobcat]

I'm not sure why some are blaming the WDFW for this. They didn't put the wolves here. I agree, I hate to see money being wasted on this. But what else could they do?

They could have delisted them. 

I think Wyoming's experience would suggest that is easier said than done.

Exactly. And as I said, if wolves were delisted, they'd still be here. Delisting won't change anything.

[Bob33]

I'm not sure why some are blaming the WDFW for this. They didn't put the wolves here. I agree, I hate to see money being wasted on this. But what else could they do?

They could have delisted them. 

I think Wyoming's experience would suggest that is easier said than done.

Exactly. And as I said, if wolves were delisted, they'd still be here. Delisting won't change anything.

My point is that delisting can be a difficult and very expensive exercise. Wyoming fought the FWS over delisting for many years. There are groups lined up knee deep to file lawsuits to stop any delisting effort.  In fact Defenders of Wildlife just filed another lawsuit against Wyoming's delisting efforts.  These people are the real enemy, not WDFW.

(Wyoming is spending far more than $77,000 to fight these legal battles. )

http://www.defenders.org/press-release/suit-filed-against-wyoming%E2%80%99s-kill%E2%80%90at%E2%80%90will-wolf-policy

[PlateauNDN]

I'm not sure why some are blaming the WDFW for this. They didn't put the wolves here. I agree, I hate to see money being wasted on this. But what else could they do?

They could have delisted them. 

I think Wyoming's experience would suggest that is easier said than done.

Exactly. And as I said, if wolves were delisted, they'd still be here. Delisting won't change anything.

My point is that delisting can be a difficult and very expensive exercise. Wyoming fought the FWS over delisting for many years. There are groups lined up knee deep to file lawsuits to stop any delisting effort.  In fact Defenders of Wildlife just filed another lawsuit against Wyoming's delisting efforts.  These people are the real enemy, not WDFW.

(Wyoming is spending far more than $77,000 to fight these legal battles. )

http://www.defenders.org/press-release/suit-filed-against-wyoming%E2%80%99s-kill%E2%80%90at%E2%80%90will-wolf-policy

it would change alot of things around my neck of the woods.  If they are federally de-listed then it opens the doors to my Tribe managing them and right about now there's a confirmed pack running around not far from my favorite spot to hunt and gather food.  Like I said I need a new headdress and i'm not driving more than 4 hours to get one when they can delist and I can drive to the cle elum area with a little help from all the wolf lovers that know where they are.

[fair-chase]

it would change alot of things around my neck of the woods.  If they are federally de-listed then it opens the doors to my Tribe managing them and right about now there's a confirmed pack running around not far from my favorite spot to hunt and gather food.  Like I said I need a new headdress and i'm not driving more than 4 hours to get one when they can delist and I can drive to the cle elum area with a little help from all the wolf lovers that know where they are.

Why does Federal delisting stand in the way of you harvesting them? I thought reservations were considered sovereign nations? So how does federal law effect tribal harvest? Honest question, not trying to stir the pot in any way.

[Humptulips]

Over where the wedge pack was they are already delisted federally. The State could have written a wolf management plan that State delisted them in the eastern 1/3 of the state.
So yea, WDFW has to take some of the blame because they wrote the wolf management plan presented to the commission.

[Bob33]

Over where the wedge pack was they are already delisted federally. The State could have written a wolf management plan that State delisted them in the eastern 1/3 of the state.
So yea, WDFW has to take some of the blame because they wrote the wolf management plan presented to the commission.

Yes they could have. They would have more than likely had to deal with several lawsuits to put it into place. I suspect that was part of their rationale for not doing so at this time.

[Ridgeratt]

Even though the eastern side of the state is delisted. The wolf management goals have not been reached as to 15 packs in the state. I don't think you will see a hunting season until those are met. This also may include the fact that western washington hasn't reached the goals as well.
The wedge pack was just set back a couple of years in hopes the management goals will be reached.

[Curly]

I'm not sure why some are blaming the WDFW for this. They didn't put the wolves here. I agree, I hate to see money being wasted on this. But what else could they do?

They could have delisted them. 

I think Wyoming's experience would suggest that is easier said than done.

Exactly. And as I said, if wolves were delisted, they'd still be here. Delisting won't change anything.

It would have made us hunters feel better instead of the WDFW basically giving us the middle finger.  They came out with a crappy wolf plan and then they had to go and hire people to shoot the wolves anyway.  It just seems ridiculous.

So yeah, it wouldn't have really changed the amount of wolves in the state because they are just so hard to control, but it would be nice if ranchers could shoot a wolf when they see one. 

Sportsmen are the ones paying for most of the WDFW budget, and we don't want wolves but we end up paying for wolves.  It is frustrating.

[wence5]

Bobcat, you may not agree with me on the subject, but I believe the state could have moved quicker rather than just wait. Maybe I am wrong in my thinking, but I don't think the commission moved on this quick enough. They held meeting after meeting, didn't listen to the ranchers and sportsman to meet this problem head on, leaned to the wolf lovers side, and chose to keep so many packs and to not disturb them for a 5 years (correct me if my numbers are wrong) before doing any population control of the packs. By then the problem will be totally out of hand, and I will just bet you there are already more numbers than the target amount in five years was supposed to be. Hell, there are already wolves in areas of the state officials swear there are no wolves!
It seems to me the state didn't do enough to make sure the problem didn't got out of hand a few years ago. So now we have a problem, and we will be like Wyoming and Idaho in a few years, only I don't see this state moving to have open hunting of the wolves. I know the Feds are at the root of the problem, but it seems to me the state could have been more proactive on the subject and moved quickly to act. At least the tribal leaders are quick to act to protect a valuable resource.

[PlateauNDN]

it would change alot of things around my neck of the woods.  If they are federally de-listed then it opens the doors to my Tribe managing them and right about now there's a confirmed pack running around not far from my favorite spot to hunt and gather food.  Like I said I need a new headdress and i'm not driving more than 4 hours to get one when they can delist and I can drive to the cle elum area with a little help from all the wolf lovers that know where they are.

Why does Federal delisting stand in the way of you harvesting them? I thought reservations were considered sovereign nations? So how does federal law effect tribal harvest? Honest question, not trying to stir the pot in any way.

Sorry for the late info. i've been pretty busy.  We are a Sovereign but we also have to follow federal guidelines as well.  They are a federally protected species just like sea lions, therefore we cannot legally hunt them.  There would have to be a stong case as to why we need to harvest them while they are still federally protected and that's probably not going to happen.  A Tribe from Wyoming has been fighting for years to legally harvest a bald eagle on their lands for a ceremony and that's taken them almost 60 years to finally get approved and now they have to go back to court for other matters related to the special permit.  With federal de-listing this allows us to create our own management plan within our jurisdiction, which is the reservation and all ceded lands.  So, regardless of what the State says if they were fed de-listed and we had our management plan already developed and in place, I'd try to be the first in line to sign up for a chance to draw a tag.

[fair-chase]

Thanks Plat. 

The whole sovereign nation thing confuses the heck out of me. I guess I just get too hung up on the wording. Seems like it's more along the lines of a U.S. Territory or an independent State than an actual Nation. As far as governing bodies and ties to the Federal Government goes.......So confusing.