Thank you for posting this.
The goal is 15 breeding pairs for 3 consecutive years or 18 in one year. There also seems to be some fudge factor built in that these packs would need to be distributed over 3 regions.
So since we only have 5 breeding pairs in 2 regions of Washington, we need 3 times as many wolves as we have now, for 3 consecutive years before they are de listed. Unless of course they aren't sufficiently dispersed throughout the 3 regions.
Then the WDFW can milk this cash boondoggle for as long as they can until they must admit the wolves are sufficiently dispersed. (New 13-member Wildlife Conflict Section)
It seems that big game hunting in Washington is headed away from general seasons and will exist only as special permits in the near future. It doesn't take a scientist or biologist to know that there won't be sufficient numbers of big game animals to sustain the current level of harvest and 3 times as many wolves as we have now.
As a hunter, I am less than pleased with the goals of this wolf recovery.
For those of us with max points (and I know there are many of us) for Moose and Sheep, well you better hope like heck you get drawn in the next year or so. They will soon go the way of the mountain goat in Washington. It won't just be cougars killing them all off like the cougars did to goats, it will be wolves running them down as well.
The obvious thought comes to mind that this is not going to end well for hunters or big game in Washington.
Here's an interesting article from 2011 that is basically a crystal ball for the future of Washington big game hunting. Our story will be just a bit different. We aren't a big destination for out of state hunters like Montana, Idaho and Wyoming. Our story will be less opportunities in wolf infected areas which will push the hunter base to new areas. Eventually, we'll all be putting in for special permits to hunt deer and elk each year.
http://blog.eastmans.com/the-predator-death-spiral/
