WDFW: Hunters shape new opportunities in the field

[bearpaw]

Page 2, New Big Game Regs
http://wdfw.wa.gov/publications/01712/wdfw01712.pdf

Hunters shape new opportunities in the field

Welcome to another year of big game hunting
in Washington. Both of us are new to our
positions, but we share your desire to expand
and maintain hunting opportunities in our
state wherever possible.

We think you’ll appreciate the new
opportunities outlined in this pamphlet
for the upcoming season. After all, it was
hunters like you who proposed most of the
new regulations approved during the 2015-17
season-setting process.

Those new rules, adopted in April by the
Washington Fish and Wildlife Commission,
provide new hunting opportunities for
virtually every big game species and gear type.
Wildlife managers at the Washington
Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW)
initiated the season-setting process nine
months earlier with an online survey of
hunters’ priorities that drew more than 11,000
comments.

Through public meetings and additional
surveys, wildlife managers continued to work
with hunters to shape the final proposals that
were eventually sent to the commission for a
decision.

That process required a lot of effort from
everyone involved, but the results were worth
it. Here are some of the key changes in state
hunting regulations that will take effect this
year:

• Two more days for modern-firearm mule
deer season: At hunters’ request, WDFW
evaluated harvest levels and hunterparticipation
rates and agreed to propose
two additional days of hunting. Those extra
days will be added to the end of the season.

• Later start for archery elk season: Several
years ago, the season was moved to early
September, raising concerns about wildfire
closures and meat-handling safety in late
summer. Under the new rules, the season
will start the Saturday after Labor Day and
run for 13 days.

• More GMUs for early muzzleloader
elk season: Historically, fewer game
management units (GMUs) have been open
to elk hunters using muzzleloaders than to
other groups. Under the new rules, 27 more
GMUs will be open to muzzleloaders.

• Moose permits will rise in northeast:
With moose populations in northeastern
Washington near an all-time high, we can
make more tags available. Moose permit
areas have also changed, creating even more
hunting opportunities.

• More antlerless whitetail hunting in
northeast: Antlerless deer opportunities in
northeastern Washington were dramatically
reduced in recent years by the effects of
some hard winters. Many of those hunting
opportunities are being restored now that
the herds are showing signs of recovery.

• Maximizing multi-season deer permits: To
make the most of multi-season deer permits,
the Commission has authorized WDFW to
sell permits that were not picked up by raffle
drawing winners. These “leftover” permits
will be available on a first-come, first-served
basis after Aug.1 to hunters whose names
were not drawn.

You’ll also see a number of other new hunting
opportunities in this pamphlet, ranging from
antlerless elk in the Colockum to spring bear
in northeast Washington. Many of these rules
– marked in red for easy identification – were
also proposed by hunters during the recent
season-setting process.

This is the way the North American Model
of Wildlife Management is designed to work.
Under that model, hunters not only support
wildlife management through licensing fees,
but also by participating in the season-setting
process.

Thank you for your support in both of these
aspects of wildlife management. We look
forward to building on this partnership,
which has worked to preserve our sport and
Washington’s wildlife since the early years of
statehood.

Good hunting

[wolfbait]

 "Moose permits will rise in northeast:
With moose populations in northeastern
Washington near an all-time high, we can
make more tags available. Moose permit
areas have also changed, creating even more
hunting opportunities."

Must not be any wolves in the NE, or are they the ghost wolves that don't eat? Seems to be a lot of ghost wolves in WA, unlike other states where wolves decimated the game herds> according to WDFW, WA's imported wolves haven't impacted the game herds in the last twenty five years. 

"This is the way the North American Model
of Wildlife Management is designed to work.
Under that model, hunters not only support
wildlife management through licensing fees,
but also by participating in the season-setting
process."

Where does predator protection fit in with the North American Model of Wildlife Management? Did DoW or CNW write this?