Mail and Email Campaign to WDFW

[FrankDown]

I understand that many of us are concerned about the new regulations that the Washington Department of Fish and Game are looking in to implement. 

(1) No August Bear
(2) Closing Public Land to Hunters
(3) Closing Coyote to Hound Hunting

I need 3 letters that address these three issues.  One letter each topic.  If we can come up with a comp[rehensive one page or less letter to the Dept of Fish and Game I will take care of the rest as far as getting it organized, designed, and ready to start printing out and emailing.

Start posting the letter ideas here and it shouldnt take long with all of us to get straight to the point, state some facts, and state the position that we stand on the issue.  If you want to PM me directly feel free to do so.

Other issues can and will be addressed after this one.  At this time I am working on some other projects that I am commited to but if the letters get written I will take care of the rest.

The animal rights industry collects a LOT of money, not by sitting back and saying it doesnt affect them, but by sticking together and doing something.

What I am trying to do is to get a mail and email campaign going so that whoever you send it to simply has to forward it to the WDFG and/or print it out, sign it, and mail it to them.  Then email it to another friend or family member that may not be on this forum.  Share it with the other forums you visit.

The email part you can simply forward to your friends that hunt but may not be on this board.  Im sure you get jokes, and chain letters from your peers, why not send them an email to do something proactive for your sport, your hobby, and your organic free range protein supplements.

The print out you can print some out and take them with you to work, or the gun shop, or your brother in laws and get them to sign it and either they can mail it or you can collect as many as you can and mail them in.  Print a handful out and leave them with your sporting goods store, your gun store, wherever your peers that share your idea of the outdoors to sign and send in.

None of these issues deal with sound management practices.  They are all contrary to sound wildlife management procedures, and are the ideas of the agency in regards to letters and emails they have received from anti hunters, hikers, and general people that have nothing to do with hunting.

If you want to lose your hunting privilege, the best way to do it is to do nothing.

[gasman]

If someone could write up a proper letter, i would be more then happy to help out. I do not have good wrighting skills and would add experative that are not proper for this subject.
 
They are pisssing me off with the new BS changes.

[FrankDown]

Keep the August Bear Season Open to Public Land
The complete elimination of a large portion of the bear hunting season is not a favorable solution to hunters. Is the proposed season change justified based on one accident and the emotional public discourse that followed?
As a result of the Sauk Mountain incident there are steps being taken to increase the minimum hunting age that minors can hunt unsupervised.  This seems to be a more reasonable response to this incident than to further restrict hunting.
I understand this is a reaction to the hiker incident at Sauk Mountain.  The Sauk Mountain incident was not the result of hunter/hiker conflict or overcrowding of the two user groups.  It was the result of one careless unsupervised 14 year old hunter who did not practice good safety procedures and did not identify his target.
"For BBMUs that open Aug 1, the Aug 1-31 period is limited to hunting on private lands only. The justification for this change is to reduce conflict with other recreational users on public lands during the summer while still allowing bears to be harvested for damage reasons (e.g., orchard damage)."
I understand the August Bear closure on public land was the departments move. I also understand that the advisory council was against it.
Thank you for your time,
_____________________________
_____________________________
_____________________________


Here's a short less than one page that I cut and pasted and reworded from the other post about the bear issue.  Look at it and recommend any necessary changes you think it might need or have been overlooked.  I want to keep it less than one page.

I will try to get another one together for the coyoge hunting with dogs.

[gasman]

Thanks, this helps alot and i can add my personal touch to it as to not sound like a form letter.

[bobcat]

Hey Frank, it's great that you're doing this but just be sure to email the Washington Dept. of Fish and Wildlife, not Fish & Game, since they have not been the WDFG for many, many years.  

[shanevg]

There is already a letter posted here:
http://hunting-washington.com/smf/index.php/topic,19040.0.html

But a lot of people don't like my letter because they say it segregates different groups (MF, ML, and Archery) which I think is misreading my letter, but here is a well written letter that Abolt338 posted on the same thread (page 2) which I think confronts the issues without raising the concerns that many people on this site have with my letter.  I myself have sent in my letter, but if you are going to create a mass email/paper mail campaign, I think this is a very well written letter that gets the point across much better than the current draft on this thread.


Dear Commission,

I am writing in opposition to the proposed season change for Washington State fall bear season. Moving the season opener on public lands from August 1 to September 1 significantly impacts hunting opportunity while does little to mitigate conflicts between hunters and other recreational land users.

The August 1 bear opener provides an opportunity to hunt when no other big-game seasons are available. As a positive consequence, bear hunters have an entire month to spend in the woods before the majority of big-game hunters - deer hunters, elk hunters, etc. - fill popular public hunting grounds. Because of this, August is the ideal month for serious bear hunters to fill their tag – long before bears become spooked by a massive influx of other hunters.

The proposal states that moving opening day to September 1 aims to “reduce conflict with other recreational users on public lands.” In theory, this makes sense. It begs the question, however, “what is the actual justification for the decision?”

In my experience, as the season currently stands, there is very little conflict between these two groups. Most bear hunters make it a point to access areas away from people. When they do encounter other people, most hunters – who are well aware that they are under a microscope – make certain to act with respect and avoid any negative interaction.

Is it a coincidence that just this last season, a young bear hunter accidently shot and killed a hiker during the August season? I would wager not. But let us not forget that this accident was the first of its kind in the last twenty-five years. That’s a quarter century of harmless interaction between hunters and other recreational users. Is the season change justified based on one accident and the emotional public discourse that followed?

Some hunters, like myself, are limited in their hunting opportunities. For some, the August bear season is the only opportunity to pursue big-game. College students who have to return to campus before September, high-school students who have extra-curricular commitments once the school year begins, these are just a couple examples of people who this change affects.

Bear hunters in Washington are already a significant minority. This change will only reduce our numbers, similar to the elimination of bait and hounds.

The WDFW states that hunting is its most-effective tool for game management; but that tool is only available if there are hunters who choose to partake. Reducing the bear season by delaying the opener significantly impacts the opportunity for a very specific group of hunters and fails to address any real conflict. Because of this, I ask that the commission forgo this rule change and maintain the general bear season, keeping the opener on August 1.

[FrankDown]

Ill add it to what I have as a personal choice alternative.  Thanks for taking the time to share this with everyone.