Suggestions for the new WDFW director Susewind

[Dhoey07]

Make commercial pay for their enforcement

They do

Great, I can check that one off the list.

[Elkcollector82]

Year round cougar season with a second tag option. (Just like Oregon)
Make buck deer a 2pt minimum westside and 3pt for eastside
Make more eastside gmu draw only units for early deer season
Make coastal gmu and all cascade mountain range gmu general spring bear units, then all Other regions make more available draw spring bear tags. 
Let us least use bait for spring bear.
Make general bear season start August 1st through November 31 for all gmu

[HntnFsh]

Stand up to the tribes. Skoks come to mind. WDFW has a hatchery that feeds the Skok river but the Skoks lay claim to the river and I see them run nets all the way across it within 100 yards of the hatchery. And I don't even fish it!

It's not just the Skokomish Tribe in this case it's the federal government. In 2016 the Department of Interior Solicitor's Office (legal counsel) issued an opinion that the actual river/riverbed of the Skokomish River itself is part of the reservation. This was not a new ruling but rather one that was affirming a decision made in the 1970s and essentially ignored by WA.

When Trump took office the new DOI Solicitor revoked some of the latter opinions issued under the Obama Admin but they did not revoke this ruling. Quite honestly with Ryan Zinke (who loves tribes) as the Secretary of Interior I don't think we will see any movement on that Obama era ruling.

Thank you for the enlightenment Bigtex. That's interesting info. I realize that a few of those fish are caught by sports fishers before they reach the river. But it frustrates me to see a WDFW hatchery raising these fish at sportsmen and tax payer expense seemingly, now for the tribes to use as financial gain. A couple weeks ago there were a few tribal member trucks and I think I remember seeing a fish buyer truck parked at the Purdy cutoff rd. And nets stretched all the way across the river starting at the hiway bridge.

  I wonder if there has been any progress in talks to opening the river back up to fishing for the general public. If that's not going to happen maybe WDFW should just shut that hatchery down. I know it wont happen. Theres more to it than that. But just a thought.

[pianoman9701]

Eliminate cougar quotas. I know you don't want to hear about wolves but sorry. Wolves need delisting and managing. The NE corner of the state is suffering and the wolves need to be controlled there. They need to fear contact with man..

[KFhunter]

Our new director is very hesitant to pull the trigger on wolves, wants more studying done.  The Togo pack has met the threshold for lethal removal.  The new director waffles.

https://www.kxly.com/news/wolf-pack-kills-a-cow-in-eastern-wa/781416438

SPOKANE, Wash. (AP) - Members of the Togo wolf pack in the Colville National Forest of eastern Washington state killed one cow and injured another last week.

The state Department of Fish and Wildlife says the Togo pack is responsible for five depredations in the past 10 months, including two last November and one in May.

The agency said Monday that it was alerted last week about a potential wolf depredation near Danville, Washington. Staff have confirmed the cow was killed by a wolf or wolves.
The agency's policy allows the killing of wolves that prey on livestock three times in a 30-day period or four times in a 10-month period.

The agency says it will continue to monitor the Togo pack as it considers its next steps.
 

http://www.capitalpress.com/Washington/20180813/togo-wolfpack-attacks-livestock-again-in-ne-washington

A wolfpack in northeast Washington has reached the threshold for Fish and Wildlife to consider lethal removal
Fish and Wildlife director Kelly Susewind, less than a month on the job, told wildlife managers to work over the weekend to confirm the number of adults in the pack and learn as much as possible about the pack’s activities before he considers further action, according to a department statement Saturday.

Remember the first calf "didn't count" because the rancher wasn't using range riders, fladdery or these stupid fox lights (all a joke) but what the article doesn't mention is this rancher has a ton of family, he's literally related to half the county    and they're up there all the time with ATV's and such.

And we're talking about confirmed kills, there's a lot more unconfirmed and missing cattle.


My suggestion to the new director is he take immediate and decisive action on the wolves. 
Historically WDFW has done everything they could to turn an easily documented wolf depredation into anything but a wolf kill/attack.  I would suggest they back on on that notion and actually do their best to determine cause of death/attack on livestock free from bias. 

[Stein]

Follow the rules and use solid science.  That would resolve about 90% of what has been posted so far.

[WSU]

It's interesting how they treat predators differently.  For example, with salmon, they set the seasons to specifically kill every one possible without doing actual population harm (even that is arguable, as they are plenty happy reducing escapement goals and harvesting more, harvesting until ESA, etc.).  With cougars, there is no argument that the actual population is suffering.  Just some study that says cougars interact different if we kill a few more. 

It begs the question: why are we OK harvesting some animals to the brink of what's biologically sustainable and not OK doing the same with others?

[idahohuntr]

It's interesting how they treat predators differently.  For example, with salmon, they set the seasons to specifically kill every one possible without doing actual population harm (even that is arguable, as they are plenty happy reducing escapement goals and harvesting more, harvesting until ESA, etc.).  With cougars, there is no argument that the actual population is suffering.  Just some study that says cougars interact different if we kill a few more. 

It begs the question: why are we OK harvesting some animals to the brink of what's biologically sustainable and not OK doing the same with others?

I think one major difference is that all salmon returning are going to die that year, so harvesting as many as you can up to the point that it does not effect recruitment is a solid principle...not the case for animals with an indefinite life span like cougars, wolves, elk etc. 

[WSU]

It's interesting how they treat predators differently.  For example, with salmon, they set the seasons to specifically kill every one possible without doing actual population harm (even that is arguable, as they are plenty happy reducing escapement goals and harvesting more, harvesting until ESA, etc.).  With cougars, there is no argument that the actual population is suffering.  Just some study that says cougars interact different if we kill a few more. 

It begs the question: why are we OK harvesting some animals to the brink of what's biologically sustainable and not OK doing the same with others?

I think one major difference is that all salmon returning are going to die that year, so harvesting as many as you can up to the point that it does not effect recruitment is a solid principle...not the case for animals with an indefinite life span like cougars, wolves, elk etc.

Except it absolutely has an effect on recruitment. 

[idahohuntr]

It's interesting how they treat predators differently.  For example, with salmon, they set the seasons to specifically kill every one possible without doing actual population harm (even that is arguable, as they are plenty happy reducing escapement goals and harvesting more, harvesting until ESA, etc.).  With cougars, there is no argument that the actual population is suffering.  Just some study that says cougars interact different if we kill a few more. 

It begs the question: why are we OK harvesting some animals to the brink of what's biologically sustainable and not OK doing the same with others?

I think one major difference is that all salmon returning are going to die that year, so harvesting as many as you can up to the point that it does not effect recruitment is a solid principle...not the case for animals with an indefinite life span like cougars, wolves, elk etc.

Except it absolutely has an effect on recruitment.

Yes, particularly if they overharvest...but it still addresses your overall question...major difference in life history is why harvest management is so different. 

[jagermiester]

I believe that the best thing that could happen is a change in culture between us and them, (hunters and the WDFW).
Right now it feels like I need a lawyer to help me navigate a complicated system so that I can harvest an animal or catch a fish that they don't really want me to take. In other states MT for example it feels more like they are managing the resource so that it will be there in the future but they know that they need and want the hunting oportunity to exist and be successful. Without us and more importantly future generations of us this whole thing will fall flat on its face. The more expensive and the more complicated it gets the less likely it is to succeed in the future.

[Special T]

Here's an easy one: year round rabbits.

We can hunt them year round in Oregon and it's not like they all get shot out. Hunting is best in June when all the really stupid ones are hopping around and are the perfect age for eating. They're good introductory game and perfect for kids, but I'm definitely not going out for them during Washington's season because there's too many other things to hunt at that time of year.

Please expand on your experience in Oregon... We dont have the jackrabbits like Easter Oregon has... Certainly not in any numbers that ive heard of...

I don't do the jackrabbit shoots, but we have a good and stable population of cottontails over the whole state. I can't think of any reason that Washington would need a closed season. I believe that rabbits are able to withstand enormous amounts of pressure without problems. Anyone that has tried to clear a farm of them can attest to that.

Basically, there's no biological reason that it closes in Washington, just tradition and not enough rabbit hunters out there anymore to bring it up at the meetings.

I like this idea because it's simple, unencumbered by traditional political constraints, and seems like low hanging fruit.

I love lots of the ideas some of the ideas seem pretty simple but the more detail on the ideas the better.

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[Special T]

Eliminate cougar quotas. I know you don't want to hear about wolves but sorry. Wolves need delisting and managing. The NE corner of the state is suffering and the wolves need to be controlled there. They need to fear contact with man..

I hear you... just trying to brainstorm the probable solutions. I think sportsmen can have more success in changing.

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[Special T]

Our new director is very hesitant to pull the trigger on wolves, wants more studying done.  The Togo pack has met the threshold for lethal removal.  The new director waffles.

https://www.kxly.com/news/wolf-pack-kills-a-cow-in-eastern-wa/781416438

SPOKANE, Wash. (AP) - Members of the Togo wolf pack in the Colville National Forest of eastern Washington state killed one cow and injured another last week.

The state Department of Fish and Wildlife says the Togo pack is responsible for five depredations in the past 10 months, including two last November and one in May.

The agency said Monday that it was alerted last week about a potential wolf depredation near Danville, Washington. Staff have confirmed the cow was killed by a wolf or wolves.
The agency's policy allows the killing of wolves that prey on livestock three times in a 30-day period or four times in a 10-month period.

The agency says it will continue to monitor the Togo pack as it considers its next steps.
 

http://www.capitalpress.com/Washington/20180813/togo-wolfpack-attacks-livestock-again-in-ne-washington

A wolfpack in northeast Washington has reached the threshold for Fish and Wildlife to consider lethal removal
Fish and Wildlife director Kelly Susewind, less than a month on the job, told wildlife managers to work over the weekend to confirm the number of adults in the pack and learn as much as possible about the pack’s activities before he considers further action, according to a department statement Saturday.

Remember the first calf "didn't count" because the rancher wasn't using range riders, fladdery or these stupid fox lights (all a joke) but what the article doesn't mention is this rancher has a ton of family, he's literally related to half the county    and they're up there all the time with ATV's and such.

And we're talking about confirmed kills, there's a lot more unconfirmed and missing cattle.


My suggestion to the new director is he take immediate and decisive action on the wolves. 
Historically WDFW has done everything they could to turn an easily documented wolf depredation into anything but a wolf kill/attack.  I would suggest they back on on that notion and actually do their best to determine cause of death/attack on livestock free from bias.

I think your right that this event will be very telling.

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[lokidog]

Follow the rules and use solid science.  That would resolve about 90% of what has been posted so far.

Where's the emotion and compassion in that??