USFS, USFWS, DNR and WDF$Wolves Hidden Agenda?
Excerpt from Rep. Joel Kretz Press Release Feb 18, 2008
Kretz thinks bill to authorize Y2Y territory is harebrained.
Shaking his head in exasperation, Rep. Joel Kretz today said he's never seen such harebrained legislation in all his years.
Senate Bill 5318 would create the Yellowstone to Yukon wildlife corridor (Y2Y). The measure was the subject of debate in the Senate recently.
Kretz said Senate Bill 5318 (Now SB 5064), which would require American fish and wildlife officials to work with their Canadian counterparts to protect a massive wildlife corridor known as the Yukon to Yellowstone Eco-Region, has raised ire in his district. The 2,000-mile-long swath includes the entire northeast corner of Washington, most of Idaho and much of Montana.
"The plan to auction off the Seventh District to be part of the Yukon to Yellowstone wildlife corridor is pure idiocy!" exclaimed Kretz. "What would the reaction be if the Legislature created an urban Washington wildlife corridor to make sure that grizzlies and other dangerous wildlife could roam free from British Columbia to Olympia."
Kretz added that maybe then, they would leave the little coyote in Seattle and the opossums on the governor's lawn alone.
Kretz said he's convinced the governor's and Democrat's "One Washington" plan is solely about King County. He said the Y2Y bill, sponsored by a King County Democrat, is a prime example. The entire 7th District is included in the Y2Y plan, with Spokane being the "capital" of the region, he said.
The Nature Conservancy, working with several other environmental groups, was in Olympia this year asking for $5.5 million to purchase land in the Okanogan-Similkameen area of Okanogan County, which is one of two parts in the effort to turn the 7th District into one big wildlife corridor.
The funding, according to information presented to lawmakers, would "begin the work to secure an ecologically viable wildlife corridor, linking the North Cascades with the Okanogan Highlands and the Selkirk Mountains through conservation easements and acquisition. The letter continues, "the project will help secure 10,000 acres of this 80,000 [acre] corridor and provide long-term protection for threatened and endangered species - including wide ranging carnivores and 24 other species..."
If the wildlife corridor bill were to pass, Kretz said it would devastate his district.
"Property values would plummet and dangerous wildlife would be free to attack children, pets and livestock," explained Kretz. "Folks that own their land would basically be renting it from an out-of-town environmental group."
-----New Washington State Representative Shelly Short was a House Staff Member in 2008 and played a major role in educating House members and organizations like American Land Rights about the threat from the Yellowstone to Yukon Corridor Eco-System Land Grab.
http://www.landrights.org/Alert_2009Feb08_Y2YGrab.htmThe Yellowstone To Yukon Land Grab
http://www.freedomforallseasons.org/OtherEmailInProcess/Yukon%20To%20Yuccatan.pdf
