Radio Collared "WOLF IN TOWN" this morning, WDFW called

[Axle]

Well perhaps you should file a law suit of your own. The wolf, grizzly loving groups have no problem doing so. Just like them when you win they can pay your attorney fees.

I wonder how many of those groups use grant money to fight these issues.

They probably just do what the Clintons did and steal from the Pittman Robertson fund.

[bearpaw]

Well perhaps you should file a law suit of your own. The wolf, grizzly loving groups have no problem doing so. Just like them when you win they can pay your attorney fees.

I wonder how many of those groups use grant money to fight these issues.

There is a web of big environmental foundations giving millions in grants to various environmental groups. The Hewlett Foundation is just one of these big foundations that is funding environmental groups with millions in grants. Earth Justice is just one of the environmental groups that receives grants, there are many others receiving money too, in fact there are hundreds of grants listed by just the Hewlett Foundation on their website. Earth Justice then uses the money to file lawsuits regarding logging, mining, predator control, wilderness, and other environmental issues. Other environmental groups use money from these big foundations in many other ways to accomplish the agenda of the environmental movement. When you look at this link scroll through some of the pages to see other environmental groups receiving funding from just this one foundation.

Hewlett Grant to Earth Justice: https://hewlett.org/grants/?sort=date&current_page=35

[nwwanderer]

Hard to fight, in our system, $9.9 billion dollar deep pockets

[jackelope]

The next wolf advisory group meeting is 2/12-2/13 in Olmypia.
There's no agenda yet, but it is open to the public.
 
https://wdfw.wa.gov/about/advisory/wag/agenda_021219a_WAG.pdf
Washington Wolf Advisory Group (WAG) Meeting February 12-13, 2019 The Meetinghouse at Priest Point 3201 Boston Harbor Road NE Olympia, WA 98506 Pre-agenda The full agenda for this meeting will be posted in the near future. Until that point, this notice is to inform you that the WAG meeting/work session will be open to the public to observe and will follow the same format used in the past, including public comment opportunities at the end of each day.There will also be an open-house style public comment period prior to the WAG meeting on the first day. This period is open to all members of the public and will be attended by WDFW staff members.

Not sure what kind of gag order they can put on a public meeting.

Here is the WAG roster. Anyone know anybody on this list? Can we find out if there actually is some sort of "don't talk" order to members?

Just wanted to follow up with my comments here.

I spoke to a member of the Wolf Advisory Group.

My question:
Soooo is there a gag order put on the WAG members to not talk openly about WAG stuff?


Response:
.......Yes there is a gag order ..........
It goes on to say some other stuff that I won't repeat out of confidence...but that's a copy and paste of the gist of the answer to my question.
So there......that's not what I was expecting to hear.

[huntnfmly]

Well perhaps you should file a law suit of your own. The wolf, grizzly loving groups have no problem doing so. Just like them when you win they can pay your attorney fees.

I wonder how many of those groups use grant money to fight these issues.

They probably just do what the Clintons did and steal from the Pittman Robertson fund.

They also use the equal access to justice act
Basically they have their own lawyers and get funds from that to pay their lawyers every time they file a lawsuit since their lawyers don't cost them anything the money basically just goes into their pockets.
So in a nutshell us taxpayers pay

[idahohuntr]

The next wolf advisory group meeting is 2/12-2/13 in Olmypia.
There's no agenda yet, but it is open to the public.
 
https://wdfw.wa.gov/about/advisory/wag/agenda_021219a_WAG.pdf
Washington Wolf Advisory Group (WAG) Meeting February 12-13, 2019 The Meetinghouse at Priest Point 3201 Boston Harbor Road NE Olympia, WA 98506 Pre-agenda The full agenda for this meeting will be posted in the near future. Until that point, this notice is to inform you that the WAG meeting/work session will be open to the public to observe and will follow the same format used in the past, including public comment opportunities at the end of each day.There will also be an open-house style public comment period prior to the WAG meeting on the first day. This period is open to all members of the public and will be attended by WDFW staff members.

Not sure what kind of gag order they can put on a public meeting.

Here is the WAG roster. Anyone know anybody on this list? Can we find out if there actually is some sort of "don't talk" order to members?

Just wanted to follow up with my comments here.

I spoke to a member of the Wolf Advisory Group.

My question:
Soooo is there a gag order put on the WAG members to not talk openly about WAG stuff?


Response:
.......Yes there is a gag order ..........
It goes on to say some other stuff that I won't repeat out of confidence...but that's a copy and paste of the gist of the answer to my question.
So there......that's not what I was expecting to hear.

That is a little surprising.  I understood some of the closed door "get to know/trust each other" sessions - but a general gag order seems absurd and counterproductive.  Its not as though these WAG folks are elected positions chosen to represent constituents.  They may come from backgrounds of various interest groups (hunters, enviros etc.)...but to think they represent or speak for the totality of the groups they supposedly come from is not a wise move on WDFW's part.  As a hunter I would like to know exactly what sort of things are being discussed and proposed...and since this is all funded by the public I would be curious how this is even legal? 

[KFhunter]

I thought that paid consultant put in a gag order like first thing she did.

[vandeman17]

I thought that paid consultant put in a gag order like first thing she did.

I thought I heard or read that too. 

[Special T]

Some additional points I would like to make from my conversation with the WAG member.
The gag order with various conditions  has been in place for a long time.  True the mediator placed a gag on these closed door sessions but it goes further than that. All discussions relating to lethal control, and studies that were ignored or promoted were not to be discussed as well.  For example the Liz Bradly Montana State University  depredation on cattle study where they  came to the conclusion to kill the whole pack as soon as possible was a non starter.  I know it has been posted on here at some point in the past and discussed as to why it was ignored... Well nothing could be said about the who or why it was ignored outside of the WAG.  Another example is the Study Done by the department about 3 years ago that stated Wolves had no effects on ungulates. After that horrible BS piece of work was thoroughly trashed in discussions in the WAG the department quit pushing it. I also know that discussion of this was was bantered about on HW. The Limitation on speaking about these issues wasn't just limited to speaking to the press or those outside the WAG.  From the list provided by Jackalope you can guess that the members live all across the state. Director Unsworth tightened the gag order on what WAG members could say to their home organizations, and even chastising members for critical internal emails on lethal control.

For a long time folks whom were overly skeptical of the departments actions and motivations were deemed wackos. After my conversation I was blown away at the actions of the department and those wackos don't seem to be so far off the mark to me now. Lots of inside baseball details are needed to fully understand the situation. Many of which cannot be discussed because of possible repercussions, or can only be understood if you spent a huge amount of time studying this issue. Additionally I chatted with some one whom intended to put their hat in the ring to sit on the WAG. They have since changed their mind because they have realized the futility of the endeavor especially when you consider the time commitment.

I realize my writing this brings up more questions than it answers.  Perhaps more details will come to light.

[Special T]

Well perhaps you should file a law suit of your own. The wolf, grizzly loving groups have no problem doing so. Just like them when you win they can pay your attorney fees.

I wonder how many of those groups use grant money to fight these issues.

They probably just do what the Clintons did and steal from the Pittman Robertson fund.

They also use the equal access to justice act
Basically they have their own lawyers and get funds from that to pay their lawyers every time they file a lawsuit since their lawyers don't cost them anything the money basically just goes into their pockets.
So in a nutshell us taxpayers pay

When you realize the weight of this arrangement you will be amazed sportsmen have hung on so long.

When you have paid staff they coordinate volunteer efforts. Game plans can be made, Attendance at EVERY meeting across the state becomes possible. Sportsmen have basically been fighting with one hand strapped to their back. Sure organizations like RMEF, SCI and other have SOME paid staff but all of that come from sportsmen donations. The Arrangement you rightly point out is a self feeding machine, AND they also get donations from  Celebrities on top of it...

[huntnfmly]

Well perhaps you should file a law suit of your own. The wolf, grizzly loving groups have no problem doing so. Just like them when you win they can pay your attorney fees.

I wonder how many of those groups use grant money to fight these issues.

They probably just do what the Clintons did and steal from the Pittman Robertson fund.

They also use the equal access to justice act
Basically they have their own lawyers and get funds from that to pay their lawyers every time they file a lawsuit since their lawyers don't cost them anything the money basically just goes into their pockets.
So in a nutshell us taxpayers pay

When you realize the weight of this arrangement you will be amazed sportsmen have hung on so long.

When you have paid staff they coordinate volunteer efforts. Game plans can be made, Attendance at EVERY meeting across the state becomes possible. Sportsmen have basically been fighting with one hand strapped to their back. Sure organizations like RMEF, SCI and other have SOME paid staff but all of that come from sportsmen donations. The Arrangement you rightly point out is a self feeding machine, AND they also get donations from  Celebrities on top of it...

I know it's crazy.
The first time I heard and read about it was WHAT!?.Thats why I bring it up on some of these threads because I don't think alot of sportsman know or understand about it.it really is unbelievable

[idaho guy]

The next wolf advisory group meeting is 2/12-2/13 in Olmypia.
There's no agenda yet, but it is open to the public.
 
https://wdfw.wa.gov/about/advisory/wag/agenda_021219a_WAG.pdf
Washington Wolf Advisory Group (WAG) Meeting February 12-13, 2019 The Meetinghouse at Priest Point 3201 Boston Harbor Road NE Olympia, WA 98506 Pre-agenda The full agenda for this meeting will be posted in the near future. Until that point, this notice is to inform you that the WAG meeting/work session will be open to the public to observe and will follow the same format used in the past, including public comment opportunities at the end of each day.There will also be an open-house style public comment period prior to the WAG meeting on the first day. This period is open to all members of the public and will be attended by WDFW staff members.

Not sure what kind of gag order they can put on a public meeting.

Here is the WAG roster. Anyone know anybody on this list? Can we find out if there actually is some sort of "don't talk" order to members?

Just wanted to follow up with my comments here.

I spoke to a member of the Wolf Advisory Group.

My question:
Soooo is there a gag order put on the WAG members to not talk openly about WAG stuff?


Response:
.......Yes there is a gag order ..........
It goes on to say some other stuff that I won't repeat out of confidence...but that's a copy and paste of the gist of the answer to my question.
So there......that's not what I was expecting to hear.

That is a little surprising.  I understood some of the closed door "get to know/trust each other" sessions - but a general gag order seems absurd and counterproductive.  Its not as though these WAG folks are elected positions chosen to represent constituents.  They may come from backgrounds of various interest groups (hunters, enviros etc.)...but to think they represent or speak for the totality of the groups they supposedly come from is not a wise move on WDFW's part.  As a hunter I would like to know exactly what sort of things are being discussed and proposed...and since this is all funded by the public I would be curious how this is even legal?

Interesting Idahohunter maybe the wolf conspiracy guys on here don’t all wear tinfoil hats? How is it even legal? Good question ask your biologist buddies

[jackelope]

Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife
600 Capitol Way North, Olympia, WA 98501-1091
wildthing@dfw.wa.gov

Agenda posted for WAG meeting Feb. 12-13, 2019 in Olympia

This is a notice to inform you that the next Wolf Advisory Group (WAG) meeting will be held February 12-13, 2019. The meeting will take place at the Meetinghouse at Priest Point, 3201 Boston Harbor Road NE, Olympia, WA, 98506. There will also be an open-house style public comment period on Feb. 12 from 11:00 a.m. to 12:45 p.m. prior to the WAG work session.

A meeting agenda is posted to the Wolf Advisory Group page on the department’s website. The WAG work session will open to the public to observe and will follow the same format used in the past, including public comment opportunities at the end of each day

[bearpaw]

are you through shouting 

[7mmfan]

I’m pretty sure that violates the sites font size/color rules. It certainly violated mine.