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Author Topic: Pronghorn survey from WDFW  (Read 4817 times)

Offline CGDucksandDeer

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Pronghorn survey from WDFW
« on: May 28, 2019, 12:30:11 PM »
WDFW is in the process of drafting pronghorn management plans, including outlining recovery objectives now that antelope have roamed off the Colville and Yakama reservations. (GREAT work SCI and everyone who helped get them there!)

Folks interested in showing support for continued pronghorn recovery should take WDFW's survey: https://wdfw.wa.gov/species-habitats/at-risk/species-recovery/pronghorn-antelope-management/survey

They're hearing some input from landowners and farmers understandably skeptical about one more species potentially chewing on their crops or causing them to replace fences, but other states have shown there are ways to mitigate these issues and provide compensation for losses and/or habitat preservation.

We may never have the pronghorn numbers of other states, but a population stretching across central Washington is a reasonable goal, as are wildlife watching opportunities and special permit hunts. If we want the state to work toward these goals, now's the time to tell WDFW.

More: http://nwsportsmanmag.com/central-washington-pronghorn-management-subject-of-2-meetings-survey/

My comments:

As a Washington hunter and wildlife enthusiast, I support the continued recovery of pronghorn in our state. This native species has been missing for far too long, and should be restored to sustainable levels where suitable habitat remains. Now that pronghorn have regained a foothold thanks to reintroduction programs by tribes and sportsmen's groups, the Washington Department of Fish & Wildlife should prioritize efforts to restore this unique species to other areas of central Washington. Well-connected pronghorn herds stretching from the Yakama Nation to the Colville Reservation should be the state’s goal, with particular emphasis on the large, fairly-contiguous state and federal shrub-steppe lands around Ellensburg and Yakima. Restoring pronghorn antelope here and on other public lands will have significant value for wildlife watchers, Indigenous peoples, outdoor recreationists and hunters, as well as our natural heritage and the ecology of Washington’s shrub-steppe. Please make pronghorn a priority. Thank you.
« Last Edit: May 28, 2019, 12:36:59 PM by CGDucksandDeer »

Offline boneaddict

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Re: Pronghorn survey from WDFW
« Reply #1 on: May 28, 2019, 12:33:15 PM »
most of the negative I am seeing on social media are from those lashing out about wolves and about wasting finances on such a project.     I get the cynicism, but am appreciative for this project and thankful for those involved.   

Offline Jonathan_S

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Re: Pronghorn survey from WDFW
« Reply #2 on: May 28, 2019, 12:57:30 PM »
Taken.  I'd love them to be healthy enough to be hunted probably on a special permit basis but mores so just want them here.
Kindly do not attempt to cloud the issue with too many facts.

Offline Stein

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Re: Pronghorn survey from WDFW
« Reply #3 on: May 28, 2019, 01:07:49 PM »
I'll never understand why the state (driven by sue happy groups) are so bent on introducing some but not all extirpated species.  They talk about going back to pre-European landscapes, but they could care less about crashing elk and mule deer herds and zero about antelope, caribou and whatever else is gone or close.

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Re: Pronghorn survey from WDFW
« Reply #4 on: May 28, 2019, 01:14:34 PM »
I'll never understand why the state (driven by sue happy groups) are so bent on introducing some but not all extirpated species.  They talk about going back to pre-European landscapes, but they could care less about crashing elk and mule deer herds and zero about antelope, caribou and whatever else is gone or close.
George Orwell answered that in "Animal Farm". ;)
Nature. It's cheaper than therapy.

Offline CGDucksandDeer

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Re: Pronghorn survey from WDFW
« Reply #5 on: May 28, 2019, 04:49:21 PM »
Taken.  I'd love them to be healthy enough to be hunted probably on a special permit basis but mores so just want them here.

Totally. After seeing them in other states, you can't help but feel their absence in the open shrub-steppe of central Washington, even if they were never as numerous here at the NW edge of their historic range.

Just seeing a herd glide across that country while out hunting birds or muleys would be enough for me. Darn tasty critters when handled properly, though. 

Offline follow maggie

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Re: Pronghorn survey from WDFW
« Reply #6 on: May 28, 2019, 11:34:50 PM »
I filled it out. I’d love to see antelope in Washington

Offline kirkl

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Re: Pronghorn survey from WDFW
« Reply #7 on: May 29, 2019, 09:25:25 AM »
And their already looking to make money on it with the raffle and auction questions.

Offline Jpmiller

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Re: Pronghorn survey from WDFW
« Reply #8 on: May 29, 2019, 09:40:51 AM »
And their already looking to make money on it with the raffle and auction questions.

Good, I answered those in strong support. The program could use some big chunks of private funding.

Offline wheels

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Re: Pronghorn survey from WDFW
« Reply #9 on: May 29, 2019, 09:55:12 AM »
already done

Offline dwils233

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Re: Pronghorn survey from WDFW
« Reply #10 on: June 06, 2019, 03:04:32 PM »
My comment for the survey:

As a hunter and outdoorsman, there is little I can say better than president Theodore Roosevelt, particularly that “There can be no greater issue than that of conservation in this country.” We are uniquely suited to upend the past extirpation of the pronghorn in this state, even as we see populations of other native species such as Caribou, wild salmon and steelhead decline. Some people may point to these precarious species as a reason not to focus additional effort on an additional species, however nothing can be further from the truth. In these times of setbacks in conservation, we need to double-down efforts to demonstrate the success of our wildlife populations and management actions. Every effort should be made to return these animals in manageable populations within the state of Washington, our state which prides itself so much on the bounty of our natural resources. Warranted concerns of crop damage and competition with livestock should be addressed, but to concede to these challenges as insurmountable obstacles for reintroduction is shortsighted and ignorant at its best, and cowardice at its worst. If we cannot come up with reasonable, scientifically-sound wildlife management policies that supersede business, industrial and partisan interests than we, as a state or country, are no better now than we were over 100 years ago regarding wildlife policies and population management. It is imperative that the WDFW, the state of Washington and its residents prioritize the return of a native species to its traditional range wherever suitable for the sake of our biodiversity, cultural and natural heritage, and for the intrinsic decency of being good stewards of this beautiful state.
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Offline bobcat

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Re: Pronghorn survey from WDFW
« Reply #11 on: June 06, 2019, 03:20:19 PM »
Were bison ever native to Washington State? 

Offline buckfvr

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Re: Pronghorn survey from WDFW
« Reply #12 on: June 06, 2019, 03:25:35 PM »
I just see it as another ungulate to be mismanaged, and I sure as hell dont trust them to handle it properly.  Theyve set a failing precedence in everything they do.

Offline Stein

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Re: Pronghorn survey from WDFW
« Reply #13 on: June 06, 2019, 04:05:59 PM »
Were bison ever native to Washington State?

Yes, but barely.  I wouldn't get your hopes up, I just checked and they aren't on the cool animal list.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_bison#/media/File:Bison_original_range_map.svg

Offline DOUBLELUNG

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Re: Pronghorn survey from WDFW
« Reply #14 on: June 07, 2019, 03:59:35 PM »
Were bison ever native to Washington State?

Yes, but barely.  I wouldn't get your hopes up, I just checked and they aren't on the cool animal list.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_bison#/media/File:Bison_original_range_map.svg
Range was more extensive than the map shows, though they were not very numerous at the time of European exploration.  There are bison remains found in a jump site at Moses Coulee in Douglas County.  The last wild bison in the state, IIRC, was killed near the Columbia River in what is now Lake Roosevelt.

https://www.seattletimes.com/pacific-nw-magazine/moses-coulee-dramatic-tales-of-the-land-and-its-people/
"The coulee once was home to bigger game. Excavation to build Highway 2 through the belly of the coulee unearthed what’s believed to be a game-jump site, where natives herded animals off a bluff to kill them. Bones from buffalo and bighorn sheep were among the remains."
As long as we have the habitat, we can argue forever about who gets to kill what and when.  No habitat = no game.

 


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