Free: Contests & Raffles.
When you say you were trailing a pack of wolves, what do you mean?
I think a rancher who protected his assets in the face of inaction by the government would certainly have a strong case for dismissal. The wolves in that are are no longer protected federally. He'd need to worry only about state charges and they have refused to allow removal even after removal criteria, a criteria which was agreed upon by a diverse panel, has been met, and then some. I'm not a fan of poaching. I'm also not a fan of seeing people lose their livelihood due to their elected officials playing politics. I'd certainly vote not guilty.
Quote from: pianoman9701 on July 13, 2020, 09:41:59 AMI think a rancher who protected his assets in the face of inaction by the government would certainly have a strong case for dismissal. The wolves in that are are no longer protected federally. He'd need to worry only about state charges and they have refused to allow removal even after removal criteria, a criteria which was agreed upon by a diverse panel, has been met, and then some. I'm not a fan of poaching. I'm also not a fan of seeing people lose their livelihood due to their elected officials playing politics. I'd certainly vote not guilty.That might be true, except that this will be the 5th year in a row that the state has authorized lethal wolf removal to protect livestock for one of the two ranches currently experiencing cattle depredations by the Wedge Pack (Diamond M). Is the state swooping in to protect a private operation on public lands 5 summers in a row good business? This statement above is full of half truths and misconceptions. The Diamond M is the largest cattle ranch by far in the area where the wolves first took a major foothold in Washington. Of course they're going to have the most problems. Also, a lot of the depredations (and all of the depredations prior to June) was all on private land. I don't have the exact number, but I think it was a majority of the total depredations did occur on private lands. This is victim shaming and ousting the name of the ranch involved which WDFW decided to withhold that information due to public threats...yet here you are ousting them? And this case gets even more complicated by the fact that range riding was inconsistent in this area in 2019 (remember that investigation and article about the riders taking trips to the Davenport Hotel when they were billing range rider hours in the northern Kettle Range?). The range riding was inconsistent because it was full of grift, and was front loaded with pro-wolf agenda people. The ranchers had a major distrust for the range rider program, as they should have. The first range rider on the wedge was some old hippy who drove up in his truck, went down a few back roads then left about 15 minutes later. Now, the range rider program has improved greatly, but its still more of a cattle corpse finding operation than it is prevention. This ranch ate the range rider cost for years, they do it themselves, but the state will not allow them to kill wolves unless caught in the act, which is dammed difficult if WDFW won't tell you where the wolves are! And again this spring, when WDFW determined there was a gap in range rider coverage in May during the first four depredations in the Wedge, and since then there has not been a publicly available assessment of range rider coverage or other non-lethal deterrence efforts over the time period of the most recent injuries to cattle.That goes back to what I was saying earlier, there's simply too much ground to cover with little to no visibility, and due to WDFW abject failure to collar wolves (and share that info) it was set up for failure from the get go. It cannot succeed without 1) a lot of wolves collared and 2) a lot of range riders and 3) information sharing with range riders It's a crappy situation, as the Wedge wolves are exhibiting chronic depredation behavior, and action will be needed. But the ranch involved hasn't consistently met the state's conflict avoidance requirements (Wolf-Livestock Interaction Protocol), and has enjoyed the support of expensive state wolf killing the past four summers. The social response, and some form of involvement from the Governor, should be expected. Hopefully it doesn't lead to worse for everyone involved in the form of an initiative or legislation.This is another half-truth at best, according to WDFW the ranch has complied with ALL conflict avoidance measures including fladery, range riders, strobes, hazing and other crap that don't and won't ever work.
Quote from: pianoman9701 on July 13, 2020, 09:41:59 AMI think a rancher who protected his assets in the face of inaction by the government would certainly have a strong case for dismissal. The wolves in that are are no longer protected federally. He'd need to worry only about state charges and they have refused to allow removal even after removal criteria, a criteria which was agreed upon by a diverse panel, has been met, and then some. I'm not a fan of poaching. I'm also not a fan of seeing people lose their livelihood due to their elected officials playing politics. I'd certainly vote not guilty.That might be true, except that this will be the 5th year in a row that the state has authorized lethal wolf removal to protect livestock for one of the two ranches currently experiencing cattle depredations by the Wedge Pack (Diamond M). Is the state swooping in to protect a private operation on public lands 5 summers in a row good business? And this case gets even more complicated by the fact that range riding was inconsistent in this area in 2019 (remember that investigation and article about the riders taking trips to the Davenport Hotel when they were billing range rider hours in the northern Kettle Range?). And again this spring, when WDFW determined there was a gap in range rider coverage in May during the first four depredations in the Wedge, and since then there has not been a publicly available assessment of range rider coverage or other non-lethal deterrence efforts over the time period of the most recent injuries to cattle.It's a crappy situation, as the Wedge wolves are exhibiting chronic depredation behavior, and action will be needed. But the ranch involved hasn't consistently met the state's conflict avoidance requirements (Wolf-Livestock Interaction Protocol), and has enjoyed the support of expensive state wolf killing the past four summers. The social response, and some form of involvement from the Governor, should be expected. Hopefully it doesn't lead to worse for everyone involved in the form of an initiative or legislation.
Good ol chase, coming to HW to spread CNW’s lies again, dang near thought he’d given up as of late.
Quote from: CGDucksandDeer on July 15, 2020, 02:09:32 PMQuote from: pianoman9701 on July 13, 2020, 09:41:59 AMI think a rancher who protected his assets in the face of inaction by the government would certainly have a strong case for dismissal. The wolves in that are are no longer protected federally. He'd need to worry only about state charges and they have refused to allow removal even after removal criteria, a criteria which was agreed upon by a diverse panel, has been met, and then some. I'm not a fan of poaching. I'm also not a fan of seeing people lose their livelihood due to their elected officials playing politics. I'd certainly vote not guilty.That might be true, except that this will be the 5th year in a row that the state has authorized lethal wolf removal to protect livestock for one of the two ranches currently experiencing cattle depredations by the Wedge Pack (Diamond M). Is the state swooping in to protect a private operation on public lands 5 summers in a row good business? And this case gets even more complicated by the fact that range riding was inconsistent in this area in 2019 (remember that investigation and article about the riders taking trips to the Davenport Hotel when they were billing range rider hours in the northern Kettle Range?). And again this spring, when WDFW determined there was a gap in range rider coverage in May during the first four depredations in the Wedge, and since then there has not been a publicly available assessment of range rider coverage or other non-lethal deterrence efforts over the time period of the most recent injuries to cattle.It's a crappy situation, as the Wedge wolves are exhibiting chronic depredation behavior, and action will be needed. But the ranch involved hasn't consistently met the state's conflict avoidance requirements (Wolf-Livestock Interaction Protocol), and has enjoyed the support of expensive state wolf killing the past four summers. The social response, and some form of involvement from the Governor, should be expected. Hopefully it doesn't lead to worse for everyone involved in the form of an initiative or legislation.https://chewelahindependent.com/wdfw-refers-range-rider-inconsistencies-to-prosecutors/MORE WOLF DRAMA: Investigation singles out two range riders who filed hours for work in Stevens County when they were allegedly in Spokane…The Spokesman-Review is reporting that a WDFW investigation alleges that two range riders were in Spokane when they were supposed to be in Ferry County as part of nonlethal deterrents against wolves. WDFW has turned in their investigation findings to a Thurston County prosecutor, Eli Francovich reports.The range riders denied the allegations to the Spokesman-Review.According to the investigation, range riders Arron and Jolene Scotten said they worked and were paid for days they did not work.WDFW recommended second degree theft chargers be brought up against the two range riders. On Sept. 4 and 5, they claimed to have worked a combined 25 hours, but were allegedly in Spokane buying building supplies. On Sept. 18, Scotten claimed to have worked seven hours, but the investigation said he stayed the night at the Davenport Hotel on Sept. 18 and 19. Jolene Scotten claimed to have worked eight hours on Sept. 19 but phone records place her in Spokane. WDFW contracts out $352,000 total in range rider contracts. The state agency manages the range riders, not the cattle producers. The state alleges that the Scottens stole around $2,000.Conservation Northwest released a statement saying that the range riders were not under contract with the conservation group, but that they do operate their own range rider pilot program.Arron Scotten told the Spokesman-Review that he loans his phone out which is why the phone records show him in Spokane.He did not get a state contract in 2019 because of the WDFW investigation.The Spokesman-Review reported that Scotten had teamed up with former WDFW biologist and Chewelah resident Jay Shepherd to form the Northeast Washington Wolf-Cattle Collaborative. Scotten resigned his seat on the board of the collaborative on Nov. 9, 2018, Shepherd told the Spokane paper, saying that he wanted to be paid by the organization but that it is illegal for board members to be paid by the nonprofit they serve.Shepard said shortly after he resigned, they learned of the WDFW investigation into him. He also told the Spokesman that people should use caution in drawing conclusions since its a politicized issue.Some conservation groups point out that wolf depredations occurred when the Scottens should have been patrolling. Some of these depredations led to lethal removal of wolves.Chase Why is it that you claim no affiliation to the Range riders who abused the program, But one of your own members of CNW formed the collaboration that they were being perhaps funded by?Your website lists this person as the Wolf Lead?https://www.conservationnw.org/meet-our-staff/jay-shepherd/Is this just coincidence?
