im sure i'm wrong but i thought the majority of the lawsuit brought against WDFW was to basically end the "depredation" hunts that private timber companies used through DNR to get hound hunters in the spring on their lands to eradicate the bears. The spring hunts offered by WDFW through the special permit hunts was just the icing on that cake. Yes looking at the data the spring permit season offered by WDFW kills way less than 10 % of the total yearly bear harvest but i have yet to see statistics stating how many bears are killed in the spring by these "depredation" hound hunters
Depredation permits had nothing to do with the DNR - they were issued by WDFW. The DNR's timberlands (and our kids' future school funding) gets ravaged each year by bears but they don't pursue depredation remedies. Depredation removals didn't scratch the surface of bear populations. I think the depredation harvest was 125 to 150 a year if I remember right. Back in the day before they were game animals and it was truly open season on them, it was common for 4-5k to be taken each year. Populations made it through that level of sustained harvest just fine, and we've been harvesting a fraction of that for decades now. It's not difficult to put two and two together and understand that populations have to be as high as they've been in a long time. Depredation removals and spring bear hunts are of no threat to the species, even remotely.
If anyone has the chance to drive through a tree farm with a houndsman with bear dogs, I highly suggest taking them up on it. It's shocking how many times the box blows up. The depredation permits were set up with tiny strike areas to target the damaging bears, and the hunters often drive by a half dozen bears getting to the strike area. They are elusive animals and live primarily in the reprod. Just because we don't see them out in clearcuts like deer and elk doesn't mean they aren't there!
At least a portion of the accusations in the depredation lawsuit was that WDFW acted outside their authority by basically setting rules using guidance documents rather than going through a true rule making process. The way WDFW did things sounds like it was pretty rogue and they got slapped down for it. I haven't looked into the spring bear lawsuit, but I wouldn't be surprised if WDFW established things there too without going through the proper channels. At the end of the day it's all self imposed technicalities that WDFW created for themselves, while landowners and hunters take it in the shorts because of it. When WDFW gets their processes and rule making figured out both depredation permits and spring bear hunts (if lost) should be back.
