Commission Meeting In Colville: Too Many Predators, Not enough Prey

[bearpaw]

this came in my email, action is requested:

Game Commission Meeting in Colville
Too Many Predators, Not enough Prey

We have a predator problem and it continues to get worse with each passing year.  For District 1 (a portion of Region 1, located in the NE corner of the state and is composed of the following Game Management Units: 101, 105, 108, 111, 113, 117 and 121) using WDFW numbers (lesser number regarding wolves, higher regarding fawn recruitment) cougars and wolves kill almost 20,000 deer a year, hunters last year killed an additional 3600, bringing the annual reduction in deer numbers to over 23,000.  This does not include additional loss by bear, coyote, bobcat, automobile, or other mortalities.  Again, using WDFW numbers:  Starting with 30,000 whitetails at the beginning of the year, of which 19,800 are does, and add one fawn per doe (this is generous, it is closer to one fawn per two does) you wind up with 49,800 available deer but predators and hunting remove over 23,000 leaving 26,500 to start the next year.  Starting the next year with fewer deer, with 2000+ fewer does meaning 2000+ fewer fawns being added to the pool, and leaving predation numbers the same (unlikely, as wolves are increasing at the rate of 28% a year), and cougars are also growing in numbers, at year’s end the deer numbers drop to 20,700.  The following year ends with only 11,150 to begin the 4th year. 

These numbers are arbitrary and in all reality may be worse than it actually plays out.  With fewer deer available, predators and hunters will not take the 20,000 and 3600 as they did the first year so the descent will start to flatten out.  But, even so, this should be ringing alarms that with present policy our deer herds are unsustainable.  Remember, too, that the take by the wolves could be more as the starting number is less than it really is and the fawn recruitment is more than what it is.

The Northeast Washington Wildlife Group believes the only way to halt this descent further into a “predator pit” is to limit the predator take.  Wolves being sacrosanct and cougar quotas (the Department calls them “guidelines”) not being met leaves only restricting the harvest by two-legged predators.  Options to do this include reducing season lengths, limited entry through draws for permits, antler point restriction, east/west deer tags or GMU selection or a combination of these or some other method.  Whatever method chosen, it is not going to set well with our hunters.

There is one suggestion that has been made to the Department by NWWG that would remove more cougars.  The quotas are set to harvest 12 to 16% of the cats to maintain a stable, healthy population.  If the boot hunters are not meeting these quotas, then it stands to reason that the cat population is growing, never mind the fact that we already have more cougars on the landscape than the Department is using to establish the guideline in the first place.  Therefore, it would still not remove as many cougar as needs to be removed but the suggestion is that in GMU’s that have not met the quota the Department should utilize resources they use to remove problem cats to remove additional cats until the quota has been met. 


In all probability, WDFW and the Game Commission will discount all of the above based on the findings that are coming from the Predator-Prey Project. For five years, the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, in conjunction with the University of Washington, conducted a study regarding predators and the effects they have on their prey.  This study will undoubtedly be considered when policy change is considered and decisions on hunting seasons are made.  As this is written, not all the details have been disclosed; however, back in the July 28 Spokesmen Review, Taylor Ganz, working on her PHD at UW and the lead author of the study, said the following; “The whitetail deer population as it stands is stable.”

This is not what we are hearing from the citizens of NE Washington.  The overwhelming response falls in the line of “just not seeing deer as we used to, used to see 25 in a field nearby and now there are 4 or 5” and on and on.  Our whitetails are in trouble with the numbers down as much as 50% or more from what they were in 2015.  As many of you know, we had a severe outbreak of Blue Tongue in 2015 that killed a lot of deer; 80 deer died within the city limits of Colville alone.  In 2021 we again had Blue Tongue strike, this time the WDFW estimated 30% of our whitetails died.  That year according to Colville Public Works they removed over 160 carcasses from with the city.  There are three more facts to consider regarding our deer numbers that bear consideration.  One, whitetail harvest in 2021 in District 1 was 3600, a record low.   Two, harvest in 2015 was close to 8000. This was after the Blue Tongue outbreak earlier that year and after NWWG met with the Department and asked them to do something to reduce hunter harvest that year.  They did nothing!  Three, harvest numbers generally parallel population numbers.
How can Taylor Ganz claim that our whitetail population is stable then?  The answer lies in the time frame of the study.  The Review article was a little confusing in that regard, the “study started in 2016……Field work …wrapped up two years ago…”  Two years ago I think was 2020.   But later you read “field research ran from 2017 to 2021.”    Minor points that do not change the outcome, but they create confusion.   

The study is faulty!  Melia DeVivo, WDFW research scientist, says the study’s findings don’t necessarily include the full context.  She says, “Ganz’s field research ended before the EHD and bluetongue outbreaks last summer”  (2021).
 
Taylor Ganz started her research in 2017; whitetail harvest that year was 5055, down 3000 deer from 2015.  Population numbers being relative, our deer numbers were down 37% when she started her study.  She completed her study as DeVivo said, prior to the effect of the 2021 EHD and bluetongue outbreak.   That outbreak was much worse than the 2015 outbreak.   
 
To summarize, she started her study with lower than normal numbers of whitetails and ended her study prior to another severe drop in the numbers.  She took the high numbers off the front and did not consider the low numbers following her (research???)  And with that you can claim “The whitetail population as it stands is stable.” 

Not even close!

We have a very serious predator problem and our ungulates are on an unsustainable trajectory with the current management practices.  All of which is leading to ever increasing predation on livestock, pets and little girls.  The Department is spending thousands of dollars killing problem wolves and cougars with local businesses losing millions of dollars in revenue due to less hunters coming to NE Washington.

NWWG urges all to come to the commission meeting and let them hear what you are seeing and the fear that many of you express regarding your children, self, and your animals.  The argument is made that “people are moving into cougar country and by doing so one should expect the consequences;” I get that, but when I moved here there was 1 cougar in the surrounding area and you never saw him, now there are 10 and they are on my neighbor’s porch.

Without change in management policies it is only going to get worse.   With less wildlife to prey on there will be more domestic depredation and increased danger to our children and selves.

The Commission is holding a meeting in Colville October 27, 28 and 29.  The agenda has not been released as yet; however, if it follows form, there will be an Open Public comment period Friday morning, the 28th, at around 9 AM, sign up is required by 8 AM as a rule.  Again, NWWG urges all who can to attend the meeting and testify.  You can also sign up by going online at www.wdfw.gov.com, click on Game Commission and follow the lead.   The option to attend and comment by zoom could also be a possibility and should be at the same link.   

If you cannot attend the meeting you can send a written comment.  Go to:
https://wdfw.wa.gov/about/commission/contact and fill in the blanks.

The Northeast Washington Wildlife Group is a non-profit, local organization that promotes hunting, fishing, recreation, conservation and is concerned about wildlife and fish management. 


NE WA Wildlife Group
Dale Magart, Secretary

[KFhunter]

Thanks Bearpaw 

[bornhunter]

 

[Bushcraft]

Excellent.  I hope there's a decent turnout of concerned citizens from the hunting community.

[bearpaw]

Excellent.  I hope there's a decent turnout of concerned citizens from the hunting community.

Just citizens in general may show up, we have a lot of people being stalked by cougar and wolves in NE WA, many people who like to walk for exercise now have to pack a pistol.

[GWP]

After living and hunting in this state for a combined nearly 60 years, and seeing how the wildlife management has changed, I have little confidence this will accomplish anything.
Sorry.
It seems like just about everything out there these days has an 'agenda' that will be followed regardless of facts.
Hound hunting is still one that baffles me. It was a great tool for them to manage with. How that ever got to a public vote is just ridiculous.
Like one politician stated, "You can see every vote needed from the top of the Space Needle."
There is NO WAY a bunch of people living in a big city should have a say in managing wildlife that they neither understand or know much about.
Same with issues in rural area's on the other side of the State. Opinion? Sure. But setting law about it? No Way.
But, I digress.
Good luck!

[ajax25]

Something needs to be done for sure. Just go spend a few days in the woods anywhere in NE WA and you will see how bad it is. Last year I spent 5 days up around Sherman pass and saw 18 black bears, 1 moose, and ZERO deer and who knows how many cougars and wolves I didn’t see. I haven’t seen a deer up there in 2 years now.

[KFhunter]

The alternative is sitting on your hands doing nothing

[KFhunter]

Something needs to be done for sure. Just go spend a few days in the woods anywhere in NE WA and you will see how bad it is. Last year I spent 5 days up around Sherman pass and saw 18 black bears, 1 moose, and ZERO deer and who knows how many cougars and wolves I didn’t see. I haven’t seen a deer up there in 2 years now.

There's big pockets of dead zones, it's kind of like "the blob" in the pacific, where everything is dead. 

If you're in a dead zone, pack up and drive until you get into good sign, might be 10 miles, might be more. 

[buckfvr]

Its only protocol.  Alls they hear is "blah blah blah".  Their agenda is cast in stone, they will lay it all out and expect everyone there to believe it.  Same result, different meeting.   

[Ridgeratt]

How many of the commission will be in attendance? Remote zoom?

[Tbar]

Squeaky wheels get grease, period. Protocol mentioned is an opportunity.

[GWP]

Yeah, sorry to be the 'Debbie Downer', but like the whole wolf 'agenda', if you have deep pockets, that have the ear that want it done, it gets done. Wildlife 'management' be damned.
Promises were made to keep them in control, then once they get here, the goalpost moves, and they are not in control.
As someone mentioned, it appears the 'driving force' is to eliminate hunting all together.
Not much of a problem in 'the big cities', where the majority of votes are.

[buckfvr]

Squeaky wheels get grease, period. Protocol mentioned is an opportunity.

Ya and the glass is always half full.

[KFhunter]

Its only protocol.  Alls they hear is "blah blah blah".  Their agenda is cast in stone, they will lay it all out and expect everyone there to believe it.  Same result, different meeting.   

Agree 1000%

But when shtf, we did try....