Free: Contests & Raffles.
QuoteIdaho was begging to transport some somewhere. Bingo..and that was right before ours blew up.Fido gets in the crate with the USF&W they drop them off in twisp done deal. Hotel and gas $500 bucks.The endangered species act provides all sorts of cover for them lying. They play dumb about Grizzly bears in the cascades and Wolves in Washington. There is no Benefit for them to disclose what they are up to especially in a sensitive area where the wolves could be hunted out really quick if the "folks" discovered what there plan was.
Idaho was begging to transport some somewhere.
Methods to Assess Prey Abundance for Possible Wolf Reintroductions on the Olympic Peninsula, Washington, Using DNA from PelletsD. John Pierce (WDFW), Samuel K. Wasser (U. of Washington Dept. of Zoology), Christine M. Clarke (U. of Washington School of Medicine), and Kenneth I. Warheit (WDFW)2001INTRODUCTION: There has been a growing interest in the question of whether to establish a gray wolf (Canis lupus) population on the Olympic Peninsula in Washington State. Prior to the twentieth century wolves were common residents of the Olympic Peninsula (Scheffer 1995). The historical record indicates that by the 1930's or 1940's Olympic Peninsula wolves were likely extinct. The last verified record occurred in 1930’s (Scheffer 1995). Today approximately 25% of the peninsula (approximately 3,600 km2 is within Olympia National Park) is in the same general condition that existed when wolves were present 100 years ago. However, since the early 1900's the majority of the peninsula landscape outside of the park (~ 12,000 km2) has been managed as commercial timberlands and has changed considerably since wolves were last reported on the peninsula.The large scale changes to the landscape, the uncertain associated effects on any potentially reintroduced wolf population, and a recognized lack of biological information on prey species known to occur on the peninsula, led the U.S. Congress to appropriate funds in 1998 to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to investigate the possibility of reintroducing wolves on the peninsula. In March 1998 the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service contracted with the University of Idaho to examine the biological feasibility of restoring wolves to their former range on Washington’s Olympic Peninsula (Ratti et al. 1999). One problem facing the feasibility analysis was that there was virtually no quantitative information available on the abundance and densities of the likely prey species, Roosevelt elk (Cervus elaphus roosevelti) and black-tailed deer (Odocoilius hemionus columbianus), for the peninsula. This was particularly true of black-tailed deer populations both inside and outside of the Olympic National Park. Recognizing this limitation, the U.S. Congress House Report of the Appropriations Committee stated: “these funds should permit the necessary review and research and priority focus should be placed on prey base studies”.Although much of the attention so far has centered on the ability of the Olympic National Park to support wolves, there is a need to look at the landscape outside of the park to evaluate wolf reintroductions. Probably the most important reason to consider non-park land as important in determining the likelihood of a successful reintroduction is that almost all (~90%) of the Peninsula-wide winter range of potential prey, (i.e. deer and elk), exists outside of the Olympic National Park boundary. Most of Olympic National Park is over 750 meters in elevation, which is a defining typical winter range for deer and elk on the peninsula (Jenkins et al. 1999, Ratti et al. 1999). In contrast, non-park land that surrounds the Park is at much lower elevation. Most of the area outside of the Park is below 500 meters in elevation.Historically abundance estimations of deer in western Washington have ranged from 5-150 deer /sq mile, depending on the local habitat conditions in the surrounding landscape (Ratti et al. 1999, Raedeke 1986, Brown 1961). In spite of the fact that black-tailed deer are the most abundant ungulate on the peninsula no method exists for accurately determining the size of the deer population with an adequate level of precision (Raedeke 1993). Western Washington and in particular the Olympic Peninsula receives substantial annual rainfall (over 300 cm) which translates to rapid and heavy growth of underbrush. The presence of the underbrush and dense forest canopy make it especially difficult to directly observe deer. Traditional techniques used to monitor deer have included spotlighting transects, composition counts from deer observed while driving, and in some cases pellet counts.However the most important and consistent method used to monitor the deer population has relied on the estimated annual number of deer killed during the fall hunting season. Even the most quantitative approach to analyzing deer harvest numbers, at best, provides only an index to changing trends in the population, not reliable estimates of the absolute abundance of black-tailed deer on the peninsula. The scope of this project is to evaluate the feasibility of using DNA genotyping from deer pellets collected along random transects to determine an unbiased estimate of the population abundance of black-tailed deer on the Olympic Peninsula.The original objectives of this study were to 1) develop a population estimation technique for black-tailed deer in dense forest of western Washington, and 2) determine the abundance and distribution of black-tailed deer on the Olympic Peninsula outside of the Olympic National Park (ONP).
To report sightings of a wolf or wolf tracks, or suspected wolf depredation on livestock, contact the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), the agency responsible for wolf management in Washington. In eastern Washington, the USFWS office can be reached at 509-891-6839; in western Washington, call 360-753-9440. Wolf sightings can also be recorded on the USFWS toll-free hotline, 1-888-584-9038.
There are no federal or state plans to reintroduce wolves into Washington. With the success of recent federal wolf-recovery efforts in Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming, it is likely that wolves will increasingly disperse into eastern Washington. State and federal wildlife authorities are monitoring the activity of resident wolves to learn more about their use of habitat and to reduce potential conflicts.
The locals here in the valley have been seeing wolves for 5or 6 years now, we generally don't tell anyone about wildlife such as spotted owls and wolves, because of the closures that follow. A rancher just out of Twisp was the first to say something to the game department, suddenly up pops the ws wildlife biologist and he is spouting brand new wolf pack, we know something smells funny, especially when we have been seeing them white suv's with the attennas here n there and little martians holding atennas in the air way before said wolf pack was dicovered. People who have live here for many years know these wolves are planted, where the wolf people really jumped up n down on their own parts is when they got caught releasing some more wolves on on the new game department land, (the golden Doe) same place where the cow was killed. They keep bring up the look-out pack this and look-ou pack that, I would like to ask the fools if this pack has 100 plus wolves in it, because there are a hell of alot of wolves in the valley and surounding okanogan for just one pack. Evan before they got caught releasing more wolves, someone had a game department friend who said that they had release some wolves in here quite some time ago. As you know wolves follow the game, in the methow valley all the game drops to the valley floor and surounding lowlands, so in the spring the pups are poping out in peoples backyard or real close. With the amount of tourists we get here in the summer time and the spandex infested cross country skiers in the winter, I think the wolf will have to be translocated agin to some other place. As far as Fitkin trying to say he don't know what killed the cow, well that is pure Bullsh--.Back in the early 1990's the feds planted some grizzly bears in the Pasayten wilderness, never told anybody. Then they went back in and tried to catch them agin to prove we had the big bears here, but all they could catch were black bears. So this isn't a new thing for them. (plant then discover)
