Free: Contests & Raffles.
Pronghorns are back in Washington statePronghorn antelope are again living in Washington state. Photo by Harvey Doerksen, U.S. Fish and Wildlife.By Jim PearsonContributing writerAntelope are once again running around Washington state, thanks to Safari Club International (SCI), the Yakama Indian Nation, the State of Nevada and several dedicated individuals.No thanks are in order to Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, a bureaucracy that stood in the way and threw roadblocks at the project every chance they got.The Department of Game (that’s what WDFW called itself before they combined with the Fisheries Department) thought it was a good idea at one time, so they planted some in the Yakima Training Center. A small band of pronghorns lived there for many years but, approximately 40 years ago, disappeared.The transplant idea was hatched in the Yakima Valley and the local SCI chapter (of which I’m a member) paid WDFW to do a feasibility study. I correctly predicted the study would cost lots of money while accomplishing nothing.Along the way, other SCI chapters in this state chipped in thousands of dollars, but eventually, those chapters dropped out because nothing was happening in spite of all the money being handed to WDFW.The central Washington chapter of SCI was discouraged, too, but then someone heard the Yakama Indians wanted antelope on their reservation.They could do it because they are a sovereign nation that doesn’t need to deal with federal or state bureaucracies. Not only that, they knew where to get the animals. Seems the Indians on the reservation near Elko, Nev., would furnish the antelope if someone paid for the capture. No problem, SCI told them. Go!Transplanted antelope were supposed to be on the ground a year ago, but the capture helicopter crashed and plans were put on hold for a year.After that, the Nevada Department of Wildlife said they would furnish 100 animals for the project. Seems the prairie goats were overpopulated in one area, but someone else had to pay for the capture. Again, no problem, said SCI.Four trucks pulling horse trailers left the Yakima Valley headed for Elko Jan. 19, where they watched a successful capture of 100 goats.Veterinarians were on hand to treat the animals for overheating and Nevada wildlife officials fixed a radio collar to the neck of each of them. Tom Perry and Bill Shields drove one of the trucks, but Tom said one of the antelope decided she didn’t want to participate. She jumped over the other antelope, over the heads of several men and ran away into the night. So much for the claim antelope can’t jump.After that, the trucks headed home — fast! Pronghorns don’t handle truck rides well. I won’t tell you how fast Bill drove that truck, but he was pulled over in Mabton for running a stop sign.When the cop asked him the reason for his hurry, Bill said he had 37 live antelopes in the trailer and they needed to be on the ground ASAP. Otherwise, they would begin to die. “Go,” the cop said and late that night, 99 goats hit the ground, all of them alive.Since then, Jim Stephenson, the Yakama Indian Reservation biologist, reports three have died, leaving 96 live antelopes in a state where none used to be and I’m eating crow because I said it would never happen.A few days ago, my friend Jerry Crone, who lives in Prosser, called saying, “You ain’t going to believe this.” Seems a friend had seen two antelopes standing on the ridge top beside the road that runs from Mabton to Bickleton.If the goats cross that road, they will be off the reservation and onto public and private lands. That, of course, will give WDFW the chance to claim they need more money because now they need to manage antelope.Jerry hadn’t heard about the antelope project, so I filled him in on the details.The Yakamas issue a few coyote-killing permits to non-tribal members, so Jim Stephenson is directing them to the area where the antelopes were released. Coyotes love to feast on their new-born fawns.Some cattlemen aren’t happy. They claim they’re afraid the animals will bring brucellosis, tuberculosis or other diseases, but I think the truth is this: They don’t want antelope eating the grass they want to feed their cattle.There is no incidence of those diseases in prairie goats in Nevada and nowhere else, either, and a complete veterinary examination of each animal is impossible because of the time factor. Most of the animals would die before they could be released.I have sat on this story for a month now waiting for a press release from the Yakamas as per SCI’s agreement, but that evidently isn’t going to happen.Share on FacebookShort URL: http://othellooutlook.com/?p=17742
This afternoon I saw my first Washington antelope. (4 does) I'll see if I can post pics tomorrow.
