I sent this Wolf Plan email to the WDFW Commissioners

[pianoman9701]

If you'd like to send you own, their email address is commission@dfw.wa.gov.

"Dear Commissioners,

I'm a master hunter for the state of Washington. The code of ethics that I signed and abide by is this:

"As a master hunter, I am a steward of the future of hunting. I
pledge to act in accordance with the highest ethical standards.  I
will display proper respect for game, landowners, other hunters,
the public, all fish and wildlife laws.  I pledge to be a
conscientious, committed hunter who cares about the future of
hunting. I will assume a leadership role among my peers and will
do so by exhibiting exemplary conduct in the field.  As a Master
Hunter, I shall play a key role in improving relationships with all
landowners, thus ensuring continued hunter access to private and
public lands. I pledge to continue to expand my knowledge of
wildlife and natural resource management practices and
understand the role I play in these practices.
I pledge to be a “Steward of the hunt.”

Please consider my comments during your hearings, to include your hearing on August 4th, 2011.

As a sworn steward of hunting, I can not sit idly as this aggressive and irresponsible wolf plan is pushed through. It seems that no lessons have been learned by the WDFW from the experiences of Idaho and Montana, two much more rural states with lower population densities. Montana has 2.5 times the land area of WA and yet, the WA plan has the same number of pairs of wolves and the incredibly bizarre three-year waiting period. Because of our land area and higher population density, we should have fewer pairs and no waiting period once quotas are met.

There are several things that concern me about this plan that should be addressed, but haven't been, as far as I know:

1. How are you planning to pay for the implementation of the plan?
2. How are you going to reimburse farmers and pet owners for their losses? From where will these funds come?
3. Why is there no mention or concern that the wolves in MT and ID have severely, negatively impacted ungulate herds?
4. Why is there no mention or concern about the extremely high percentages of wolves in MT and ID that have been found to be infected with Echinococcus Granulosus tapeworms? Where is the concern about the transmission  of this parasite to pets and humans?
5. What is being done to protect our endangered woodland caribou?
6. What has happened to our resident wolf population and what is being done to safeguard it from extinction?
7. Why is the proposal for WA so much more aggressive than that of even that of the USFWS?
8. Why is there a three-year waiting period once goals have been met before anything can be done to start culling wolves?
9. If the WDFW has trouble accurately monitoring other predator populations such as cougars and black bears, why does it think it will be any more effective monitoring the wolf populations and breeding pair numbers?
10. Will any hunting license fees be used to fund this program, effectively having hunters pay for the possible demise of our sport?
11. Will any Pittman Robertson funds be used by our state or by the feds to fund this program?

I, like tens of thousands of other resident hunters pay a large part of the WDFW's bills. In addition to the sales taxes everyone pays, the hunting and fishing license fees and the Pittman Robertson 11% excise tax I pay are supposed to ensure the future of big game herds with responsible and proper game management. The present plan is far from responsible and proper, and is not backed by science or experience.

Please change the requirements to 10 breeding pairs with a cap of 200 wolves (whichever comes first), and immediate culling when either of those numbers is met. Hunting AND trapping licenses should then be sold by lottery to help fund restitution to farmers and pet owners for losses that will surely occur. Experience has shown us that trapping is the only effective way to manage wolf populations.

I belong to the www.hunting-washington.com online forum and am a member of Washington for Wildlife. More than 8,000 of us are active with these two organizations and we will be paying close attention to the results of your hearings. Please heavily weight the  concerns of the people who pay the most in this state to the WDFW - Washington's hunters and fishermen and women. Thank you for considering my views.

Most Sincerely,

John Wallace
Vancouver, WA"

[whacker1]

You used 10 breeding pairs and a max of 200, what is the current wolf plan? 15 breeding pairs and 150 wolves with a three year wait?  or has it changed from that?

[pianoman9701]

15 breeding pairs with no numbered limit and a three-year wait. The numbers could be as high as 400 wolves before the waiting period even commences.

Also remember, I represent no one but myself in this email. Feel free to use your own ideas on what you think is right.

[whacker1]

15 breeding pairs with no numbered limit and a three-year wait. The numbers could be as high as 400 wolves before the waiting period even commences.

Also remember, I represent no one but myself in this email. Feel free to use your own ideas on what you think is right.

Thank You, I was more concerned that something changed and I might have missed it.  Thank you for sending the e-mail, it was well written and raised very valid concerns.

[pianoman9701]

Absolutely. Their next meeting is the day after tomorrow, 8/04, so if you have views to express, send an email.

[huntrights]

pianoman9701,

Thank you for sharing this.  If you can make it to the meeting on August 4th to present your views, that would be great.  One of our representatives told me that writing is always a good thing to do regarding these issues, but showing up at the public meetings in large numbers is also extremely important.  I am going to try to be there at least for the last half when we might have an opportunity to present our views.  I believe each person will have 3 minutes to speak.  I've read a few posts that indicated there are large numbers of people going to these meetings that are pushing for increased populations of wolves in this state; apparently the show of hunters, sportsmen, ranchers, and citizens with legitimate concerns about the wolf reintroductions are not at these meetings in large enough numbers to have an effect.  People with legitimate concerns such as yours really need to show up at these meetings and make their views known.

[pianoman9701]

I wish I could, but I can't get the time off work.

[rtspring]

I have also forwarded an email to the Commision on the Wolf Plan.

We must take action on this before it is to late..


RTSPRING