Fish & Wildlife Commission Special Meeting (Nov. 3-5) Agenda - Spokane

[KillBilly]

Al, how was the final number on the testamonys? was it more for wolves or against?

I think the term "against the wolf" is not accurate. Against WDFWs plan is more precise.

I don't have an exact count but I feel like we had at least an equal share of the pie as far as testimony went. I do feel that those opposed to the plan presented better facts and more compelling arguments than the idealists did.

[CedarPants]

Thank you again so much to everyone that went.  Solid testimony guys, nicely done!

I can't believe the wolves on the Colville reservation completely escaped me as a consideration.  Do they have any breeding pairs?  Do they know how many wolves (roughly) they have?  Does WDFW actively work with them in documenting numbers?
Sounds like the Colvilles are a potentially strong ally for us.

Sebek - did Jay seem sincere?  If we have an active bio genuinely asking to be contacted with wolf sightings (and genuinely wanting to look into it), I think we should make full use of that offer as a group

[724wd]

i have a shooting buddy that has pretty close ties to the Colvilles.  I'll call him today and see what we can get started.

heath

[Machias]

Thank you again so much to everyone that went.  Solid testimony guys, nicely done!

I can't believe the wolves on the Colville reservation completely escaped me as a consideration.  Do they have any breeding pairs?  Do they know how many wolves (roughly) they have?  Does WDFW actively work with them in documenting numbers?
Sounds like the Colvilles are a potentially strong ally for us.

Sebek - did Jay seem sincere?  If we have an active bio genuinely asking to be contacted with wolf sightings (and genuinely wanting to look into it), I think we should make full use of that offer as a group

If I understood the presentation, NO they have NOT worked with the state up to this point but did offer to work with the state, as long as the state understood their purpose in life is to ensure their members continue to have the same numbers of deer, elk and moose to hunt and any threat to that would be dealt with lethally or trap and transplant.  They have documented wolves on the reservation that the State was unaware of....actually the State has no idea what so ever how many wolves we already have, that much was clear!  One of the things that struck me was they have sent off scat samples to verify DNA...they did not send them to the state, they sent them to ID.  They are going to allow 1 breeding pair on the reservation and one breeding pair in another location, that I could not understand, I believe it was near the Canadian border.

[gramps]

Thanks to all of you who were able to attend the meeting. 

[bearpaw]

The tribe was not putting out a solid number, but Peone said they might be looking at 1 BP on the Reservation and 1 BP on the north half and that they planned to manage wolves but didn't have their wolf plan yet. He said something about the tribe being willing to translocate wolves and I had to chuckle. I was told two years ago "The tribe likes eating deer, elk, and moose and don't really want many wolves." and their testimony held true to that. Best part as I see it, the WDFW can't tell them not to kill wolves and Eastern WA is already federally delisted, I just wished they had a larger hunting area in the NE than the just north half. At this point I see the tribe as the only meaningful hope for management in the foreseeable future.

[Machias]

 
 
The one thing I worry about though is if they are whacking wolves then it will take even longer to delist the entire state, With the tribe up there controlling wolves and the ID border right there, it will be dang hard to have many wolves actually count towards this screwed up accounting system.   

[CedarPants]

Dale did they have anything to say regarding your statement about WDFW needing more experienced trappers and the faulty documenting process?

[bearpaw]

It was very nice to meet a few members and visit. Thanks guys for being there..... 

Al and I stayed till the bitter end and it seemed to me that the wolfers may have outnumbered the rest of us slightly, thanks to the cattlemen, our side had a decent showing. I was very disappointed with the turn out of sportsmen. There were some SCI chapter reps, Hunters Heritage Council, a few hunters I didn't catch their name, and the four of us.

My biggest dissapointment and it actually upsets me to think about this, The Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation was nowhere to be seen and I heard nothing from the Mule Deer Foundation. These organizations whose very reason for existance is at stake, and not a person that I heard testified on their behalf. The part that really makes me mad is all the money that leaves this state in support of RMEF and they will not even provide testimony on the wolf issue. 


I tried to show graph comparisons that this state simply cannot support 15 bp's. Washington is smaller geographically, we have more people, we have a higher prvate land population, we have less public land acreage.

Another issue I was intent on was the fact that WDFW credibility is at an alltime low and we can not depend on them to find 15 BP's. I testified that I thought we needed a dozen trappers to find the wolves that are already here and that the one trapper we have in NE has to stop trapping one area when there is a report in another area. Several cattlemen and hunters made comments about this issue too. One cattleman said something to the affect "The WDFW cannot even find noxious weeds on WDFW lands, how are they going to find wolves!"   

Commissioner Douvia asked me how many wolves our group thought there were, I told him we felt there were at least 116 in the state and about 50 in the NE corner, (my supporting data had the list of sightings that we have accumulated on this forum). I had provided the commissioners each with the packet of graph's that I posted earlier in this discussion.

[bearpaw]

Dale did they have anything to say regarding your statement about WDFW needing more experienced trappers and the faulty documenting process?

Commissioner Douvia asked about the trappers, I made a suggestion of a trapper I know, and I told them I thought the WDFW instead of hiring some guys out of college needed to find experienced local coyote trappers that the people know and can trust and that can get the job done, that this could actually help build trust in the WDFW. (I didn't see any reaction from Director Anderson and doubt they will do that, but it was worth bring up). I hope that the commissioners will push that issue.

Here's the way I see it. If we had only 15 BP's the state could probably support that. The problem is that 15 BP's in Idaho turned into something like 100 packs. We simply cannot count on WDFW to even find 15 BP's, we'll end up in the same boat as Idaho with some herds being decimated. First on that list is the moose and caribou in the NE corner.

[asl20bball]

Thanks for your testimony guys. I will be writing to the commission between now and december, again.  BTW, I'm now starting to apply for hunts out of state, in multiple states b/c the writing is on the wall fellas.
Sad, irresponsible, politically -not scientifically motived, and ignorant is all I can sit and come up with at this point. 

[puyallupaul]

I will not renew my RMEF membership. Bought and still have first Bugle from Greenwater store.
Have all other Bugles . Joined first year. Went to first Convention in Spokane. Spent thousands at Coventions and local banquets.
Last word on this subject.

[pianoman9701]

My email to RMEF:

Dear Sirs,

Please tell me why there were no representatives of the RMEF at the WDFW Wolf hearings in Spokane, WA yesterday. This was the last, and perhaps the most important opportunity for us to have a voice and an impact on the proposed, ridiculous wolf plan.

Many WA RMEF members were present and quite surprised that they weren't represented by their organization. I look forward to your reply. Thank you.

John W
Vancouver, WA
Member RMEF, NRA, USSA, WFW, wwwhunting-washington.com

[CedarPants]

My message to them:

Have to admit, it was extremely disappointing to see that RMEF didn't feel it was necessary to take the opportunity to provide their input at yesterday's meeting in Spokane with the Wildlife Commission on Washington State's proposed wolf management plan. This was the final opportunity for public comment before the Commission votes to adopt or reject WDFW's proposed plan, and your stance of "no comment" did not go unnoticed by the sportsmen of this state

[CedarPants]

Response from RMEF:

"RMEF has attended some earlier public hearings on this and we have done a thorough review of the plan. Our official comment letter on the plan will be going out today"

I requested a copy of the official comment letter