Seeing this post inspired me to join this site. It seems so highly unlikely that under the terms of the Proclamation 7319 - Establishment of the Hanford Reach National Monument (
http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/?pid=62329#axzz1glYx1qOG) & the mission statement of the USFWS (
http://www.fws.gov/planning/Mission.html) that any hunt could occur no matter what WDFW or the YN wants. I didn't see how the USFWS proposal even addressed legally justifying a hunt when preservation & conservation are so clearly written into 7319. I thought that's why they first tried relocation! It isn't within 7319 to allow hunting!
But the bigger question is written in their proposal; just what exactly does the following imply under V. C page 8: " Disturbance from hunting could result in elk crossing Highway 240 and moving into the central portion of the Hanford Site where environmental issues from past DOE activities could impact the herd." Just what is keeping the herd from crossing over to the actual "Works" portion east of hwy 240 now? The 3 strand barbed wire fences along Hwy 240 were replaced with a single strand smooth wire in 2005 to prevent the buildup of tumbleweeds, their fire danger and so the deer & elk won't scratch their bellies jumping over it. FWS & DOE acknowledge that the lands east of hwy 240 pose environmental issues to all life forms; in fact the "Works" area is under DOE administration and only those lands west of the hwy are under FWS as they specifically do not manage hazardous sites. In fact, FWS has told DOE to clean up around all of the old NIKE missile batteries on the ALE & Walluke Slope because of the use of DDT, 245T, & other herbicides at those sites. The question in my mind is, what is the health of the herd considering the potential for contamination from God knows what? Have there been any studies looking for contamination in the blood & bone samples from these relatively short lived mammals? Maybe I'm overly cautious but I think we can all appreciate that elk know no boundaries and although Hanford played a key part to our national defense we have been paying and will continue to pay for it's cleanup to now protect us from all the contamination from that program...