Where do we go from here? (With wolf management)

[Special T]

Well now that we know what the plan is from the WDFW (and i think it sucks), the question is where do we go from here? I always find it valuable to list out  my strenghts, weakenesses, Oportunities & Threats Also known as a SWOT analysis. The first 2 are for me Or the WFW and the last 2 are external factors

STRENGTHS
1 We have a lot of good documentation about wolves in general and what they have done in other states.
2 We have a diverse group of individuals that have different kinds of skills that "mostly" want the same thing... Manage wolves
3 Memebers are from all across the state (geographically diverse)
4 We know how to communicte without lots of expensive travel (expense)
5 We search out the facts so that they can speak them selves (I believe this for the most part.

Weaknesses
1 We lack money
2 need to increase our membership numbers
3 currently do not hold much sway with the WDFW
4 We (may) lack specific experience in how to tackle this problem.
5 We lack a full time staff to attack this problem. Since this is all volunteer, the goal is at the mercy of our ability to make time for it.

Opportunities (External) IE not under our direct control but affects us
1  There is a governers race in a year, we have the possibility of getting a Govoner that is more friendly to Hunters
2  There are 2 vacant seats on the commision. There is the possibility of 2 new members having a more pro hunting view
3 We could put in for a scientific permit to trap and collar wolves, Essentially doing the job the WDFW should do.
4 We could get a grant  to help pay for a collaring study
5  We could approach other interest groups like cattlemen, RMEF and others to help pay for a study

Threats (External) IE not under our direct control but affects us
1&2 of opportunites could allow anti hunters to affect our goal
3 We might not be able to get a Scientific trapping permit

[Special T]

Please add to these if you think i have missed anything...

Actually i missed an opportunity
6 we could have the ESA protections lifted by congress.

I think this program has been crammed down our throught. There may be several differnt ways to go about turing this back, however i think all will be an up hill battle. Since the State and the Feds have come up with a course of action, the ONLY thing i think we can do is speed the process up to documet 15 bp for 3 years or 18 in one year so that the lawsuits can get under way
OR
Work the system and push congress to lift ESA protections for the wolf, Unfortunatly they may not extend them to our state since we are not yet infested.

[Jack Diamond]

Study the problem?
Sacrifice the love of the outdoors!
Suffer the lack of hunting in the state.

[Special T]

Not sure i understand... the "Study" would be to verify breeding pairs...

Trust me i think this whole thing is crammed down our throught, sucks, is wrong and shouldn't be this way...

I wrote this because I want to brain storm the things we CAN affect and change, not whine and bitch about the things we can't... and trust me i have little love for the wdfw or the feds right now. 

[wraithen]

We are poor and we are small... Sounds like we need to stop fighting in regimented squares and start in with the guerrilla warfare. Not sure how to do that on this level but it would turn a weakness into a strength.

[Jack Diamond]

Study the problem?
Sacrifice the love of the outdoors!
Suffer the lack of hunting in the state.

SSS

Really I understand your desires, however the pro-wolf agenda, and all forms of anti-hunting groups will
continue to push their ideas and mandates down our throats, as long as the I-5 corridor continues to vote
as they have in the past.
unfortunately I do not believe anything has been gained by all the meetings that have taken place to date.
The Studys are always flawed in favor of what the masses desire, Data is skewed to prove a theory.

That doesn't mean that folks like me are throwing in the towel, just means all this wolf chatter is giving me heartburn.
and some of us folks will just quietly study Plan B.

by the time 15 BP are established in this state , In my opinion Varmint hunting will be the only game left in town
and it won't be for Coyotes or Fox.
In my mind it's like the town you live in passing an ordinance that you can not have a cow on your 2 acres,
you do not need a cow , the town has a grocery. the anti"s have the same opinion ,you should not go and "kill " a animal. we have grocery stores.
That is inhumane, however for a wild animal to kill another animal, well that is "nature's way". and the "balance of nature" will "naturally occur"
                                                                                                                                                                           

I do applaud you and everyone and all the various org's that actually went to the meetings and tried the good fight, however
until the political climate is changed in Olympia, I fear any money spent to change the ruling is money wasted at this time.

                                                                                                                                                                             

[wraithen]

What's a wolf pelt worth these days?

[jager]

XXL tanned probably 5-600 avg.

[wraithen]

In that case, how many do you think it would take to pay to collar 15 packs? Let's use the wolves against the wolves!

Sorry, back on topic. Special T I honestly don't know where to go from here except to let the pendulum swing the other direction. Then the momentum may sway our way again.

[buckfvr]

Its all trickling down from the top administration in the nation, and their desire to take guns away without saying so.  Infest with wolves, protect whats left of the big game animals, stop hunting, dry up gun ,ammo, and accessory sales, have NATO collect guns via the Small Arms Treaty. Checkmate.

Our Governor is a supposed oslama admin shoe in if he is re-elected.  Its been a long time in the works, a few different administrations, same goals...i.e. Clintons involvement in persuit of same goal.....the wolf is just another key vehicle being used to accomplish their goal of disarming americans. Sound far fetched???  I thought so too at on time myself......not any more. 

ANd yes, this is right up there with the border patrol debacle and the illegal gun sales to contras....which got the congressional seal, like the JFK incident......wreaks of  corruption to me.

[Special T]

Opportunity
7 Work with the tribes for example Colville tribe to document wolves.

[44 Flattop]

Its all trickling down from the top administration in the nation, and their desire to take guns away without saying so.  Infest with wolves, protect whats left of the big game animals, stop hunting, dry up gun ,ammo, and accessory sales, have NATO collect guns via the Small Arms Treaty. Checkmate.

Our Governor is a supposed oslama admin shoe in if he is re-elected.  Its been a long time in the works, a few different administrations, same goals...i.e. Clintons involvement in persuit of same goal.....the wolf is just another key vehicle being used to accomplish their goal of disarming americans. Sound far fetched???  I thought so too at on time myself......not any more. 

ANd yes, this is right up there with the border patrol debacle and the illegal gun sales to contras....which got the congressional seal, like the JFK incident......wreaks of  corruption to me.

 

[Jack Diamond]

  :yeah:x2

[JohnVH]

8 ) S S S

[Jack Diamond]

Study the problem?
Sacrifice the love of the outdoors!
Suffer the lack of hunting in the state.

=8

[haugenna]

Weakness-

A democratic tree hugging voting population.

[Special T]

Unfortunately  SSS won't even make a blip on the radar.. It might make a differnce in some small regional areas where there are more people that think the same way...  but overall can't make a big difference. If a liberal hunting,trappin arial gunning season in ID cant do it you think a few law breakers can?

[CedarPants]

Special T - I like the way you are approaching this (and I just wrapped up a year long SWOT project at work, so this thought process is drilled into my head)

Way I see it, we have 2 choices.  We either throw in the towel and accept that everything is a lost cause, or we look at it exactly how you are looking at it.  I think it would be a wise idea if we took this SWOT concept and actually completed a full analysis and implemented a formal plan.  I'd be willing to be a part of something like this if we could organize it

[wraithen]

Killbilly is running a tangent on how to track and account for bp's accurately. I like the always moving forward attitude of some members here! 

[Jack Diamond]

So I assume every one knows that the only way the wolves were brought under control in the first go-round was poison.
evidently we can legislate the wolve's back across the state line?
even if the state said to shoot them all , it would never happen, ie the reference to Idaho. and Montana can not even reach their quota.                                                               
                                                                                                                                                                                                     
the gate has been opened, and 3 years have been devoured debating the issue, they are here and will remain.
and they will multiply, and they will at some point allow a "quota" hunt and possibly trapping which will have a minimal effect.
and more time and effort and money will be spent debating the issues, and nothing will change except hunter behavior.
until wolves are a threat in suburbia all will be fine. guess we will see if I'm right, hope not, but recent history in the other states dictates otherwise.

State won't even issue a permit for a stupid Coyote Contest in a timely manner.

[seth30]

So I assume every one knows that the only way the wolves were brought under control in the first go-round was poison.
evidently we can legislate the wolve's back across the state line?
even if the state said to shoot them all , it would never happen, ie the reference to Idaho. and Montana can not even reach their quota.                                                               
                                                                                                                                                                                                     
the gate has been opened, and 3 years have been devoured debating the issue, they are here and will remain.
and they will multiply, and they will at some point allow a "quota" hunt and possibly trapping which will have a minimal effect.
and more time and effort and money will be spent debating the issues, and nothing will change except hunter behavior.
until wolves are a threat in suburbia all will be fine. guess we will see if I'm right, hope not, but recent history in the other states dictates otherwise.

Im sure the blame of that will be placed on everything but the truth

[wraithen]

WA is different. They would NEVER allow us to trap wolves.

[Special T]

well JD i would never advocate something illegal, especially online. It would be horrible if a pack suddenly ended up at greenlake to harass bunny huggers. 

wraithen they actually have trapped them with padded jaws so that they are unhurt. only for "documentation"

For the record I am unsure that anything we do will  make a huge difference. the one thing i do know is that we all come from differnet walks of life and because we are Agile  we can use that to our advantage.

[Little Dave]

I'd like the ESA to be scrapped.  Our state's list of extirpated species called "Endangered Species" should also be scrapped.

A creative illustration of how this might come about is to petition the government to add smallpox to the Endangered Species List.  Our state usually follows the lead of the federal listing.  Then we could have meetings to form a smallpox management plan, debate natural transmission or translocation, then make informational brochures to teach folks how to cope with it.

[Special T]

$$$ is the root of the ESA issu. I would kind like/think it ironic if we hunters could tap into the same funding that the anti's use to fight us... some of that is grant money some of it is lawsuits...

[rebal69972]

we fight this the best way we can and wait. in 5-10 years the government will be begging the hunters and trappers to kill the wolves. we have to look to our neighbors and see how they handle the same problem if they can if not well the rednecks that everyone like to bitch about we have the plan

[wence5]

we fight this the best way we can and wait. in 5-10 years the government will be begging the hunters and trappers to kill the wolves. we have to look to our neighbors and see how they handle the same problem if they can if not well the rednecks that everyone like to bitch about we have the plan

Unfortunately it will be too late by then.