Here is the chance many have been waiting for in the Eburg area...
http://www.dailyrecordnews.com/uppercounty/wolf-discussion-scheduled-at-cwu/article_9999ac6c-6c78-11e1-b9ad-0019bb2963f4.html#.T1_KWfK0M48.facebookWolf discussion scheduled at CWU
By MIKE JOHNSTON senior writer | 1 comment
Carter Niemeyer, author and former federal wolf recovery coordinator for Idaho, believes rural residents, cattle ranchers and big-game hunters can live with wolves in a reasonably compatible way as long as sensible wildlife management is promoted.
Niemeyer will discuss reintroduction of wolves in the Pacific Northwest in a free talk 7 to 9 p.m. Wednesday in Science Building Room 147 on the campus of Central Washington University.
The event, sponsored by the CWU College of Sciences, department of biological sciences and the nonprofit advocacy group Conservation Northwest, will include a question and answer period and a book signing session with Niemeyer available to sign his book “Wolfer.”
“Wolves are neither good nor bad, but symbolically, people view wolves in different ways,” Niemeyer said in an interview late last week. “I suspect that Washington can expect some ideological conflicts until people get used to having wolves around for awhile. Fear and misunderstandings about wolves are what drive these conflicts.”
Niemeyer said wolves will fit in very well in some places and may cause real conflicts with people in other places; those issues will have to be worked out over time.
Niemeyer is a retired U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service wolf recovery coordinator for Idaho and, as an expert government trapper, was a key member of the federal wolf reintroduction team in Canada in the mid-1990s.
Kit McGurn, of Conservation Northwest, said Niemeyer’s background and perspective gives him a credible voice on the issue of wolf reintroduction. He said Niemeyer is “a great speaker for the Central Washington community now that wolves are a reality on the ground.”
Jay Kehne, appointed in January by Gov. Chris Gregoire to the Washington Fish and Wildlife Commission, also will be at the event.
Kehne has worked part-time for Conservation Northwest as its Okanogan County outreach coordinator.
Some groups, including the Washington Farm Bureau, have opposed Kehne’s appointment because of his work with Conservation Northwest which has advocated for a version of a state wolf management plan that the groups opposed. The plan was approved by the state Fish and Wildlife Commission in December.
Wolf concerns
When asked about ranchers’ concerns about a growing wolf population, Niemeyer said losses to some individual livestock producers can be personally significant, but the overall impact to the livestock industry is negligible.
“It is difficult to convince any livestock producer that wolves shouldn’t be a major concern, but I don’t think their fears are warranted compared to all of the other causes of livestock death,” Niemeyer said.
Calves often targeted
He said when wolves target livestock, it’s usually calves and yearling cattle and a few dogs.
“In my experience, wolves don’t bother horses and adult cattle, although some losses have been reported,” Niemeyer said. “Most ranchers will never be affected by wolf predation.”
As far as the impact of wolves on local deer and elk populations, Niemeyer said mountain lions and black bears also prey on deer fawns and elk calves and vastly outnumber wolves, “so I don’t think wolves will have a negative impact on deer and elk.”
He said it is unreasonable to believe that wolves will not have some impact on big game herds including changing elk behavior and distribution, which has already been documented in other states, “but they certainly don’t wipe out their own food sources. Prey regulate predators, not the other way around.”
