Free: Contests & Raffles.
Not only are they trying to lower the bear limit to 1, theyre also trying to push the season back to September 1st because apparently it bothers them that we hunt in august.
He's on the board of directors of the mountain lion foundation. Keep in mind they pay their director $167,000 per year. Takes a lot of sympathy based donations to keep that non profit in business and pay that kind of money. They're very good at generating that sympathy.
Quote from: baldopepper on December 04, 2023, 04:45:21 PMHe's on the board of directors of the mountain lion foundation. Keep in mind they pay their director $167,000 per year. Takes a lot of sympathy based donations to keep that non profit in business and pay that kind of money. They're very good at generating that sympathy.
At the link and below are the talking points they have crafted in support of their petition...may help in preparing counter messages to the garbage they will be pushing.https://wawildlifefirst.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Cougar-and-Bear-Petition-Talking-Points.pdf-------------------------------Talking Points: 2023 Pe��on to Amend Bear and Cougar RulesSummary• Please approve the pe��on as a first step in undoing the damage that overhun�ng and other killing have likely already inflicted on our bear and cougar popula�ons. The pe��on would restore the pre-2020 hun�ng guidelines for cougars, which imposed limits on the number of cougars that could be killed based on science, not poli�cal considera�ons. The pe��on would also roll back the bear hun�ng extensions and “bag limit” increases passed in 2019. It furtherasks the Commission to encourage beter compliance in bear “harvest” repor�ng by imposing a reasonable penalty for failure to report. Finally, the pe��on would restore sunset dates to bear and cougar rules, so that these rules are examined on the same schedule as other hunted species. • The Washington Fish and Wildlife Commission enacted arbitrary and capricious rules in 2019-2021 to expand bear and cougar hun�ng seasons. WDFW based its recommenda�ons on social pressure from a small number of residents. WDFW owes it to the public and its own hardworking scien�fic staff to ground its governance in sound science, not poli�cs. The pe��on would restore cougar and bear hunt rules to previous levels and incorporate WDFW scien�sts’ own sugges�ons for monitoring and managing hun�ng mortality of these species.• Increased killing of cougars does not boost deer and elk popula�ons, protect livestock, or reduce human-cougar conflict. In fact, there is strong evidence that heavy hun�ng of cougars actually increases public safety concerns and cougar conflict with livestock. Instead of focusing on ac�ons that would decrease conflict with cougars, WDFW has opted for the appearance of dealing with the problem – while actually worsening it.• WDFW managers pushed an expansion of bear hun�ng in response to poli�cal pressure and not science – as they themselves admited. As a result, bear mortality statewide has increased dras�cally; it may have may have reached 17% during the 2022-2023 season. Bear biologists have found that mortality above 4-10% is likely to damage the popula�on. Most bears die because of humans, with hun�ng accoun�ng for the vast majority of all human-caused deaths. • Cougars are keystone species that benefit the environment and other species. Damage to the cougar popula�on is damage to the environment. We should also be trea�ng bears like the ecologically important animals they are, not as a nuisance or a mere “resource.” Bears, like cougars, are “ecosystem engineers” that improve habitat for other species.
