Conservation Northwest protects and connects old-growth forests and other wild areas from the Washington Coast to the British Columbia Rockies, vital to a healthy future for us, our children, and wildlife. Since 1989, Conservation Northwest has worke
Issue link: http://conservationnw.uberflip.com/i/104888
From discovery to recovery Derrick Knowles Columbia Highlands campaign director, derrick@conservationnw.org cultivating a common understanding Hunters talk about wolves Hunters and conservationists have worked well together on wildlife and habitat issues in Washington and around the West for decades. But different views and approaches to wolf recovery have strained relations between these two nature-oriented groups of people who otherwise share many common conservation values. Being an eastern Washington conservationist who grew up hunting and fishing long before I even knew what an ���environmentalist��� was���or that I���d one day be labeled one���I���ve had a steady interest in finding ways to increase the level of common ground between sportsmen and conservationists. Today that goal has me trying to explain some common concerns about wolves that many hunters share and why conservationists should pay attention. We can���t afford to lose a major potential ally over one highly emotional issue that���s relatively small potatoes in the grand scheme of global environmental challenges. A few good reasons to listen to hunters��� concerns about wolves There are a few good reasons why the non-hunting environmental community should take the reasonable concerns many hunters have regarding wolf recovery seriously. Since it���s election season, let���s start with the political. While hunters��� numbers have been declining for years, recent statistics from a nationwide outdoor recreation survey shows a reversing trend with a 9 percent increase in numbers of people hunting. Wherever the demographic trends end up taking us, sportsmen will continue to be an important stakeholder when it comes to wildlife conservation efforts, especially here in rural western places like the Columbia Highlands. Another good reason to listen closely when hunters talk about wolves is because (no matter how clich�� it sounds) we really are all in this (meaning fish and wildlife conservation) together. Given the shrinking number of people engaging in traditional outdoor activities and tracking conservation issues, we can���t afford to lose a major potential ally over one highly emotional issue that���s relatively small potatoes in the grand scheme of global environmental challenges. 8 Fall 2012 It is often noted, mostly by sportsmen conservation groups, that hunters and anglers were the original American environmentalists responsible for early land protection and wildlife recovery wins. Through taxes they pay on ammunition and sporting goods and revenue from state hunting and fishing licenses, sportsmen continue to drive a lot of conservation efforts that benefit game and non-game species. This gives them considerable clout and credibility in the eyes of public lands and fish and wildlife management agencies. Wolf recovery and management issues have the singular potential for dividing hunters and non-hunting conservationists here in Washington even further in the coming years, which is extremely unfortunate given that it���s the rare hunter who subscribes to the ���smoke a pack a day��� mentality towards wolves, just as it���s a minority of conservationists who believe wolves should not be killed at any cost. Hearing from hunters on wolves in Washington In an attempt to cultivate a better understanding of sportsmen���s wolf concerns among Conservation Northwest supporters, many of whom are city dwellers more likely to hunt for their protein sources at the local farmers market than in the woods, I interviewed several eastern Washington hunters. I hope this Q&A style dialog helps get us all thinking about where hunters are coming from before we get to the inevitable point where wolves are considered recovered in Washington and proposals for wolf hunting and wolf management to address impacts on specific ungulate herds are on the table. To start off, I asked Spokesman Review Outdoors Editor Rich Landers, a self-described ���hunter, animal lover, hiker, paddler, angler, naturalist, and conservationist,��� for a general overview of Sportsmen���s concerns about wolves mostly focus around game species like elk and deer. Here a wolf in Yellowstone eats an elk. �� David Moskowitz www.conservationnw.org