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 animals, but they need to be managed. We want them, but we don���t want them in every drainage. Big game is not overly abundant in most areas of Washington. Wolves and hunters both depend on healthy big game herds. Don���t let wolf recovery dreams overshadow the efforts sportsmen have spearheaded to protect winter range and habitat for a limited prey base.��� Another avid eastern Washington hunter and conservationist I interviewed echoed Lander���s evaluation of how most hunters look at the wolf issue: ���I think most hunters like the idea of having some wolves on the landscape. They���re a neat species and certainly represent the wild places that many hunters enjoy. As long as wolves are managed and not allowed to proliferate to the point that big game herds are seriously impacted, I think many hunters are willing to share the landscape and the game.��� Advice to conservation groups Mule deer. Photo �� Paul Bannick hunters��� views on wolf recovery issues: ���Hunters don���t categorically hate wolves. But even the most enlightened sportsmen I know have a love-hate relationship that can toggle one way or the other depending on whether a wolf pack is preying on his favorite deer or elk hunting area.��� When asked about any personal concerns he has as a hunter about recovery of wolves in Washington and any advice for wolf advocates, Landers noted, ���I worry that wolves will be allowed to grow too numerous and entice too much bad will before they can be adequately managed to a level that���s socially sustainable. Wolves are cool He also had this advice for conservation groups working on wolf recovery in Washington: ���I just want to be sure that conservationists in Washington are not going to play the same cards that the groups did in Montana and Idaho. When wolf populations are recovered, based on the management plan, wolf hunting and harvest need to occur. We cannot let legal battles get in the way of sound management.��� Northeast Washington-based hunting guide Dale Denney had similar suggestions on how conservationists could meet hunters halfway: ���Learn to accept the fact that wolves need to be managed (especially problem wolves) if you ever want the public to accept them. Pro-wolf groups also need to promote responsible management of problem wolves and agree with wolf numbers that fit into our modern ecosystems without upsetting the balance that has been established over the last 100 years. Many hunters would be more acceptable to a moderate number of wolves established slowly rather than imposing unregulated numbers of wolves and preventing management.��� When asked about possible solutions that could address some of hunters��� concerns about wolves, Denney offered many ideas, including this one: ���Noxious weeds are a serious problem and public lands have some of the worst infestations. Logging and the burning of logging slash also needs to happen as a replacement for forest fires, as many wildlife numbers are suffering from poor forage in many areas due to noxious weeds and too many over-aged forests.��� Sometimes it seems that hunters and non-hunter conservationists are worlds apart when it comes to wolf recovery. But it���s good to remember that most people who fall into one or the other of these two groups share more in common than not, including appreciation of wildlife, the outdoors, and the complexity of natural systems. We should look for opportunities to build on common ground for habitat conservation and restoration, not dwell unproductively on our differences. Wilderness, like that in the Columbia Highlands, supports a full complement of wildlife from wolves to elk. Photo of Salmo Mountain �� Eric Zamora Keeping the Northwest wild Fall 2012 9