Olympic Park Goats Get Reprieve Plan To Shoot Animals To Preserve Plants Put Off A Year

Mountain goats in Olympic National Park have gained at least a one-year reprieve from being shot, thanks to the federal government budget impasse.

A draft goat study and wilderness study a year ago proposed shooting the goats to preserve rare and fragile alpine plants, but funding shortages and lack of an Interior Department appropriation have delayed the release of a plan for a year until next winter, park superintendent David Morris said Friday.

“We have opted to maintain as many visitor services as possible this year, while deferring the many thousands of dollars in costs associated with publishing the final mountain goat environmental impact statement and draft wilderness management plan until next fiscal year,” he said.

He said staff probably would be cut by 35 percent for the summer.

The goat management study, originally scheduled for release last fall, was delayed until the winter to allow more time for public comment.

“The biggest problem is that a lot of people are eager for a resolution,” spokeswoman Barb Maynes said.

The impact statement includes an analysis of three alternatives for goat management in the Olympic wilderness, which covers about 95 percent of the 922,651-acre park, and selection of one as preferred.

Rather than a native species, the 225 to 300 goats are descended from animals that were introduced to boost hunting opportunities in the 1920s, park officials say.

Proposals to shoot the animals have drawn fire from animal rights advocates and wildlife conservationists. Last July the Humane Society of the United States urged that the move be abandoned and leaders of the Fund for Animals presented park officials with a petition bearing more than 1,350 signatures.