Hunters Take Aim At Issues

Washington hunters seem to prefer slightly more stringent hunting seasons and regulations for elk and continuation of the present management program for bears while incorporating modified and new strategies.

Hunters and sportsmen’s organizations are indicating their preferences at four state-wide public meetings. The first meeting on the management alternatives scheduled by the Washington Department of Fish and Game was held Jan. 23 in Spokane; the fourth will be held Thursday in Tumwater.

Written comments on the alternatives will be accepted until Feb. 15.

The department will select a plan for each species after the public meetings and after citizens’ comments are considered. The plans will serve as blueprints for managing elk and bear.

The department’s Environmental Impact Statements (EIS) list five management alternatives for elk and eight for bear.

Dale Williams, big-game committee co-chairman of the Inland Northwest Big Game Council, said his organization likely will recommend the department’s preferred alternatives, with modifications, for management of the animals.

The alternatives range from liberalizing hunting seasons to ending recreational hunting of the species.

Under preferred Alternative 1 for elk management, the department’s strategies calls for:

Developing a sound scientific approach for collecting data.

Increasing the Blue Mountains, Nooksack and Olympic Mountains herds to former population levels and maintaining other herds at current levels.

Increasing objectives for bull/cow ratios through greater hunting restrictions.

No hunting during the peak of the breeding seasons, except under special circumstances.

Evaluation of the potential for increasing elk populations in Ferry, Pend Oreille and Stevens counties.

Under Alternative 2, the current hunting season format and regulations would remain unchanged. Alternative 3 is similar to Alternative 1, except that a permit-only system would be used to regulate hunting. Alternative 4 also is similar to Alternative 1, but regulations would be more liberal. Under Alternative 5, recreational hunting would be banned.

The alternatives for bear management also range from continuing the present management program to ending the general black bear hunting seasons.

Preferred Alternative 1 continues the existing management program while incorporating modified and new strategies. The current 55-day general fall hunting season for Eastern Washington would be continued; a new transport tag would be developed and hunters would be required to submit a harvest report; the use of bait and hounds would be allowed, and an August pursuit-only season would be provided.

The department says in the EIS that the black-bear population may increase slightly under the Alternative 1 plan; that hunting opportunity will increase, and more emphasis would be placed on preventing illegal sale of bear body parts and poaching.

Under Alternative 2, the current management program would continue. The department says the bear population would drop and that illegal sale and trade of bear body parts and poaching may increase.

The state’s bear population could decline under Alternative 3, which calls for an increase in bear kills, the department says. If Alternative 4 is chosen, the hunting season in Eastern Washington would be cut from 55 to 38 days and the resident bear tag would be increased from $18 to $24. Nearly 1,000 fewer bears would be taken.

Alternative 5 calls for the end of baiting to hunt bears; Alternative 6 would eliminate the use of hounds; Alternative 7 would prohibit baiting and hound use, and Alternative 8 would end recreational hunting.

A coalition of organizations, some of which are opposed to hunting, is now trying to get enough voter signatures on petitions to put a bait-banning and hound-hunting initiative on November’s ballot.

Written comments should be mailed to Gordon Zillges, Habitat Protection Services Program Manager, 600 Capitol Way North, Olympia, WA. 98501-1091.

, DataTimes MEMO: You can contact Fenton Roskelley by voice mail at 459-5577, extension 3814.

The following fields overflowed: CREDIT = Fenton Roskelley The Spokesman-Review