Methow Valley In An Uproar Over Numerous Kills

The rifle shot that killed a bull elk at a state winter feeding station near Yakima in 1995 is reverberating through the Methow Valley.

In the past two months, the shot killed at least 19 mule deer on their winter range.

More deer, elk, and maybe even moose are sure to fall.

The shot was fired by Donald Buchanan, a Nooksack Indian who ventured east of the Cascades a few years ago to push his luck and the law regarding tribal treaty rights.

Buchanan was arrested, but his attorneys convinced district and appellate courts that some 20 tribes involved in 1855 treaties have the right to hunt big game on public lands throughout the state.

That’s a major change.

For decades, Washington has interpreted the treaties as restricting hunting and fishing rights to “usual and customary” territory.

Few of the Western Washington tribes traditionally ventured east of the Cascades to hunt.

Of course, they never had to travel far for food before whites brought the progress that crippled their salmon runs.

Bouyed by the Buchanan decisions, some West Side hunters from the Tulalip and Lummi tribes ventured into Eastern Washington this fall and winter for the first time.

Most of the hunting occurred on the 28,000-acre state-owned Methow Wildlife Area after snow had forced the deer onto winter range, where they were easy prey.

The deer were highly visible in the valley, and so were the hunters.

When one hunter from the Bellingham-based Lummi Indian Nation piled bucks in the back of his pickup like firewood, some Methow Valley residents went ballistic.

“This is a brand new issue for us over here,” said Mark Quinn, state regional wildlife manager in Ephrata.

The timing has something to do with the uproar.

Non-Indian hunters last fall were dealt the shortest general mule deer season ever. Just nine days. Only bucks with three points or more were legal. No antlerless permits.

The tribes set their season for six months, ending Feb. 28. A tag entitles a tribal hunter to two deer of any kind.

The Methow herd is mostly migratory. Few of the deer were down from the high country before the state season was over.

Once the snow piled in, you could see deer from virtually any road.

“The Indian hunting isn’t a major conservation issue this year because this appears to be the second mild winter in a row and the deer are making a great comeback,” Quinn said.

The issue at this point is largely philosophical.

The Washington Fish and Wildlife has confirmed the tribal hunters killed about 20 deer, all but two of which were large bucks.

Non-tribal hunters head into the woods for years just for a chance to see a big buck during hunting season.

Non-Indian hunting seasons traditionally end before the deer enter the hardship of winter.

The State Fish and Wildlife Commission apparently can’t confront tribal hunting as a conservation issue unless all hunting for a species or area is prohibited.

Native Americans from Western Washington can get a tribal tag to hunt moose in northeastern Washington. Yet wildlife managers offer a mere 40 permits on a once-in-a-lifetime basis to non-Indian hunters who draw tags in a highly competitive lottery.

The Skagit Valley-based Swinomish Tribe offered moose tags this year, but state officials say they haven’t heard of any hunters coming east to use them.

It’s just a matter of time.

State wildlife officials have been working with tribes to develop a management agreement that would help protect big-game populations from overhunting.

Phil Anderson, the Fish and Wildlife Department’s head negotiator, said 28 tribes have shown some interest but fewer than that have been regular participants in the discussions.

One of the commitments the agreement seeks is tribal harvest reports. Currently only about a dozen tribes in the state are keeping big-game harvest statistics for management purposes, he said.

The Lummi Nation is considered one of the most organized of the treaty tribes regarding hunting regulations and reporting.

Harlan James, the tribe’s hunting coordinator, said he has issued 222 tags for the ongoing deer season. Each tag is valid for two deer. The tribe has 52 designated hunters, who can fill tags for other Indians.

In previous years, when the tribe was limited to hunting the 400-series game management units in Western Washington, the take wasn’t high. In 1995-96, the tribe issued 165 tags and recorded a harvest of 22 deer, James said.

“We weren’t very successful because of the areas open to us,” he said. “It should benefit the tribe substantially to have access to areas in Eastern Washington.”

Indeed, tribal hunters killed as many deer in a few Methow Valley hunts as they did during the entire season in 1995-96.

“We realize that a few hunters filling so many tags at once creates bad PR,” James said, adding that the tribe probably will limit a hunter to shooting no more than two deer at a time.

“That way a hunter doesn’t fill up a truck with deer like one of our hunters did.”

The state Supreme Court currently is considering the Buchanan ruling. Unless the justices overturn the lower court decisions, the Buchanan shot will echo again and again and again.