Goats On Decline

Thu., Sept. 21, 2000

From Staff Reports

Washington granted only 38 permits to hunt mountain goats this fall, a big drop from permit numbers of the 1960s and 1970s.

Why the small number of permits? The Fish and Wildlife Department says the goat population has been declining for several years and now totals fewer than 4,000. At one time, there may have been as many as 10,000 goats in the Cascades.

“The long-term decline, even with a conservative harvest, suggests that mountain goat habitat conditions are deteriorating, Donny Marterello, special species section manager for the agency, says in a department publication.

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