Rich Landers: Study the issues before picking sides

Predators are the biggest game in the Northwest this week:

“The Washington Legislature just passed a bill to extend a three-year pilot program on hound hunting for cougars in Chelan, Okanogan, Ferry, Stevens and Pend Oreille counties.

“The Idaho Fish and Game Commission is meeting today to launch the state’s wolf management plan, which includes wolf hunting.

“Meanwhile, the issues are cash cows for extremists, ranging from animal rights groups on one side to the anti-wolf groups preying on the emotion.

Defenders of Wildlife and the Humane Society of the United States are tugging on heartstrings in the pursuit of donations, claiming that Idaho wolves are going to be slaughtered and Washington lawmakers are shooting down the will of the people who voted against hunting cougars with hounds.

At least one Idaho anti-wolf group – saveourelk.org – is manufacturing myths and trying to smear the wolf as a savage beast that – you may be horrified by this – uses its teeth to kill its prey.

Duh.

The refuge in this jungle of passion is the much maligned profession of wildlife management. You can stay in the dark by throwing your money at the anti-groups who depend on sensationalism for their causes and coffers. Or you can see the light by studying what the scientists have learned.

Wolf reintroduction has been wildly successful. Time has come for managing their numbers to tame the critics, address the livestock losses and assure long-term public acceptance.

Washington’s cougar issue is a case in point.

Donny Martorello, Washington’s carnivore manager, worked his heart out in Olympia the past few weeks giving lawmakers the facts on managing cougars.

The emotion-charged 1996 initiative that banned the use of hounds took a valuable tool away from wildlife managers. Within a year, the number of public complaints about cougar encounters began to skyrocket.

The Washington Fish and Wildlife was being forced to spend huge amounts of staff time and money hunting down problem cougars – with hounds, no less – in a silly duplication of what hunters were previously taking care of, and paying the bill, to boot.

“We’ve collected a lot of data in the pilot program and the agency believes that controlled hunting using hounds is the right way to manage cougars,” Martorello said. “Without dogs, there’s a lot more risk and uncertainty in population management.

“Hunters recognize how hard it would be to manage deer and elk if they didn’t have antlers. That’s the challenge with cats. But a hunter who uses dogs can get close enough to a calm cat in a tree to tell the difference between male and female and young and adult. This advantage gives game managers the flexibility to reach proper population objectives.”

Quote of the moment: “Our goals to manage wolves in Idaho responsibly, realistically, and according to our plan, will never fully satisfy those wanting more wolves, nor will it satisfy those wanting no wolves,” said Cal Groen, Idaho Fish and Game Department director. “But the state of Idaho has promised the nation that wolves are here to stay and we will manage viable and healthy populations.”

Big bucks for bighorns: Hunters with deep pockets and deep commitments to big-game hunting won’t have to worry about the upcoming permit lotteries for bighorn sheep.

Idaho and Washington earned a total of $126,000 for bighorn sheep management by donating a 2008 bighorn hunting permit from each state to the annual auction conducted by the Foundation for North American Wild Sheep on Feb. 8 in Salt Lake City.

“Frank Miles of Cecil Lake, British Columbia, bid $65,000, the most paid for an Idaho bighorn sheep auction permit that didn’t allow hunting in Hells Canyon. The highly-valued Hells Canyon hunt is rotated each year between the auction tag sold at the national convention and the lottery tag sold by the sheep foundation’s Idaho chapter.

In 2005, the Idaho permit allowing the auction bidder to hunt anywhere in Idaho including Hells Canyon brought in a record $180,000.

“Ken Trudell of Green Bay, Wis., bid $61,000 for the Washington tag. Trudell, a long-time supporter of the foundation’s conservation work, paid $46,000 for the 2004 Idaho permit and $100,000 for the 2007 Idaho permit.

“Overall since 1977, FNAWS has raised about $70 million for bighorn sheep conservation. The state auction permits have accounted for more than $40 million starting in 1982 with a permit offered by Wyoming and growing to include permits from 17 states, three provinces and three states in Mexico.

Elk value rising: At the price of limited opportunity, Washington is being noticed for producing big bull elk. A special bull elk tag valid on any open lands in Eastern Washington sold for $65,000 at the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation fundraiser Feb. 24 in Reno, Nev.

Park your guns: Rep. Norm Dicks, D-Wash., has vowed to block Bush administration efforts to lift the current ban on carrying loaded weapons in national parks.

Being the chairman of the House Appropriations interior subcommittee and overseeing the National Parks Service’s annual budget, Dicks is in position to stop the NRA-crafted plan to allow visitors to pack loaded guns in parks such as Yellowstone that do not allow hunting.

But if you fear grizzly bears, you can still arm yourself legally with pepper spray, which has already been proved to be far more effective than handguns in deterring bear attacks.