Thorburn doesn’t listen

Dale Magart’s letter of Feb. 18, “Thorburn listens to people,” is a perfect example of the problem with the way the Washington Fish & Wildlife Commission and WDFW develop Washington wildlife management policy. A small minority of people in our state have inequitable control over our state’s wildlife management. This letter just echoes Commissioner Thorburn’s efforts to manufacture scientific “facts” and twist honest debate on important issues of wildlife management into personal attacks and a culture war.

Kim Thorburn hasn’t “listened to the people” in her work as a commissioner. She has ignored the voices of the majority of Washingtonians and WDFW’s own scientists and staff who must implement these policies.

Her contention that there is an anti-hunting ideology underlying efforts to ensure that Washington State wildlife policies are developed based on scientific and ethical principles is nonsense. Her inflammatory rhetoric does nothing to represent the majority of Washington citizens or to help find common ground to develop ethical and reasoned wildlife policy.

Chris Bachman and Claire Loebs Davis did not attack Kim Thorburn and did not “vilify” hunting in their recent Spokesman-Review guest opinions. They were giving voice to the great majority of Washington State voters and taxpayers and I thank them for that.

Ron Reed

Spokane