Dale Magart: Too many predators, not enough prey

By Dale Magart

We have a predator problem, and it continues to get worse with each passing year.

Using Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife numbers, in northeast Washington cougars and wolves kill almost 20,000 deer a year; hunters last year killed an additional 3,600, bringing the annual reduction in deer numbers to more than 23,000. This doesn’t include loss by bear, coyote, bobcat, automobile and others.

Again, using numbers from the state: Starting with 30,000 whitetails at the beginning of the year, of which 19,800 are does, and if you are generous with the fawn survival to add one fawn per doe you wind up with 49,800 available deer, but predators and hunting remove over 23,000 leaving 26,500 to start the next year. Leaving predation numbers the same – unlikely, as wolves are increasing at the rate of 28% a year and cougar populations are also growing – you begin the fourth year with only 11,150.

This should be ringing alarms that our deer herds are unsustainable. Sad to say it appears the Fish and Wildlife commissioners are deaf or wearing earplugs, especially given recent actions like canceling the spring bear hunt and comments by some of the commissioners.

The commission is meeting Thursday through Saturday at Colville’s Spokane Community College at 985 S. Elm St. The public comment period Friday is at 8:30 a.m., and sign-up is required by 8. Saturday’s comment period begins at 8; you need to be signed in by then.

The Northeast Washington Wildlife Group believes the only way to halt this descent further into a “predator pit” is to limit the predator take. Wolves are sacrosanct and with cougar quotas (the department calls them “guidelines”) not being met, that leaves only restricting the harvest by two-legged predators. Options to do this include reducing season lengths, limited entry through draws for permits, antler point restrictions, restricting tags to one side of the state or by management unit, or a combination of these or some other method. None will sit well with hunters.

In all probability, the Department of Fish and Wildlife and the Game Commission will discount all of the above based on the findings coming from the Predator-Prey Project. This study will undoubtedly be considered when policy change is considered and decisions on hunting seasons are made. Back in July, Taylor Ganz, working on her doctorate at the University of Washington and the lead author of the study, said: “The whitetail deer population as it stands is stable.”

This is not what we are hearing from the residents of northeast Washington. Our whitetails are in trouble with the numbers down as much as 50% or more from what they were in 2015. As many of you know, we had a severe outbreak of blue tongue in 2015; 80 deer died within the city limits of Colville alone. In 2021, we again had blue tongue strike, this time the WDFW estimated 30% of our whitetails died. According to Colville Public Works, they removed over 160 carcasses from within the city.

There are three other facts to consider:

• The whitetail harvest in 2021 in District No. 1 – which covers Ferry, Stevens, and Pend Oreille counties – was 3,600, a record low.

• The 2015 harvest was close to 8,000 – after the blue tongue outbreak.

• Harvest numbers generally parallel population numbers.

How can Ganz claim that our whitetail population is stable then? The answer lies in the time frame of the study. Taylor Ganz started her research in 2017; whitetail harvest that year was 5,055, down 3,000 deer from 2015. Our deer numbers were down 37% when she started her study.

And, the timing of when it ended means the study’s findings don’t necessarily include the full context, said Melia DeVivo, a Department of Fish and Wildlife research scientist. “Ganz’s field research ended before the EHD and blue tongue outbreaks last summer (2021),” she said. EHD is epizootic hemorrhagic disease, a viral

Ganz’s study is faulty. She took the high numbers off the front and did not consider the low numbers following her “research.” And, with that, she claims, “The whitetail population as it stands is stable.”

The Northeast Washington Wildlife Group urges all: Go to the commission meeting and let them hear what you are seeing and the fear that many of you express regarding your children, self and your animals. If you cannot attend in person, you can comment virtually at wdfw.wa.gov/about/commission/meetings/public-testimony.

Without change in management policies, it is only going to get worse. With less wildlife to prey on, there will be more domestic depredation and increased danger to our children and selves.

Dale Magart is the secretary of the Northeast Washington Wildlife Group, a nonprofit organization that promotes hunting, fishing, recreation and conservation and is concerned about wildlife and fish management. Magart was born and raised in Chewelah and has lived outside of Deer Park for more than 40 years.