Public review of the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) and Draft Wolf Conservation and Management Plan, as required under the State Environmental Policy Act (SEPA), will begin on October 5, 2009.
A series of public meetings will be held in October and November, (see schedule at the WDFW website), with the public comment period continuing through January 8, 2010.
This is the public’s opportunity to meet with WDFW staff and give input to the draft plan prior to the release of the final version.
The content of the plan is published on the WDFW website for review prior to the meetings. A minimum goal of 15 breeding pairs of wolves would be neccessary to remove the wolf from the Washington endangered species list.
The gray wolf (Canis lupus) is the most widely distributed of all land mammals and one of the most adaptable. The wolf’s ability to survive in a variety of habitats, including forests, tundra, mountains, swamps and deserts, mimics our own ability to adapt, leading to our long complex history.
Tens of thousands of years ago, humans began the domestication of the gray wolf. As we migrated around the globe, a variety of dog types developed, each type exhibiting certain traits of the wolf while suppressing other wolf behaviors. While domesticated dogs provided early humans with guard animals, sources of food and fur and beasts of burden, wolves themselves provided a more complicated relationship.
Many Native American tribes consider wolves to be spiritually important, even including them in their creation stories. These tribes respect wolves for their close-knit pack relationships, intelligence and hunting skills.
Wolves were generally revered by the tribes who survived by hunting but were feared by those who survived through agriculture. Some tribes such as the Numamiut of northern Alaska respected the wolf’s skill as a hunter and attempted to emulate the wolf’s ways in order to successfully hunt down prey. The Tanaina of Alaska believed that wolves were once men and viewed them as brothers.
However, wolves were not always portrayed positively in Native American cultures. The Naskapis believed that a caribou’s afterlife was guarded by giant wolves, which killed careless hunters venturing too near. Wolves were feared by the Tsilhqot’in, who believed that contact with wolves would result in nervous illness or death. Early settlers in America, also learned to fear the wolf from folklore and myth and carried it with them to the Pacific Northwest. The gray wolf, once widespread throughout Washington State, was eliminated by the 1930’s by trapping, poisoning and shooting.
Wolf recovery and Management in Washington State
After more than seventy-year absence, the gray wolf is returning to Washington. Reports of wolves have been steadily increasing in north-eastern and north-central Washington and in the Blue Mountains in the south east. In 2008 and 2009, breeding packs of wolves were confirmed in two locations in Washington: the “Lookout Pack” in Okanogan County, and the “Diamond Pack” in Pend Oreille County.
In 1973, gray wolf populations in the 48 U.S. states were listed as endangered under the federal Endangered Species Act, which made it illegal to kill, harm, or harass the species In Washington state, wolves were listed as endangered under state law in 1980.
Wolf Policy Update
Congress passed legislation on April 14th to delist Rocky Mountain gray wolves in Idaho and Montana, and in Washington. While all Idaho and Montana wolves will be managed by their state agencies, Washington wolves will be split into two management zones: wolves in the eastern third of Washington no longer have federal protection; wolves in the western portion of the state, namely the Lookout Pack, are not affected by the new law and will remain a federal listed species.
The Salmo and Diamond Packs, will continue to be listed as state endangered. Washington State law “protects endangered species from hunting, possession, malicious harassment, and killing, with penalties described ….” It also specifies state listing and delisting procedures for endangered, threatened, and sensitive species in Washington.
Photo by William Cambell USFWS
In 2007, the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife began developing a conservation and management plan to address wolf conservation in Washington, in cooperation with a governor appointed Wolf Working Group. The Washington Wolf Working Group includes stakeholders from livestock, timber, sportsmen, local government, recreation, and conservation interests. The plan will be presented to the Washington Fish and Wildlife Commission for consideration (see new timeline). Since January of 2010, the WDFW has received over 60,000 comments and can be reviewed at WDFW’s website.
Transplanting wolves is not part of the recovery plan as wolves are likely to come in on their own from Canada and neighboring states like Idaho.
To assist in wolf conservation and management efforts in Washington State, please report all suspected wolf and wolf track sightings to the Wolf Reporting Hotline at 888-584-9038.
Photo courtesy of USFWS, a Kenai Alaska wolf
To report a suspected livestock conflict, notify the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife for eastern Washington or for western Washington contact the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service at 360-753-9440. Both sides of the state can also call the USDA Wildlife Services at 360-753-9884 or your local State Patrol office.
Since his “birth” on August 9, 1944, Smokey Bear has been a recognized symbol of conservation and protection of America’s forests. This is a vintage Smokey Bear shoulder patch, photo courtesy of Dennis Ryan.
His message about wildfire prevention has helped to reduce the number of acres burned annually by wildfires, from about 22 million (1944) to an average of 7 million today. Many Americans believe that lightning starts most wildfires. In fact, on average, 9 out of 10 wildfires nationwide are caused by people.
The principle causes are campfires left unattended, trash burning on windy days, arson, careless discarding of smoking materials or BBQ coals, and operating equipment without spark arrestors.
Smokey Bear is the center of the longest-running public service advertising (PSA) campaign in U.S. history. Since 1944, he has been communicating his well-known message, “Only You Can Prevent Forest Fires.”
This is the debut 1944 Smokey poster.
In 2001, the term ‘Wildfires’ was introduced to include all unwanted, unplanned fires in natural areas such as grass fires or brush fires. The Smokey Bear campaign is a critical tool specially designed to ask for every citizen’s conscientious commitment to be responsible with fire.
A new ad campaign encourages young adults to “Get Your Smokey On” – that is, to become like Smokey and speak up when others are acting carelessly.
Primary source: USFS News, Gary C. Chancey, Wayne National Forest
A conservation officer in Prince George, B.C., used his CPR training to save a bear’s life after it was tranquillized. This photo was captured by cell phone camera.
Gary Van Spengen’s conservation team was called to a residential neighbourhood Monday after a female bear was spotted in a tree. A biologist tranquillized the bear while it was up the tree, and after what Van Spengen described as a “soft landing,” the bear stopped breathing after it hit the ground, but still had a heartbeat.
Van Spengen said he has never seen a bear stop breathing after being tranquillized in his 20 years as a conservation officer. “We could tell the heart was still beating … but the chest wasn’t moving at all. I didn’t want to lose this bear because I wanted to get a radio collar on it, so I started doing chest compressions on the bear to try to get air in and out of the lungs,” Van Spengen told CBC Radio’s B.C. Almanac on Tuesday .
While he said he did consider mouth-to-mouth breathing, another component of cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), Van Spengen jokingly said, “[Bears] usually don’t carry breath mints.” Van Spengen said it was similar to doing chest compressions on a person, where the diaphragm is pushed up and down, to move air in and out of the chest cavity.
“I’ve gotten a bit of razzing from it, but it’s all in good fun,” he said. After 10 to 15 minutes, the bear started breathing on her own. After being fitted with a radio collar, the bear was released south of Prince George.
Conservation officers plan to track the bear’s movements as part of a study on the interaction between humans and bears in the area. Van Spengen said this particular bear was a good candidate because it hadn’t started eating garbage, so would not be considered a nuisance bear. “She’s wandering around doing bear things right now, eating and trying to fatten up for the winter,” he said.
Michael Liu hosted an open house for the public at the Winthrop ranger station. He is the new district manager and has 27 years experience with the USFS. Previous postings included Idaho, Montana, California, Colorado and New York. He has seen it all and been exposed to many of the same issues that will require attention in the Okanogan area.
Local stakeholders stopped by to say hello, chat and ask questions. Folks representing the town of Winthrop, logging, snowmobiling, back country horsemen and conservationists were in the mix.
Mike took all questions and responded thoughtfully. For someone who has been on board for only a short time he has taken in a lot about the local issues and the resources that are available to the district. Impressions were he will attempt to strike a balance with issues that tend to be polarizing such as the local wolf pack and controlled burning policies.
