Cougars' need you to attend a hearing and write letters to Gary Locke(urgent!)

[Guest guest]

Washington's Cougars Need You to Attend a Hearing on September 16th and to

Contact Governor Gary Locke

 

Source-Northwest Animal Rights Network(narn.org)

Please Forward!

 

In November 1996, the citizens of Washington State passed Initiative 655 by

a landslide 63% majority vote. I-655 banned the unfair and unsporting

practices of bear baiting and hound hunting of bears, cougars and bobcats.

Bear baiting allows trophy hunters to leave piles of food in wilderness

areas to attract bears and then shoot them while

they eat. Hound hunting allows trophy hunters to use packs of radio-collared

dogs to chase and “tree” bears, cougars and bobcats. The hunters can then

follow the radio signal to the tree and shoot the animal at close

range.Although I-655 eliminated the unethical practices of baiting and

hounds for “sport” hunting of bears, cougars and bobcats, the initiative

very specifically maintained the authority of the Washington Department of

Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) to use

bait or dogs if needed to deal with “problem” bears or cougars.

In other words, the intent of I-655 was crystal clear: Washington voters

agreed to continue to allow the use of dogs to hunt individual problem bears

or cougars (and did not in any way restrict the ability of the WDFW to do

so), but very decisively proclaimed that they do not accept the use of dogs

for sport hunting of bears or cougars.

 

HOCUS POCUS IN THE LEGISLATURE

 

Just two years after passage of I-655, Washington State legislators began a

concerted effort to weaken or overturn the initiative. In response to media

hype about “dangerous cougars”, pressure from the hound hunting community,

and shameless lobbying by the WDFW, SSB 5001 was passed during the 2000

legislative session. SSB 5001 allows the WDFW to issue permits for hound

hunters to randomly hunt and cull cougar populations in areas where there

are perceived problems with the big cats. In other words, the bill

essentially allows for a return to the practice of using hounds for sport

hunting of cougars. To the bitter end, however, the WDFW insisted that their

plan for implementation of the bill would not let this happen.

 

HOUNDS ONCE AGAIN ON THE TAILS OF WASHINGTON'S COUGARS

 

But now, despite their repeated assurances that hound hunts established

under this legislation would be few in number,

tightly regulated, closely controlled, and only for the purposes of a

“demonstrated public safety need”, the WDFW has

instead come up with an outlandish scheme that has all the elements of a

full-blown trophy hunt.

The WDFW-proposed rules for implementation of SSB 5001 include: hunt areas

and kill quotas will be decided one year in advance; hunt permits will be

issued through a lottery-type system; hunters can keep the hide of any

cougar killed; hunters may be accompanied by a professional guide service;

an unlimited number of “observers” can participate in each hunt; hunt

boundaries can extend up to 22 miles beyond any perceived “problem” area;

and SIXTY-EIGHT (68) cougars

will be killed the first year. SSB 5001 was touted as a “public safety

measure” and the WDFW is calling the proposed hound hunts “public safety

cougar removals”. In fact, their proposal simply and blatantly reinstates

sport hunting of cougars with the use of hounds.

Hound hunts will be used to reduce cougar populations in areas where WDFW

predicts that cougar problems may occur.

 

Large numbers of hunters with dogs will again be traipsing through

Washington’s wilderness. Hunters will have the incentive

to participate in these hunts solely for the opportunity of bagging a trophy

for their living room. And a significant number of

cougars who have caused no problems will be hunted with the unfair and

unsporting practice of hound hunting.

The real clincher to this ill-conceived plan is that it will do nothing to

alleviate the WDFW-perceived “cougar problems” in this

state. There is no scientific evidence that hound hunting of cougars will

diminish the likelihood of human-cougar interactions.

In fact, prominent cougar biologists definitively state that cougar hunting,

with or without hounds, does not decrease the chance

of human-cougar interactions. (Ironically, the two most recent cougar

attacks in Washington State (8/98 and 8/99) occurred in

the area of the state with the highest rate of cougar kills.)

 

WHAT YOU CAN DO:

1. Attend the Fish and Wildlife Commission public hearing regarding

this issue.

The Fish and Wildlife Commission will have final say regarding the WDFW’s

proposed “public safety cougar removal” plan.

They will be taking public comments on the proposal at this meeting. It is

critical that they know there is strong opposition

to this plan. We must pack the hearing room and let them know that

Washington's citizens still care about this isue.

 

MARK YOUR CALENDAR AND PLEASE ATTEND THE HEARING!

Saturday, September 16

Location: Red Lion Hotel, 1225 N. Wenatchee Avenue, Wenatchee, WA

Time: 1pm. Carpools will be leaving Seattle at 10am.

More details regarding the meeting, including carpool information, will

follow in a future email.

 

2. Contact Governor Gary Locke.

Governor Locke fully supported SSB 5001 and signed the bill into law. Let

him know that not only did his support of SSB 5001

undermine citizens’ Initiative 655, but that the WDFW’s proposed “public

safety cougar removal” plan violates the intent of the

bill and therefore further erodes the intent of I-655.

Write to: The Honorable Gary Locke, Office of the Governor, Legislative

Building, PO Box 40002, Olympia, WA 98504-0002

Email: Governor.Locke

Comments must be received by September 8, 2000.

 

3. Send a copy of your comments to the Washington Fish and Wildlife

Commission.

Write to: The Washington Fish and Wildlife Commission, 600 Capitol Way N.,

Olympia, WA 98501

No Email

Comments must be received by September 8, 2000.

To request a copy of the proposed criteria and rules being recommended for

adoption, email: enforcement-web

 

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