August 1, 2014 — The Washington Fish and Wildlife Commission today denied a petition filed by eight conservation groups seeking to limit when wolves can be killed in response to livestock depredations, and to require livestock producers to exhaust nonlethal measures to prevent depredations before lethal action can be taken. The petition was filed to prevent lethal actions such as the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife’s 2012 decision to kill seven wolves in the Wedge Pack despite the fact that the livestock producer who had lost livestock had taken little action to protect his stock. Petitioners plan to appeal the commission’s decision to the governor.
In Washington, Opposition Mounts to Notorious Federal Program’s Attempt to Grab Wolf-killing Powers
January 16, 2014 — Eight conservation groups representing tens of thousands of Washington residents filed official comments today opposing a controversial federal agency’s attempt to give itself authority to kill endangered wolves in the state. In December the U.S. Department of Agriculture/ APHIS Wildlife Services published a draft “environmental assessment” proposing to broaden its authority to assist the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife killing wolves in response to livestock depredations.
Mr. Cady Goes to Washington or Ten Bears and Josey Talk Wolves
By Bob Ferris I grew up in the 1950s and 1960s and watched Westerns with my dad. We liked the action, wildness and, at times, the messaging contained in the films about cowboys, mountain men, desperados and the first folks in the Americans. Somewhere in the proteinaceous filing cabinets of my brain I am … Continue reading Mr. Cady Goes to Washington or Ten Bears and Josey Talk Wolves
On Becoming a Wolf Activist—Do the wolf waltz
By Bob Ferris “Silence in the face of injustice is complicity with the oppressor.” Ginetta Sagan The title of a recent opinion piece in a Utah paper nailed it: Making War on Wolves. Because what we are seeing out there is truly a war waged on a wildlife species. And like with most wars … Continue reading On Becoming a Wolf Activist—Do the wolf waltz
State of Washington Petitioned to Better Protect Wolves: Seven Groups Ask State Wildlife Agency to Follow, Enforce Wolf Plan
July 19, 2013 — In an effort to stop the indiscriminate killing of Washington’s wolves, seven conservation groups filed a petition today calling for the state’s Fish and Wildlife Commission to make the state’s wolf-management guidelines legally binding. The new push to codify provisions put in place in 2011 comes after the state killed seven Wedge Pack wolves last year — a decision that ignored Washington Wolf Conservation and Management Plan provisions governing when lethal control of wolves is allowed.
USFWS Draft Wolf Delisting Rule Exit Strategy not Recovery Plan
Statement of Cascadia Wildlands: We are exceedingly disappointed in the Obama Administration, Department of Interior and US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) for abandoning science and the intent of the Endangered Species Act in their draft delisting proposal of the gray wolf in the lower 48 states. The USFWS's pandering to the livestock lobby … Continue reading USFWS Draft Wolf Delisting Rule Exit Strategy not Recovery Plan
WDFW and the Wedge Pack—Not a Class Act
By Bob Ferris People who teach in a classroom understand that the game is won or lost and the tone set extremely early in the process. Setting and communicating clear boundaries and expectations on that first day of class can help head off problems and save a lot time and energy on corrective actions. By … Continue reading WDFW and the Wedge Pack—Not a Class Act
General Response to Joe Greene
[Editor's note: When the New 49er's griped about the bias of scientists involved in the public advisory committee for suction dredging in California, the State eventually acquiesced allowed the New 49ers to invite two people with science degrees from their camp. They selected Joe Greene and Claudia Wise retired EPA scientists from Oregon and current … Continue reading General Response to Joe Greene
Dredging Up The Truth
By Bob Ferris With every complicated, science-based issue we seem to tackle, from climate change to wolves and from forestry to diesel particulates, there seems to be a handful of slide-rule era-educated, contrarian scientists who pull themselves up from the depths of retirement to confuse the issue. These self-proclaimed mavens generally have some credentials, but not the … Continue reading Dredging Up The Truth
Suction Dredging…Sucks
By Bob Ferris My access point to my career in the conservation field came originally from fish. I caught my first trout on the Eel River in northern California while my family was on their way to visit the 1962 World’s Fair in Seattle. As we were on our way north, my mother grudgingly … Continue reading Suction Dredging…Sucks