WA hunters need your help

[Machias]

Please send the following in an e-mail to:

commission@dfw.wa.gov


Comparing Washington to Idaho, Montana, Oregon, Wyoming

By averaging the data for the northern rocky mountain gray wolf recovery states and by comparing the number of Breeding Pairs (BP’s) required by the Idaho, Montana, Oregon, and Wyoming wolf plans, we can make a comparison with the proposed Washington Wolf Plan.

• Washington has proposed 15 Breeding Pairs (BP’s). The wolf plans in 4 other Northern Rocky Mountain wolf recovery states is as follows: Idaho 15 BP’s, Montana 15 BP’s, Oregon 4 BP’s, and Wyoming 10 BP’s. That’s 44 breeding pairs or an average of 11 Breeding Pairs (BP’s) per state.

• According to the US Census Bureau with 44 million acres Washington is much smaller than Idaho, Montana, Oregon, or Wyoming. Idaho has 53.4 million acres, Montana 94.1 million acres, Oregon 62.2 million acres, and Wyoming 62.6 million acres. That’s over 272 million acres in the other 4 states which are managing for 44 Breeding Pairs. That’s an average of 6.2 million acres for each Breeding Pair in the other 4 states. Considering that Washington has only 44 million acres the Washington Wolf Plan should require 7 Breeding Pairs. So how can Washington sustain 15 BP’s? http://www.census.gov/compendia/statab/ ... 2s0369.pdf

• Washington’s human population is 6,725,000 which is almost equal to the population of the other 4 states combined. Idaho has 1,568,000 people, Montana 989,000, Oregon 3,831,000 and Wyoming 564,000. How can Washington sustain 15 BP’s? http://www.census.gov/compendia/statab/ ... 2s0016.pdf

• According to the Census Bureau statistics, Washington’s smaller size and higher human population results in 3 to 17 times more people per square mile as ID, MT, OR, WY. Washington has 101.2 people per square mile, Idaho 19.0, Montana 6.8, Oregon 39.9, and Wyoming 5.8. How can Washington sustain 15 BP’s? http://www.census.gov/compendia/statab/ ... 2s0014.pdf

• Census Bureau statistics indicate Washington has 1,063,000 people living on rural private lands. That is 2 to 6 times the human population on rural private lands in the other 4 states. Idaho has only 434,000 rural residents, Montana 414,000, Oregon 727,000, and Wyoming 172,000. How can Washington’s private lands that have a much higher human population sustain more wolves than private lands in these other states? http://www.census.gov/compendia/statab/ ... 2s0029.pdf

• One of the Most Important Comparisons! According to the National Wilderness Institute, Washington has 15.5 million acres of state and federal public lands for wolves to inhabit. This is less than half of Idaho’s 35.2 million acres, Montana’s 32.5 million acres, or Wyoming’s 34 million acres. Washington even has less public lands than Oregon’s 19.4 million acres and Oregon’s plan only calls for 4 BP’s. The other 4 states have a total of 121 million acres of public lands for 44 BP’s, that’s 2.75 million acres per Breeding Pair in the other states. Washington’s 15.5 million acres at that same rate can only support 6 Breeding pairs. Why does the WDFW think our much smaller amount of public land can support more than twice the wolves the other states can support? http://www.nrcm.org/documents/publiclandownership.pdf

• The Final Important Comparison! Washington’s elk herd at the WDFW inflated figure of 61,000, is still much smaller than the herds of Idaho at 103,000, Montana’s 150,000+, Oregon’s 130,000, and Wyoming’s 120,000. In fact the other 4 states herds total 503,000 to support 44 BP’s, that’s 11,430 elk per breeding pair of wolves in the other states. By those standards Washington’s 61,000 elk can support 5 breeding pairs. How can the WDFW think Washington’s elk herds can support 3 times as many wolves as the other 4 states? http://www.rmef.org/Hunting/Features/Articles/

[Doogie]

Sent one bud, I forwarded a copy to my relatives in WA