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Frank
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Frank
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PostTue Oct 03, 2006 3:23 pm 
For you people who have seen wolves in Washington WDFW NEWS RELEASE Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife 600 Capitol Way North, Olympia, WA 98501-1091 http://wdfw.wa.gov/ October 3, 2006 Contact: Rocky Beach, (360) 902-2510 WDFW seeks nominees for working group on wolf conservation and management plan OLYMPIA - The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) is seeking nominations for a citizen working group that will guide the department in developing a conservation and management plan for gray wolves in Washington. The new group will consist of 14 members chosen by WDFW Director Jeff Koenings to represent a broad range of interests, including wildlife conservation, agriculture and hunting. A separate technical advisory group will also be formed to provide information and expertise to the citizen working group. "We know that people have a variety of perspectives on wolves," Koenings said. "We want to make sure this new working group reflects those various viewpoints. My goal is to involve those potentially affected by a resident wolf population in the department's decision-making process. We want to listen and learn." Nominations to the working group are due to WDFW by 5 p.m., Oct. 30. Any individual or group may submit a nomination addressed to: Jeff Koenings, Director, Attn: Wolf Working Group, Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, 600 Capitol Way N, Olympia, WA 98501-1091. Nominations may also be submitted by FAX (360-902-2947) or emailed to goldeimg@dfw.wa.gov . More information on the nomination process is available at http://wdfw.wa.gov/wlm/wolves/wolfwkgrp_process.htm or by calling (360) 902-2510. Although gray wolves were largely eradicated in Washington by the 1930s, sightings have increased since federal recovery efforts were initiated in Idaho and Montana in the mid-1990s. The success of those efforts has prompted the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to propose removing gray wolf populations in three states and parts of four other states-including Washington-from the federal list of endangered species. The Washington Fish and Wildlife Commission has listed the gray wolf as a state endangered species and-as with all state endangered and threatened species-a plan must be developed to identify target population objectives and appropriate conservation and management strategies. Additionally, the plan will address wolf management in the state after the species is removed from the federal list of endangered species. "If gray wolves are de-listed by the federal government, the main difference will be that Washington and other western states will have the primary responsibility for managing their wolf populations," Koenings said. "We need to prepare for that possibility by developing a conservation and management plan that works for people and wildlife." A draft plan is scheduled for completion by Dec. 30, 2007, with the final plan due by June 30, 2008. Nominations for the working group should include the nominee's name, address, telephone number and email address; specific experience; reasons for applying; views on how an member should work with WDFW and other group members; and the methods her or she would use to communicate with WDFW and the public. Koenings said nominees should be available to attend approximately six working group meetings per year, beginning as early as December 2006 and lasting into 2008. WDFW will provide financial assistance with meeting-related travel costs to working group members who request it. This message has been sent to the WDFW All Information mailing list. Visit the WDFW News Release Archive at: http://wdfw.wa.gov/do/newreal/ To UNSUBSCRIBE from this mailing list: http://wdfw.wa.gov/lists/unsubscribe.htm

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Backpacker Joe
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Backpacker Joe
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PostTue Oct 03, 2006 6:58 pm 
Some years back I was trying to sleep at Circle lake when out of the blue this howling started. Sounded like 10+ animals and they were not coyotes. These howls were very deep and loud. I've hear coyotes many times before that these weren't that. It lasted 20 minutes and made for an unsettling night.

"If destruction be our lot we must ourselves be its author and finisher. As a nation of freemen we must live through all time or die by suicide." — Abraham Lincoln
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yew
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yew
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PostTue Oct 03, 2006 7:09 pm 
where's Circle Lake
Backpacker Joe: Where's Circle Lake? You think they were wolves?

"I aint jokin woman, I got to ramble...We gonna go walkin through the park every day." - Led Zeppelin
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Dave Workman
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Dave Workman
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PostTue Oct 03, 2006 7:38 pm 
PIB: I'll actually go you one better. Three years ago, on opening morning of elk season on the southeast side of the Devil's Table, I actually saw two wolves, tracking along behind a cow elk about 200 yards from where I was sitting under a tree, out of sight. I watched them for several minutes through my binoculars so I had a pretty good look at them. The following Monday, I called a guy I know at WDFW and told him about it. His response: "Well, they're not ours." My reply: "Well, if they're not yours, who the hell do they belong to, and what are they doing there?" He said there had been reports now and then of some wolves in the area.

"The essential American soul is hard, isolate, stoic, and a killer. It has never yet melted." - D.H. Lawrence
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yew
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yew
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PostTue Oct 03, 2006 8:11 pm 
whoa!
PIB & Mr Workman: Wow, those are very significant sightings! How come not more has not come of these sightings? Maybe it's best if any transient wolf populations stay hush-hush so people who hate & fear wolves don't freak out?

"I aint jokin woman, I got to ramble...We gonna go walkin through the park every day." - Led Zeppelin
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jenjen
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PostTue Oct 03, 2006 9:06 pm 
I had a wolf show up in my brush line last year - in Maple Falls. A call to Fish and Game confirmed that wolves are indeed present in the North Cascades. And it's not uncommon for them to range long distances.

If life gives you melons - you might be dyslexic
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Backpacker Joe
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Backpacker Joe
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PostTue Oct 03, 2006 10:12 pm 
yew_betula wrote:
Backpacker Joe: Where's Circle Lake? You think they were wolves?
Krazie avatar guy, yes I believe they were wolves. I didnt see any, but 20 minutes earlier I saw two families of goats trekking the ridge line above me. Could have been after them.

"If destruction be our lot we must ourselves be its author and finisher. As a nation of freemen we must live through all time or die by suicide." — Abraham Lincoln
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Grinch
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Grinch
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PostWed Oct 04, 2006 7:57 am 
Spotted a wolf in Horseshoe Basin up in the Pasayten. Though I wasn't able to check, I'm sure it was a Canadian wolf that had crossed the border illegally.

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Backpacker Joe
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Backpacker Joe
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PostWed Oct 04, 2006 8:00 am 
Drugs. Canadian bud. That must be the answer. Wolf runners. What will they think of next? moon.gif

"If destruction be our lot we must ourselves be its author and finisher. As a nation of freemen we must live through all time or die by suicide." — Abraham Lincoln
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Dave Workman
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Dave Workman
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PostWed Oct 04, 2006 8:46 am 
yew_betula wrote:
PIB & Mr Workman: Wow, those are very significant sightings! How come not more has not come of these sightings? Maybe it's best if any transient wolf populations stay hush-hush so people who hate & fear wolves don't freak out?
I don't know that the ones I spotted are "transient." If WDFW had gotten other reports about wolves in that area, my guess is they've been there a while. Their presence doesn't bother me unless somebody squawks and tries to shut down my access to a hunting area. Local ranchers might not like it. Less said the better, I suspect. But that was three years ago. Couldn't say where they are now.

"The essential American soul is hard, isolate, stoic, and a killer. It has never yet melted." - D.H. Lawrence
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aestivate
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PostWed Oct 04, 2006 11:32 am 
I think it's just a matter of time before there are acknowledged resident wolf packs in the N Cascades. Wolves have a much higher reproductive rate than that other nearly-extirpated carnivore, the grizzly bear, and the Yellowstone and Idaho reintroductions certainly suggest that if you give 'em an inch or two they'll take twelve. What is actually interesting is the fact that people pretty much eliminated them from the west at one point. It makes one appreciate how many guns, how much poison, it took, to do the job. All it really seems to take to bring 'em back is a somewhat more benign attitude on the part of the public, a modest level of protection, and a small founder population. It would be interesting to know where these wolves came from. I doubt they made it here from the Idaho populations. It will also be interesting to see where the population ends up. My speculaton is, the wolves will do much better on the E side. More ungulates there for them. There *are* wolves on the wild parts of the BC coast (see http://www.raincoast.org/proj-wolves/index.shtml ) but it seems a really niche habitat from the perspective of wolves worldwide.

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