Page 14 - WCA Ketch Pen August 2020

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Congressman Newhouse and the Secretary Bernhardt cer- tainly corrected the fumble that previous Interior Secretary Zinke had made by giving life back to the possibility of a plan several years ago. We have faced this before and will likely face it again if a new Democrat administration takes over the Oval office. Here are my thoughts on why we don’t need to reintroduce grizzlies into the North Cascade ecosys- tem.
1. I question whether there ever was a large grizzly bear population and the plan would have added up to 200 bears over a multiple year reintroduction with no assurance that a Sec 10j of the ESA would have been in place to deal with problem bears. My feelings are let the bears repopulate the area naturally, then the chance of problem bears in negligible.
2. I live in an area that has federally listed anadromous fish and wolves and I see no end in sight for the pres- sures on farming and ranching to try and recover these species. I don’t want to deal with another major apex predator. These listing have turned into money pits for supporters and biologists to make long term jobs with little benefit to the species listed.
3. WDFW came out against reintroduction of grizzlies and rightly so, State law forbid them from participat- ing.
4. The language in the plan was intentionally vague to lull people into thinking all would be hunky dory with reintroduction. Words like ‘could’, ‘may’ or ‘maybe’ do not instill much confidence from me that I, or other ranchers, would not be thrown under the bus if a problem bear were to attack cattle, or worse yet, a family.
5. If the plan were to go ahead, it is likely that some federal judge would get involved sooner or later and be a singular voice on how to proceed, most likely to our chagrin. That is why it is important to advo- cate for a Republican President and Senate to keep reforming the federal judiciary in our favor.
The WCA and other organizations was very active in derailing the debacle of grizzly reintroduction in the North Cascades. I have always felt, that if you wish to sit at home and not belong to an organization like WCA, you will soon find just how many political decisions are made to make your life difficult at best. There are a whole lot of folks con- stantly scheming to make ranching unprofitable, so we must be just as determined to make our lives easier by remaining politically active and savvy.
Comment by Jerry Barnes, WCA Member Okanogan County
It was welcomed news that the Department of the In- terior has dropped plans to reintroduce grizzly bears into
our area of Northwest Okanogan County. We are dealing with two apex predators now, and we do not need a third. Our family has only ranched in the Loomis area for 110 years, but we have never known of a grizzly bear encoun- ter, so we really doubt this is grizzly habitat. Sure they occasionally passed through and could move here from BC if they had found suitable habitat. We know the problems our neighbors to the North in the BC interior have and we read in the livestock papers of the human and livestock conflicts in Montana. We sure do not need that here. This struggle has been going on since the early 1990s when
our area was first designated as grizzly recovery habitat. Since that time their researchers have found no evidence of a grizzly bear, only guesses that there must be a small population that can only be saved by importing bears from other states or provinces. It is nice win a small victory although we know it is only temporary as the outsider grizzly advocates and state and national NGOs are already
Pictured after a 2018 meeting in Washington DC regard- ing grizzly relocation: Dave Eliason (2018 PLC President), John O’Keefe (Oregon Cattlemens), Nathan Jackson (2018 OCA President), Ashley Kohls (2018 Minnesota Cattlemen’s EVP), Jerome Rosa (2018 OCA Executive), Past Secretary Zinke, Bob Skinner (PLC), Niels Hansen. Sarah Ryan (past WCA Executive)
judge shopping for an appeal.
Comment by Jeff Dawson, WCA District I Representative
“The latest decision on grizzly bears shows the commit- ment WCA has towards issues that impact its members. While we all deal with individual issues that impact our ranches daily, this situation is the perfect example of what a strong membership can achieve. Sometimes it feels that we are beating our heads against a brick wall and that
the wheels are moving too slowly to gain a win, yet I am confident that we are going to see more. You must remem- ber that you are never alone as a producer; the issues that impact you, are impacting someone else too. By paying our dues, getting involved and working together there is nothing we cannot achieve.”
Ketch Pen www.washingtoncattlemen.org
August 2020