A poacher who had been hired in the past to kill bears on tree farms in Washinton state makes a good point. The Washingon Department of Fish and Wildlife has continued to allow tree farmers to kill bears when they sometimes eat the bark on their trees. Initiative 655 made it illegal to hound and kill bears but a there are loopholes so they can kill “problem bears.” It is illegal to bait bears for hunting but there have been tree stumps found filled with grease and it’s clear that bear hunters are baiting them and being asked to just kill any of the bears in some of the most barbaric ways. We warn that the video that was included in this article may be disturbing for some to watch.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YCSpUil4YdI&feature=youtu.be
A man charged in one of Washington’s largest poaching rings is breaking his silence, but not to defend himself or explain his side of the story.
Lifelong hound hunter Eddie Dills is accusing the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife of the same crimes that might send him to jail someday.
In 2017, WDFW charged Dills as part of a group responsible for poaching more than a hundred animals, including elk, deer, bobcat and bear. Wildlife police claim he used dogs to hunt, a practice banned by voters in the 1990s. He didn’t pay for proper permits, either. Officers discovered dozens of deer and elk carcasses left to rot, and later found their heads taken for trophies.
Dills says he would never leave deer to rot as wasted food, but won’t say much about poaching bears. He won’t confirm or deny his involvement in graphic cell phone video obtained by WDFW that shows bears in the last few seconds of their lives — before hunters fire shots, sending black balls of fur toppling dozens of feet to barking dogs below.
“I can’t go into that. There have been a lot of lies told to get us into that,” Dills said.
Though Dills admits he’s not sure anyone will believe him, he argues that he’s being charged with a crime the state is committing: hunting bears indiscriminately with the use of hounds.
Initiative 655 outlawed hound hunting as well as using bait to hunt bears and cougars. In a two-year-long investigation, however, KING 5 has learned about a secret bear hunt that uses both practices behind locked gates on timber farms each spring.
A loophole in I-655 allows baiting and hound hunting to continue if used by agents of the state to target problem animals, though baiting is only allowed with snaring, not hound hunting.
Hundreds of documents requested through public records reveal a different story from WDFW, who permits timber farms to contract with hunters to remove bears that peel trees for food. When they peel the trees, they peel away profits. But in hundreds of documents obtained by KING 5, it’s clear the state’s own staff thinks the hunting program is being abused against the spirit of the law. Hound hunters working for timber farms aren’t targeting bears that damage trees. They’re killing any bear that’s nearby.
Internal staff complaints about the Bear Timber Depredation Management (BTDM) program reveal years of ignored efforts to bring it into compliance with the law.
“They’re accusing us of these horrifying inhumane crimes yet the game department is allowing the timber companies to do exactly the same thing. There’s no way that’s right,” Dills said. “Why am I being accused of this and they’re doing it and getting away with it?”
Dills is talking about the annual state-sanctioned bear hunts using dogs, often behind locked gates, deep in commercial tree stands.
In some years, WDFW has authorized the killing of about 300 bears. In 2016, 86 bears were killed in the name of timber damage. Most of the hunts occur in concentrated spots, leaving critics to wonder the effects of taking 20 percent of an area’s bears in just a few weeks.
Hundreds of internal documents obtained through public disclosure show WDFW is experiencing a bear mutiny as staff members grow more frustrated when each timber hunting season comes and goes with little if any significant change.
WDFW’s own staff criticizes management for doing nothing while companies like Weyerhaeuser use the legal loophole to create a “large hunting ground,” according to staff emails. They describe it less like a damage control program and more like an exclusive hunting season that defies the law while unfairly allowing a small group of privileged hunters an opportunity that the public is denied.
WDFW managers told KING 5 in 2017 that fewer bears meant fewer problems, so timber farms have received kill permits for the previous year’s damage, before bears even damage trees. Game Division manager, Anis Aoude, called it good customer service.
New management appears to be more cautious.
Dan Brinson, formerly with the state’s wildlife police force, took the reins on the program a year ago.
“I thought I have my work cut out for me and my team here at headquarters as well as all the conflict specialists out in the field,” Brinson said.
When asked how it’s going so far, Brinson replied, “Slower than I’d hoped.”
Though no significant changes have been made to the hunting permits, one thing is different this year. At the writing of this article, no historical damage permits have been issued. Brinson says they’ve stopped the practice of giving timber companies kill permits on damage from a previous year. The damage must be new.
Brinson also plans to create a group of stakeholders similar to the Wolf Advisory Group. That group has yet to meet and the chosen mediator is a controversial figure: Donny Martorello. Once the WDFW Wolf Policy Lead, Martorello has been plagued with criticism over his handling of wolves in Washington.
Brinson stands by his choice and his path.
Comments
Pingback: ACCUSED BEAR POACHER BREAKS SILENCE, POINTS FINGER AT WDFW | Protect The Wolves