https://westernconfluence.org/fair-game/ Natural Resource Science and Management in the West Thu, 18 Jan 2024 23:00:53 +0000 hourly 1 https://westernconfluence.org/fair-game/#comment-140218 Thu, 18 Jan 2024 23:00:53 +0000 https://westernconfluence.org/?p=4107#comment-140218 I am a retired wildlife rehabber worked mostly with waterfowl which is a hunted species. I had been asked several times to attend community meetings regarding wildlife where they were mostly opposed to hunting.
Most were not aware of how the state agencies are funded & I currently live in a state that has tightened their gun laws & most residents do not hunt. I appreciate the fact that there are people
attempting to address better funding & management of all of our wildlife especially since there are
fewer people hunting.

]]> https://westernconfluence.org/fair-game/#comment-140164 Tue, 16 Jan 2024 21:46:03 +0000 https://westernconfluence.org/?p=4107#comment-140164 Whenever I see the word “management” used by state wildlife agencies I understand that it means kill, killing wildlife as the primary management tool. Wyoming is not doing great on wolves, native carnivores that provide enormously important ecological services, if they’re allowed to live, which generally they are not. 75% of Wyoming is an instant kill zone for “predators”. This iextreme hostility to basic ecological integrity does not bide well for wildlife or humans. The Wyoming Game department feeds elk like they are domestic cows and that has caused a high level of mortality from disease transmission in concentrated ungulate herds. Wyoming Game likes to congratulate itself for doing a great job of “conserving” wildlife but the real focus is, and always has been, on recreational killing.

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