Hoopengarner on Outdoors
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Fed's land grab is alarming
If you've ever hunted the Ringold area of the state's Wahluke Wildlife Recreation Area north of Pasco, you might want to sit down before reading any further.
For starters, Ringold is no longer managed by the state.
The 57,000 acres that provided ample hunting for upland birds, waterfowl and big game now is under the watch of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The transaction, according to federal officials, was done without public debate last July.
That this was done without public notification - considering the potential long-term implications - seems a disservice to the thousands of sportsmen who pay dearly for the right to use these lands.
Moreover, it seems almost inconceivable that the state Department of Fish and Wildlife, which had been the caretaker of the Wahluke WRA for more than 40 years, would take such a step without notifying Mid-Columbia sportsmen through the press and taking comments.
And while federal officials have stated there will be no changes in hunting regulations this season - such as requiring the use of nontoxic shot for upland hunting - refuge officials won't say what the future holds.
However, the Fish and Wildlife Service, which also took over ownership last year of three former state wildlife areas south of Burbank, including the Two Rivers, Peninsula and Wallula areas, now requires hunters to use nontoxic shot on all its units this fall.
Nontoxic shot is required statewide when hunting waterfowl and usually is required when hunting upland game on most federal refuges, such as McNary National Wildlife Refuge. Nontoxic shot has never been required for upland bird hunters at Ringold, or on any other state lands.
Greg Hughes, project leader for Arid Lands National Wildlife Refuge Complex, which includes ALE (the Arid Lands Ecology Reserve), Saddle Mountain Wildlife Refuge and now the Wahluke Wildlife Recreation Area, said the hunting regulations will be status quo this year. But, he added, "I can't guarantee nontoxic shot won't be required in the future."
If nontoxic shot is required on all Fish and Wildlife Service lands, dove hunters who've hunted Ringold will have to find a few thousand new acres on which to hunt. Nontoxic shot suitable for dove hunting would be impractical because of its cost.
Moreover, the Fish and Wildlife Service considers ringneck pheasants to be an exotic species and therefore somehow intrusive to the region. Thus, the feds could prohibit the state from stocking the popular state gamebird at Ringold, one of several Tri-City area hunting sites where the birds are now stocked under the state's 2-year-old Pheasant Enhancement Program, which is funded by a fee paid by pheasant hunters.
Two other sites where pheasants have been stocked - Two Rivers and the Wallula units, which are now part of the Mid-Columbia River Refuges Complex (including McNary National Wildlife Refuge) - also will be stocked this fall, said deputy project leader Dave Linehan.
However, while Linehan is willing to continue the practice of releasing pen-raised pheasants purchased by the state, there are no guarantees that higher-ups in the federal agency will continue that practice.
And while there is considerable debate over the practice of releasing naive pen-reared pheasants - which are not intended to rebuild dwindling populations - the loss of Ringold, Two Rivers and Wallula as potential pheasant release sites would leave no stocked land available to sportsmen in this region who are paying a large share of the enhancement program.
Under the state's plan, pheasants can be released only on state-managed or lands open to the public.
While Hughes says the management change at Ringold was not done surreptitiously, he said any future changes in policy on the Arid Lands Complex will be done in an open public environment.
As a sportsman who has seen our hunting and fishing opportunities dwindle over the years, I'm not encouraged by those words.
Public debate, more often than not, is an open invitation for anti-hunting groups to rally the federal government to put even more wildlife refuges and sanctuaries out of the reach of sportsmen and to create rules that will have hunters and anglers throwing their arms up in the air.
As a sportsman, I support habitat restoration and species protection for many species of wildlife through the purchase of hunting licenses and state and federal waterfowl stamps, as well as through donations to Ducks Unlimited or similar organizations.
However, I cannot condone the actions of state and federal agencies that are not willing to be held accountable for their actions, and which could spell an end to sporting traditions that I and thousands of others cherish.
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