On March 11, 2021, the U.S. Forest Service, Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area, announced their proposal to reissue 10-year permits to existing permit holders who offer whitewater boating services for both the White Salmon and Klickitat Rivers. The proposal will also establish a Temporary Use Pool of 500 service days on the White Salmon and will increase the Klickitat River Temporary Use Pool from 200 to 300 service days. The eight-page Decision Memo includes the historical background, the proposed action, as well as a summary of comments and responses received during the public involvement process.
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You can spend some time with this to wash away the bad taste from Songer's practices. Anyone who spends a lot of time on the landscape, probably including Sheriff Songer who was the range deputy for many years, has to resonate with this to some extent.
But then there's this, which requires a change of thinking. "Climate disruption is already wreaking havoc on ecosystems, culturally important species, and lifeways in our shared home. This is only the latest in a series of blows to ecosystem integrity initiated by extractive attitudes toward land and other species — a failure to understand or remember that we are all interconnected.
“If you consider yourself part of the earth, and you abuse the earth, say you take one species and exterminate it, well, that might be your little finger. Like the passenger pigeon — a finger, gone. Another one might be the sockeye salmon. We’ll pull another finger, or two. Something like the buffalo, that might be your right arm. And that goes on and on and on. When are you as a human being going to say no, I’m not going to sacrifice any more body parts?” https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/c24b52bf5e0f421188eeddb001dabe34?fbclid=IwAR2_UzQk1pQAYNeTItDnjAUhyhNqkEOFTe1BBpeBEoWuWL1lsmLbEmc32tE
But then there's this, which requires a change of thinking. "Climate disruption is already wreaking havoc on ecosystems, culturally important species, and lifeways in our shared home. This is only the latest in a series of blows to ecosystem integrity initiated by extractive attitudes toward land and other species — a failure to understand or remember that we are all interconnected.
“If you consider yourself part of the earth, and you abuse the earth, say you take one species and exterminate it, well, that might be your little finger. Like the passenger pigeon — a finger, gone. Another one might be the sockeye salmon. We’ll pull another finger, or two. Something like the buffalo, that might be your right arm. And that goes on and on and on. When are you as a human being going to say no, I’m not going to sacrifice any more body parts?” https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/c24b52bf5e0f421188eeddb001dabe34?fbclid=IwAR2_UzQk1pQAYNeTItDnjAUhyhNqkEOFTe1BBpeBEoWuWL1lsmLbEmc32tE
Whole-Systems Restoration for Resilience, Justice, and Cultural Survival
So the main sponsor of SB 5613 says plainly that it is aimed at Sheriff Songer's practices here in Klickitat County. There is good reason for that, as Songer's practices are decimating the local cougar population, which was estimated at around 50 adult cougars before Songer began his program. Here are the facts, as obtained from public records requests over the last couple of years.
Sheriff Bob Songer and personnel of the Klickitat County Sheriff's Office (KCSO) have called on posse hound hunters more than 86 times in the past 2 years to track down cougars, and in so doing have killed at least 24 cougars (this was twice as many as hunters with licenses killed in the same time period). KCSO also encouraged property owners to kill four more, for a total of 28 cougars killed. Only 7 of these destroyed cougars (25%) had attacked domestic animals, and NONE had been aggressive to people. These facts are documented by 154 KCSO reports filed from August 2019 through July 2021 that were obtained through public records requests. WDFW has acknowledged that only 5 of the cougars that were killed were reported to them through their online reporting system, as mandated by WAC 220-400-050.
There is still time, and it's easy, to make your position known to the legislators as the bill passes through the process. This will not be an easy fight - Songer rallied a lot of supporters to testify at the committee hearings, and he will continue to do so throughout the process.
For now, you can take the easy step to post a (short) comment here. Be sure to say that you live and or recreate in Klickitat County. https://app.leg.wa.gov/pbc/bill/5613
Sheriff Bob Songer and personnel of the Klickitat County Sheriff's Office (KCSO) have called on posse hound hunters more than 86 times in the past 2 years to track down cougars, and in so doing have killed at least 24 cougars (this was twice as many as hunters with licenses killed in the same time period). KCSO also encouraged property owners to kill four more, for a total of 28 cougars killed. Only 7 of these destroyed cougars (25%) had attacked domestic animals, and NONE had been aggressive to people. These facts are documented by 154 KCSO reports filed from August 2019 through July 2021 that were obtained through public records requests. WDFW has acknowledged that only 5 of the cougars that were killed were reported to them through their online reporting system, as mandated by WAC 220-400-050.
There is still time, and it's easy, to make your position known to the legislators as the bill passes through the process. This will not be an easy fight - Songer rallied a lot of supporters to testify at the committee hearings, and he will continue to do so throughout the process.
For now, you can take the easy step to post a (short) comment here. Be sure to say that you live and or recreate in Klickitat County. https://app.leg.wa.gov/pbc/bill/5613
Comments on the cougar bill, SB 5613, are needed before January 18. Here's further information, instructions, background. Doesn't take long, just do it. This information courtesy of others. https://friendsofthewhitesalmon.org/wp-content/uploads/Contacting-Senators-re_-SB-5613-Agriculture-Water-Natural-Resources-Parks.pdf