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Posted

WDFW NEWS RELEASE 
Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife
600 Capitol Way North, Olympia, WA 98501-1091 

http://wdfw.wa.gov/

March 6, 2018

Contact: Rich Harris, (360) 902-8134

Meetings planned on mountain goat
relocation to native habitat in North Cascades

OLYMPIA – Four meetings are scheduled in late March to enable northwest Washington residents to learn more about a proposal to move mountain goats from Olympic National Park to the North Cascades during the summers of 2018 and 2019.

The public is invited to hear a presentation and speak with representatives of the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) and Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) during meetings in Sedro Woolley, Darrington, North Bend, and Sultan.

The National Park Service, in collaboration with the two agencies, has prepared a draft environmental impact statement (EIS) for a mountain goat management plan to remove them from Olympic National Park to reduce damage to the park's natural resources – especially native vegetation – and to protect public safety.

The preferred alternative in the draft EIS calls for relocating some of the mountain goats from the park and nearby Forest Service lands to their native habitat in the Mount Baker-Snoqualmie and Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forests.

The Park Service is expected to issue a final EIS this spring.

Meetings are scheduled for:

  • Wednesday, March 21, 7:30 to 8:30 p.m.
    Darrington Library Meeting Room
    1005 Cascade St.
    Darrington
    (Note: The presentation will be made during the last segment of the meeting of Darrington Strong)
  • Thursday, March 22, 7 to 9 p.m.
    Snoqualmie Ranger District Office, Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest
    902 SE North Bend Way
    North Bend
  • Snaffled 1
Posted

My friend in ecology told me about a project on Maui, where goats are a major invasive pest. It wsa nicknamed the Judas project. Apparently goats are very social, so what they did was put a radio collar on one goat and send him out into the wild. They'd wait a week or two and then go out with the chopper to find him. Invariably he'd be hanging out with his pals, so they'd pull out the rifle and kill his pals and fly away again, leaving "Judas" alone. Then they'd wait a couple of weeks and go out and do the same thing again, killing his new friends. I'm not sure OLY mountain goats are this social. Regardless, it seems silly to move them rather than just shoot them, but I guess in Washington we can't harm them and probably need to give them counseling and relocation support services during their goat-transition.

Posted
On 3/7/2018 at 7:43 AM, rat said:

Meetings are scheduled for:

  • Wednesday, March 21, 7:30 to 8:30 p.m.
    Darrington Library Meeting Room
    1005 Cascade St.
    Darrington
    (Note: The presentation will be made during the last segment of the meeting of Darrington Strong)
  • Thursday, March 22, 7 to 9 p.m.
    Snoqualmie Ranger District Office, Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest
    902 SE North Bend Way
    North Bend

Is the WDFW intending to avoid conducting meetings anywhere near the majority of the population?

Posted (edited)

rad,

mountain goats are in the antelope family. but we all know that they are crisis actors.

bronco,

time and money to spend recreating in the mountains but not a free evening to interact with the locals? some of the effected tribes (e.g. the sauk-suiattle) may argue that they have larger stakes than well-heeled urbanites. and some of the locals may argue that it's just another excuse to launch the black helicopters. could be entertaining.

some reasonably interesting info, if you believe what you read on the interweb:

https://www.nps.gov/noca/learn/nature/mountain-goats.htm

https://wdfw.wa.gov/conservation/research/projects/mtn_goat/population_models/  (to approx. 2005)

http://www.chronline.com/news/native-mountain-goats-thriving-in-south-cascades/article_8b572f6e-b09f-11e7-97fd-638365563c13.html

 

Edited by rat

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