Wolf Management Meetings Canceled Pt 1
I'm Bob Larson. How we manage the growing wolf population in Washington state is definitely a hot-button issue.
And, while it's disappointing, it's not entirely surprising that a series of public meetings to get feedback on wolf management have been canceled.
Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife's Staci Lehman says the decision was made after they started putting the word out about the meetings ...
LEHMAN ... "We started getting a lot of input, you know, from both sides, obviously, people who love the wolves and people who, you know, have issues with them, things like that, and it got to the point where we were concerned that we wouldn't be able to have productive meetings to start with."
Lehman says it just wouldn't be productive ...
LEHMAN ... "You know, it doesn't help us to have people come and just yell at each other or have two groups, you know, arguing about their sides. What we need is good, productive input to help develop a plan. And, it seemed like it's such a divisive topic that we were worried about that that's not going to happen. We don't want to waste anybody's time and it takes a lot of resources."
She says it was nothing specific ...
LEHMAN ... "And then there were some, you know, implied, something could go wrong, and we're responsible, ultimately, for the public's safety, and our staff, when we have meetings like this or events like this and decided it was safer, at this point, to cancel and go to an online format where anybody can take part."
Listen tomorrow for more on the cancelation of these wolf management meetings.
