Chris Bachman: Hunting in Washington is not under threat

Regarding Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife Commissioner Kim Thorburn’s guest opinion of January 24, 2021 (Conservation should not be driven by ideology”):

Ms. Thorburn, per her own words, considers it a privilege to serve as a fish and wildlife commissioner and use her judgement to decide how state wildlife should be managed. I agree with her, the opportunity to represent fellow citizens is indeed a privilege.

I do however, take issue with her judgement that allows her to use her position to instill fear and mischaracterize reality creating a false divide. Hunting is not under threat in Washington. Liberal environmentalists are not waging a war on hunting. I no longer hunt, I do fish, and I work for an environmental nonprofit to protect our natural resources.

Ms. Thorburn’s statements are inflammatory, divisive and not based in fact. Claims are made without a morsel of evidence that do nothing but divide us.

Many citizens of Washington enjoy hunting and embrace the practice as part of their cultural heritage. Many citizens in Washington enjoy the outdoors and wild places without hunting. There is room for all of us. Hunting is not under threat any more that other outdoor activities. Sometimes hunting regulations or backcountry access are altered to modify human impacts.

Ms. Thorburn repeatedly uses the word, ideology. For consistency I will do the same. Conservation and hunting are not mutually exclusive ideologies. Forwarding the ideals of preservation, restoration and conservation are not anti-hunting ideologies, they are in fact tenets of the North American Model for Wildlife Conservation, the philosophy endorsed by our Department of Fish and Wildlife.

Ms. Thorburn refers to native carnivores as totemic species. I will offer the presence of these species; wolves, bears and cougars, is far from merely symbolic, it is representative of healthy ecosystems. So yes, totemic in that they represent balance and health that deserves preservation.

It is time to preserve and restore not just natural balance, but cultural balance. It is time to offer words and actions that bring us together. My personal “judgement,” steers me toward actions that preserve wild things and wild places. However, I know I am not alone, and not everyone that shares the world with me shares my opinion. I concede that. And I concede that there is a population, 3% at last count, of Washingtonians that want to hunt. I support that privilege and support management practices that afford hunters and anglers harvest opportunities that bolster preservation, protection and perpetuation of fish and wildlife. I don’t support killing contests.

Prior to reading Ms. Thorburn’s opinion piece on January 24, and the article on January 10, “New commissioners and lawsuits have some saying hunting is under attack in Washington,” I had not heard or read a word anywhere that supports the idea that hunting is under threat or under attack. Where is the evidence? Perception is not reality.

Ms. Thorburn states, “Ideological conflicts are culture wars. They are started and fueled by ideologues.” From where I sit Ms. Thorburn is the ideologue that is starting and fueling this culture war. This doesn’t have to be. To quote Seymour Hersh, “Is there anything more dangerous than an ideologue that doesn’t know (s)he’s wrong?”

Words have power and consequence. It is time to use our words and “judgement,” to empower preservation of both wildlife and hunting opportunity. To heal and bring people with opposing ideas together, not demonize and pit neighbor against neighbor.

There is no question that hunting will continue in Washington. It is not under threat. Simply saying something doesn’t make it true, and repeating it over and over doesn’t make it more true.

What is under question is when the voice of the 97% of Washingtonians that don’t hunt or fish will be heard and taken seriously by our Department of Fish and Wildlife. When will the voice of those that enjoy wildlife and let it live to see another day, that Ms. Thorburn promised to provide voice for in her commission application, be heard. Again, I offer Ms. Thorburn’s own words from her WDFW commission application, “I believe that, because of my background as neither a hunter nor angler, I serve as a voice on the commission for the largest constituency of wildlife consumers, those of us who enjoy fish & wildlife by watching & photographing…I also want to serve as a communication bridge between hunters and anglers and the “non-consumptive” wildlife community to help us all understand that we are devoted to protecting the resources.”

How is construction going on that communication bridge? How does promoting an ideology war build community and help us all understand that we are all, “devoted to protecting the resources?”

We have to find common value and build from it. We all benefit from healthy wildlife populations and healthy ecosystems. The ideals that drive us may be different, but our desired outcome is the same.

Coexistence refers not just to living with wildlife, but living with our neighbors and finding common values to build a better future.

Chris Bachman is the wildlife program director at the Spokane-based Lands Council.