In January, hunters from eastern Washington’s
Methow Valley delivered 300 pounds of roadkilled deer to six
western Washington tribes. The delivery signaled the start of a
groundbreaking agreement, in which the tribes agree to stop hunting
in the valley in exchange for the meat.
Tribal
hunters have lost much of their traditional hunting ground on the
rainy side of the Cascades, and in recent years have started to
travel to the less-populated eastern side to hunt mule deer.
Although the tribes were taking a minute percentage of the
estimated 5,000 to 20,000 mule deer, hunters weren’t
happy.
“We had two problems,” says Bill White, a
local rancher and hunter. “They were hunting out of season and they
were killing deer pushed out of the mountains by snow. It’s like
they were shooting ducks in a pond.” Most hunters, however, weren’t
aware that the tribes have a historic treaty right to hunt at any
time on all undeveloped federal and state lands in
Washington.
Tensions were rising fast when Todd
Wilbur, a Swinomish tribal member, intervened. He called White to
talk, and eventually ranchers and tribal members met and came to
consensus.
“This exchange has opened up
understanding between former adversaries,” says Wilbur. “It has
been so successful that we hope that it can serve as a model for
other groups in the state.”
Copyright © 2000 HCN and David Williams
This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline Roadkill keeps the peace.
Republish our articles for free, online or in print, under a Creative Commons license.
