Friday, February 03, 2017

Death Threats Prompt Move To Withhold Personal Information From Wolf Management Documents

A bill in a committee of the Washington House of Representatives would exempt some personal information relating to the state’s wolf management efforts from public disclosure. Supporters say it will keep those who work directly with wolves safe. Opponents are concerned about the loss of transparency. Whether you like wolves or not, the folks who come in contact with them aren’t necessarily threatened by the top carnivore, but recently, they have stopped feeling safe. On one end of that are the people who work for the state’s Department of Fish and Wildlife. Shortly after they started shooting wolves from the Profanity Peak pack in Northeastern Washington last summer, Donny Martorello said he decided to put his family up in a hotel. “I’m a biologist, I’m a manager, a wolf manager,” Martorello said. “I don’t carry a gun, I’m not law enforcement, and I did sign up for the job but my family did not.” Martorello is in charge of Washington’s wolf policy. During a hearing, he told members of the Committee on State Government, Elections and Information Technology that he and colleagues received death threats, harassing phone calls and messages. And he said it doesn’t just happen to him and his colleagues. He said some ranchers—or “livestock producers” have reported having their photos taken and their homes stalked. “There are producers out there that I have spoken with personally that believe that they are having interactions where wolves are attacking their livestock and they are fearful of coming to the department for reasons that we just talked about,” Martorello said...more

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

So the bureaucrats turning predators loose on the public want to become or have the same special privileges as "Secret Police". SS for short.