The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, Oregon State Police, hunters and conservationists are teaming up to stop poachers in the state.
KGW8: PORTLAND, Ore. — Oregon has a poaching problem. Data provided by Oregon State Police (OSP) Fish and Wildlife Division show more than 110,000 animals were illegally harvested between 2012 and 2020.
The vast majority were from the ocean, like pink shrimp, clams and crabs. Thousands of fish and other sea life were also illegally harvested, along with hundreds of mammals such as deer and elk. Then there are raptors and other birds like turkey and quail. OSP also tracks animals in other ways like non-protected wildlife, non-game migratory, all other game bird and threatened/endangered. When all of it is added up, 110,890 animals were illegally killed during the eight-year stretch between 2012 and 2020.
“We’ve gone to great lengths to bring the public on board with some of the issues that our fish and wildlife are facing at the hands of people who, frankly, disregard laws that protect our natural resources,” said Yvonne Shaw, a public affairs specialist and the coordinator of the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife’s (ODFW) Stop Poaching Campaign. “The message I would like people to hear is we have had a lot of poaching, it’s just that we haven’t been good at telling the story.” MORE
Well If I can speak up first, I don’t know what the issue is here? Poaching is a very bad practice in Oregon, and it is a long term continuing problem. Trust me, I have worked closely with issue for decades here in Oregon. It’s not a laughing matter, OK?
Oregon was WAY ahead of the trend to defund the police. Oregon State Police, that is. Decades ago the dems in control of the state cut the budget of the OSP, which reduced their ranks. You can drive from California to Washington on I-5 and sometimes never see a cop. Back in the day, around deer season they actually had checkpoints where they would inspect your vehicle for untagged deer.
Look who manages the state, you want anarchy or not? If you choose anarchy, then reap what you sow and shut up.
Make $180 to $250 a day poaching in Oregon. Just ask Michael J. Pope how. He is so successful he can share how for free. Unfortunately his mother only makes 2 bits a night. But she never has to leave the bedroom.
Getting caught poaching in Utah, back in the day, would result in confiscation of anything at all related to the act, including weapons, vehicles, appliances, etc. It would also get you serious jail time, more than for manslaughter.
When I was a kid, well over half the population would participate in the annual deer hunt. We had Deer Hunter Holiday to allow children to participate with their families.
Today? Meh.
My World Geography professor, back in the day, said the greatest deterrent to invasion of the US was the large number of hunters. Not much of a deterrent anymore. The world now fears our gamers!
Interestingly, Oregon doesn’t give a rat’s ass how many unborn children are killed there every year.
“… disregard laws that protect our natural resources,”
The laws, obviously, aren’t “protecting” the natural resources.
The point of all of those laws is to generate revenue.
Licensing, stamps, taxes, fees, inspections, approvals, support an entire bureaucracy, &c.
What fukkin hypocrisy – and not just Oregon.
mortem tyrannis
izlamo delenda est …
What a relief!
I read the headline & thought this would be about Sexually Transmitted Diseases.
I wonder if they are poaching eggs too 🤔
Poaching? You mean they didn’t pay their tax before they went and got food. Keep it up, fellas! Freedom!
Sarthurk, if we could shoot the poachers…..
Problems solved!
“I read the headline & thought this would be about Sexually Transmitted Diseases.”
“pink shrimp, clams and crabs”…I though they were talking about antifa.
“We’ve gone to great lengths at the hands of people who, frankly, disregard laws.”
^^^ That says it all right there!^^^
Welcome to Oregon!
“110,000 animals” Are you kidding me? Up here in the Northwoods we’ve got that many dead deer in the ditch.
Tim, you don’t know the first thing about fish and wildlife management. So STFU!
Thank You!
Sarthurk,
Indeed, I don’t. That’s not the gist of my comment. You seem to have missed the simple fact that laws protect nothing. Writing words on a piece of paper won’t save the fish and wildlife – or there wouldn’t be any poaching.
To whom do the fish and wildlife belong? The citizens of Oregon or the Bureaucrats? Why do the Bureaucrats charge fees, &c., when the citizens of Oregon are already paying the Bureaucrats salaries? It’s ALL about revenue.
Make the citizens pay multiple times for whatever it is the Bureaucrats do.
mortem tyrannis
izlamo delenda est …
this will be tough to prove in court. The poachers will clam up!
I’m here all week folks!
You are not getting the point. So, as I said before, STFU!
Back in the early 1900’s the poaching was so bad in NW Oregon that the Elk population almost went extinct. The general population was so upset about this that the Oregon Wildlife Commission was created at the demand of the public. Elk hunting was banned for decades, before the populations recovered. Nothing the public wants the government to do for them comes without cost. So, get off yer pity pot with the .GOV waste bullshit and realize that there would be no hunting or fishing opps without management and enforcement. I agree with Mark, we should be able to shoot poachers. But that is problematic.
Cheers!
Oh, and Tim, I thought I add that ODFW gets very little money from the taxpayers. They are largely funded by license fees from the very sportsmen who want to fish and hunt. And if ODFW doesn’t do a good job at what they do, they would cease to exist.
So, if you don’t like the current situation, stop bitchin’ and go talk to your congress peeps.