||| FROM BUREAU OF LAND MANAGEMENT |||
SAN JUAN ISLANDS, WA – The BLM’s San Juan Islands National Monument, San Juan County Land Bank, and Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) engaged in a joint outreach effort during the 2024 deer hunting season on Lopez Island.
The partnership created a safe and enjoyable outdoor experience for visitors, including hunters, wildlife watchers, and hikers.
The three organizations staffed information booths at Watmough Bay, part of the San Juan Islands National Monument on the southern part of Lopez Island. They engaged with visitors, provided information, and answered questions about hunting rules, property boundaries, and trail etiquette. Additionally, they distributed educational materials and encouraged responsible outdoor practices.
The agencies also built three wooden kiosks on site during hunting season. Each bright-orange kiosks had a sign in/out sheet, a map of the area, and high-visibility vests for the public to use.
“We balance managing land for both conservation and multiple recreation uses, and this is a big challenge,” said Brie Chartier, BLM San Juan Islands National Monument Manager. “The only way we can move forward is with the support of our amazing partners and involved community.”
The approach aimed to foster a positive space and ensure participants enjoy the outdoors. The partnership demonstrated the power of cooperation and promoting safe and enjoyable experiences.
Those staffing the information booth reported quality conversations with visitors who were glad to have conversations with experts. Hunters, while a minority of the contacted visitors, had questions about access and property lines. Many hikers said they weren’t aware of hunting season and appreciated having the information. WDFW also provided materials on state regulations, hunting season dates, and the many benefits of hunting.
“We greatly value this partnership between the BLM, San Juan County Land Bank, local residents, and visitors,” said Kurt Licence, WDFW’s district wildlife biologist. “Ensuring healthy wildlife populations and habitats as well as the continuation of our hunting and outdoor recreation heritage takes a village.”
Washington state’s general hunting seasons for black-tailed deer were open in this area Oct. 12-31 and Nov. 14-17. San Juan County is a Firearm Restriction Area where hunting with centerfire or rimfire rifles is prohibited for safety reasons. There is also a late archery hunt Nov. 27 through Dec. 15. More information is available in this WDFW fact sheet.
BLM
The BLM manages more than 245 million acres of public land located primarily in 12 western states, including Alaska, on behalf of the American people. The BLM also administers 700 million acres of sub-surface mineral estate throughout the nation. Our mission is to sustain the health, diversity, and productivity of America’s public lands for the use and enjoyment of present and future generations.
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Lopez is far too populated and space far too limited for “safe hunting” in my opinion. Not only that but hunters regularly encroach onto private property to hunt–I found three on my land this season despite multiple “No Hunting” signs. Every single year, I worry that someone will get hurt or killed (again) because almost all of our public green spaces are open to hunting, so it’s unsafe to hike/walk in the fall… which is a damn shame as it’s the best time of year to do so.
I know there’s laws about hunting on BLM (and other agency) land and so the county council say there’s little they can do. Laws are human made. They can be un-made. It’s time we change them for Lopezian’s safety and peace of mind.
I completely agree. I believe in the 2d amendment right to own a firearm
But not all firearm owners are responsible. The effective range of an AR-15 is from 400-600 yards, but unless it is stopped by terrain, the projectile can continue with lethal force for double or triple that. This is with a 0.223 round standard load.
We are far too crowded here for hunting with high-power rifles. Maybe archery season should be permitted.
My opinion on this is probably affected by my discovery of a gutpile on Clam Harbor Road a few years ago that was left by irresponsible hunters who were probably spotlighting deer at night from a vehicle.
Oops, my mistake. The weapon I cited is already prohibited. Only pistols, shotguns, archery and muzzleloaders are permitted.
This is the end result of the people of SJC allowing the adoption of our National Monument status, which put control of portions of our islands under the BLM’s (the nation’s absolute worst land stewards), multi-use platform which allows tourism, hunting, and even military exercises.
“National Monument.” Sounds alluring doesn’t it? The people, thinking that such a change would bring about more local control realizing only to late that they had been misled by the Visitors Bureau and SJC leaders at the time, thought so too.
“National Monument” is no different than any other copyrighted trademark destination brand (World Heritage site, Certified Green, Certified Sustainable, etc.) created by the United Nations World Tourism Organization (a specialized agency of the UN that took over the role of the original International Union of Official Tourist Propaganda Organizations) and who’s role as an intergovernmental organization is to promote tourism as a driver of economic growth worldwide, including maritime, coastal and inland waterways.
Remember– It doesn’t matter if the San Juans are getting over a million socially educated, environmentally oriented, and sustainably minded tourists a year. It matters that the San Juans are getting over a million tourists a year. Over-tourism is not healthy for children and other living things.
there are so many disheartening aspects to the original story of the very unfortunate death of a legal hunter on Lopez who was killed by a one in a million stray bullet. These comments are obviously made by non-hunters and stray from the facts and common sense.
There are few parcels open to hunting and most of those are private allowing only friends and family. Remember our county has one of the highest percentages of private land in the state. The firearms restrictions are clear (only shotguns with slugs, muzzle loader rifles or archery) in fairly short distinct seasons. A hunter must have written permission to hunt on private land and it is their responsibility to know exactly where boundaries are.
The Conservation Land Bank has a few parcels open to hunting and they are effectively regulated,
But the main problem is that these islands are less and less rural in character and outdoor harvesting activities every year as suburbanites and urban folks move in and bring their sensitivities from those highly un-natural places. The black tail deer populations out here (except for Waldron as a resident driven deer free zone) lack predators and go through drastic boom and bust cycles that are clearly bad for deer health, vehicle damage, landscaping and a varied and healthy forest understory. Banning hunting of deer would make a bad cycle of events even worse.
Steve, I fully support hunting where it makes sense. But given the accident, the small area and high use of public lands that allow hunting, and the constant encroachment by hunters into areas where they are not supposed to be, it just doesn’t make sense to continue it, in my opinion. I’m fairly sure I’ll not ever win that battle.
Rather than trying to ameliorate the lack of predators with humans with lethal weapons, the environmentally responsible thing to do would be to bring back the predators. And I’m 100% sure I’d never win that one!
Either way, this is an ecology severely out of balance, with little to no interest from the public to rectify and restore.