The debilitating neurological disease that impacts ungulates is believed to have emerged in Colorado at elk feeding sites in the 1960s.Īlthough it's not been documented in Washington or Idaho, it has crept to within 20 miles of the Idaho Panhandle. Of particular concern for wildlife managers is the spread of chronic wasting disease. Getting wildlife habituated to people, that makes wildlife not wild. "Not only for situations like this but in general disease transmission. "Especially in cities and highly urbanized areas, I think a no-feeding-wildlife ordinance would be beneficial," Westerman said. Regionally, Medical Lake is the only municipality that has a no-feeding ordinance, Westerman said. Most cities and municipalities in Washington don't have wildlife feeding bans, although Bellingham banned the intentional feeding of deer in 2017. "It should be dealt with statewide," she said. When the Legislature starts its 2022 session, Spokane's representative will advocate for some sort of wildlife feeding ban. Now they're planning to add a statewide wildlife feeding ban to the city's Washington State Legislative wish list. After examining the issue, however, Kinnear said they ran into too many roadblocks - enforcement being a big one - and decided it would be best dealt with at a statewide level.
Last year, Kinnear and Councilwoman Candace Mumm considered introducing a city ordinance to ban wildlife feeding. "As wildlife becomes more crowded out of its native habitat and (there are) more incidents of wildlife and people interacting, we really do need a solution," Councilwoman Lori Kinnear said. That has prompted two Spokane-city lawmakers to begin advocating for a statewide ban on wildlife feeding. But food is food and a hungry bear isn't likely to turn its nose up at apples intended for a deer. It's not legal, however, to feed large carnivores like bears. The encounters exemplify a particular problem for wildlife managers in Washington State: It's legal in most of Washington to feed deer and other wildlife. And they're out searching farther and getting into more urban areas." "So the bears are a little harder up for resources this time of year. "The forage quality, or at least that's what we're thinking, is less than ideal," said Kile Westerman, a wildlife conflict specialist for the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife. Part of that attraction? Food left out by good-intentioned homeowners, according to state biologists. Searching for food during an abnormally dry spring, two black bears have wandered into the backyards of Spokane Valley homes in the past week.
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