Published: Wednesday, August 13, 2008
Outdoor safety needs a fresh examination
The Skagit County prosecutor's decision to charge a 14-year-old hunter in the Aug. 2 shooting death of a hiker won't make the pain go away for anyone connected to this tragedy.
It will, however, send an important message: Hunters, like anyone else, are accountable for their behavior.
Prosecutor Rich Weyrich said Tuesday that he'll file a first-degree manslaughter charge in juvenile court later this week. The young hunter, who was trained and licensed, said he thought he was shooting at a bear when he allegedly shot and killed 54-year-old Pamela Almli of Oso. Weyrich said the teen acted recklessly by failing to follow hunting-safety guidelines, a conclusion that's hard to refute.
Another is that as the population grows, hunters are going to be mixing more and more with hikers and other outdoor enthusiasts. Clearly, a new emphasis needs to be put on education and safety.
Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife managers are making such plans, including an examination of hunting age restrictions and of laws regarding the supervision of young hunters. The Legislature should reinstate a law that required juvenile hunters to be accompanied by an adult. In the Aug. 2 shooting, the 14-year-old was accompanied only by his 16-year-old brother.
WDFW Director Jeff Koenings says warning signs, staggered recreation times and locations, and temporary recreational area closures are also worth examining.
The fact that this was the state's first hunting-related fatality involving a non-hunter in more than two decades makes it no less tragic, but it does speak to the relative success of the state's hunter-education course. Anyone born after Jan. 1, 1972 is required to successfully complete it. The WDFW says that and other safety efforts have led to a significant decrease in hunting-related deaths over the past 20 years.
But for the family of Pamela Almli, as well as the 14-year-old and his family, they weren't enough.
Outdoor recreation is a rich, deep tradition in Washington; it's one of reasons many of us choose to live here. More than 200,000 hunters go afield in the state each year, as do many more non-hunters. They deserve to share the land in safety.
It will, however, send an important message: Hunters, like anyone else, are accountable for their behavior.
Prosecutor Rich Weyrich said Tuesday that he'll file a first-degree manslaughter charge in juvenile court later this week. The young hunter, who was trained and licensed, said he thought he was shooting at a bear when he allegedly shot and killed 54-year-old Pamela Almli of Oso. Weyrich said the teen acted recklessly by failing to follow hunting-safety guidelines, a conclusion that's hard to refute.
Another is that as the population grows, hunters are going to be mixing more and more with hikers and other outdoor enthusiasts. Clearly, a new emphasis needs to be put on education and safety.
Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife managers are making such plans, including an examination of hunting age restrictions and of laws regarding the supervision of young hunters. The Legislature should reinstate a law that required juvenile hunters to be accompanied by an adult. In the Aug. 2 shooting, the 14-year-old was accompanied only by his 16-year-old brother.
WDFW Director Jeff Koenings says warning signs, staggered recreation times and locations, and temporary recreational area closures are also worth examining.
The fact that this was the state's first hunting-related fatality involving a non-hunter in more than two decades makes it no less tragic, but it does speak to the relative success of the state's hunter-education course. Anyone born after Jan. 1, 1972 is required to successfully complete it. The WDFW says that and other safety efforts have led to a significant decrease in hunting-related deaths over the past 20 years.
But for the family of Pamela Almli, as well as the 14-year-old and his family, they weren't enough.
Outdoor recreation is a rich, deep tradition in Washington; it's one of reasons many of us choose to live here. More than 200,000 hunters go afield in the state each year, as do many more non-hunters. They deserve to share the land in safety.
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