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I鈥檓 not a hunter, but I recognize the role hunting plays as part of a wildlife management plan.

Fortunately, my buddy Tom Nelson — host of 鈥淭he Outdoor Line鈥� heard weekends on 710 ESPN Seattle — is much smarter and far more experienced on these issues. That鈥檚 why I had to have him on The Dori Monson Show to tell listeners about a case that goes far beyond cougars versus elk.

Even if you鈥檝e never held a gun or pulled a trigger, Nelson鈥檚 interview is both gut-wrenching and politically painful.

Hear my entire conversation with Tom Nelson here:

The issue involves two new commissioners to the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) and their response to dwindling numbers of elk due to over-populating, predatory cougars. Studies show all but 11 of 125 elk calves were recently killed in non-hunting incidents, Nelson told me.

Instead, at least one of new commissioners, Fred Koontz of Duvall, who was appointed by Gov. Jay Inslee, downplayed the number of gruesome elk calf deaths. In a recent public meeting, Koontz called 鈥渢he socially accepted number鈥� of dead elk 鈥渕ore important than the biological number.鈥�

鈥淭his blows my mind,鈥� Nelson said.

As an expert who earned a fisheries biology degree from the University of Washington and has been involved with the WDFW work for several decades, Nelson calls this 鈥渢he single dumbest thing I have ever heard a commissioner utter in 30 years. When you remove science from wildlife management, you鈥檙e removing facts and data.鈥�

Nelson isn鈥檛 alone is his outrage.

At least one Swinomish tribal leader, Tino Villaluz, calls the new commissioners and their statements examples of 鈥渨hite privilege鈥� made by 鈥渨estern Washington liberals,鈥� who are ignoring the role hunting has traditionally played in wildlife management.

It might be repulsive to anti-gun, anti-hunting listeners, but Nelson鈥檚 explanations about how cougar 鈥渢ooth, fangs and claws鈥� are far more violent than controlled state-regulated hunting seasons were important for me and my listeners to hear.

Listen to the Dori Monson Show weekday afternoons from noon 鈥� 3 p.m. on 成人X站 Radio, 97.3 FM. Subscribe to the聽podcast here.听听

Correction: A previous version of this story erroneously reported 11 of the 125 elk calves were killed in non-hunting incidents. The correct statistic is all but 11 of the 125 calves were killed.