Dear Editor,

It is bad management to clearcut next to a human community.

Native predators, whose homes are invaded, have to scavenge into the human communities. Starving cougars are shot for trying to eat a dog. We remember the shameful incident of the Forks Bear.

Now the Slip Point Native bobcat, pinched by the Bear Kill Ridge clearcut – that also threatens eagle n sat – has been shot by a man claiming to “protect” non-Native pet felines. First, pet felines belong indoors, to protect Native birds. Secondly, non-Native rats and mice have lost a control predator. Unaware people have been witnessed asking for rodent poisons, ignorant that these toxins will spread into both Native animal and domestic pet populations.

You’re not protecting a community when you kill its Native predators. You’re just moving the problem. Kill all your cougars and you’ll be up to your navel in coyotes – and that’s one smart Native.

Donna Barr

Clallam Bay