Legislature Convenes & Wolf Management

The regular session of the Washington State Legislature begins today and one of the issues and challenges facing legislators this session will be the subject of wolf management. Senator Kevin Ranker, chairman of the  Energy, Natural Resources and Marine Waters Committee has voiced strong opposition to the lethal removal by the Department of Fish and Wildlife of the Wedge Pack wolves last September. The Wedge Pack had displayed an escalating pattern of predation on livestock in the area of Northeast Washington known as the Wedge. Jack Field, Executive Vice President of the Washington Cattlemen’s Association, comments.

FIELD: Senator Ranker has made it known that he is definitely interested in having hearings on the wolf management plan - would definitely like to know the process, what happened and the steps that lead up to pack reduction or removal there in the Wedge. I think it’s fair to say that anybody in the livestock industry that you talk to would probably feel that it took too long before they began removing wolves in terms of the number of impacts that were suffered by the Diamond M in the Wedge.

Field says there are other factors to consider.

FIELD: We also have to look back and realize that we’re in some uncharted waters for the Department in moving forward - taking management actions of this extent on a state, and in some parts of the state, a federally listed species. So they need maybe a little bit of slack there, but I think that the plan worked. It’s not perfect, but it’s the hand we’ve been dealt and we’ve got to find the best way possible to make it work into the future.

The WDFW will be holding public meetings about wolf management and recovery this week in Spokane, Seattle, and Olympia. For exact dates and times visit the WDFW’s website.

I’m Lacy Gray and that’s Washington Ag Today on the Ag Information Network.