Addressing Wolf Management Issues

Addressing Wolf Management Issues

Addressing Wolf Management Issues

I’m Lacy Gray with Washington Ag Today.

The state Department of Fish and Wildlife’s newly expanded 18 member Wolf Advisory Group met recently to begin the process of addressing wolf management related issues. Jack Field, cattleman and a wolf advisory group member, talks about some of the issues he hopes the group will focus on concerning the state wolf management plan.

FIELD: Like transitioning the measurement matrix from successful breeding pairs to packs, as well as maybe looking at the recovery regions; if there’s a way to simplify those from the current four regions down to maybe just two regions. And then also talking about the ever popular issue - the process the department must follow when they initiate the lethal removal of problem wolves, as well as the protocols that are expected that livestock producers implement for non-lethal deterrents.

Field says that all these items are highlighted in HB 2107.

FIELD: Which is currently somewhere in limbo in the Senate right now. It’s passed out of the House once at the end of the first regular session I believe at a vote of 98 or 97 to 0. Then at the beginning of first special session it passed out of the House I believe 95 to 0, so extremely strong bipartisan support in the House - having a few challenges with the Senate but that bill would direct the department to address all of those items. Every time we talk about a conflict those items seem to come to the top.

That’s Washington Ag Today.

I’m Lacy Gray with the Ag Information Network of the West.

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