Wolf Removal Ruling Pt 2
I’m Bob Larson. The ruling from a Thurston County judge about state Fish and Wildlife’s lethal removal of predatory wolves didn’t come easy, but, as the judge himself put it, is something the law allows.Washington Farm Bureau’s Tom Davis says the decision slows down, but doesn’t put an end to the lawsuit brought by the Center for Biological Diversity …
DAVIS … “So, the Center for Biological Diversity is, what I call, a radical environmental group that operates throughout the country, and especially in the West. They’re basically, to me, legal terrorists. They’re continually throwing lawsuits around and have been pestering State Fish and Wildlife for many years on their management activities regarding wolves.”
But, Davis says the judge made the right call …
DAVIS … “So, the judge threw out their challenges to the protocol and their ability to lethally remove wolves, and then there’s the one unsettled lawsuit still remaining dealing with whether or not they should go through rule making with the wolf protocol and so that’s still undecided.”
When it comes to wolves, Davis says the options are limited …
DAVIS … “There are only so many non-lethal methods that we are aware of and they work for a limited period of time. And, wolves are a very smart creature and they get used to them or desensitized and so you have to try something else to try and push them away. And so that’s been an ongoing challenge.”
Tune in tomorrow for more on this important wolf decision and the governor’s take on the matter.