Sides debate proper framework for wolf management

By MATTHEW WEAVER

Capital Press

Washington's Fish and Wildlife Commission will decide in December how to manage the state's gray wolves, after hearing from some residents who think there are already too many and others who think there aren't enough.

The commission held its final public session in Spokane Nov. 3. Eighty-five residents signed up to give three-minute public statements on the latest version of the Wolf Conservation and Management Plan recommended for approval by the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife.

Suggested changes to the plan would require four successful breeding pairs, consisting of male and female wolves and two pups, in each of the three recovery regions for three years. There are currently five packs, with a pack defined as two or more wolves traveling together, and four successful breeding pairs.

Producers would only be allowed to kill wolves in the act of attacking livestock after they documented depredation and obtained a permit. They would receive the current market value for up to two animals killed by a wolf.

Jack Field, executive director of the Washington Cattlemen's Association, would prefer to see a focus on wolf management similar to big game animals, managing the predator and prey so all can remain viable in the long term.

The current plan would put a "protective bubble" around the gray wolf and that is unacceptable to producers, Field said. He said the recovery objectives of the department are arbitrary and not sustainable in the long term.

"What we have right now is an Endangered Species Act-driven silent approach that puts the blinders on and says we've got to treat an apex predator like it's a goldfish," he said.

Field urged the commission to take its time in making a decision and gather more information.

"This idea that we've put so much time and effort into it, we'd better just adopt it and fix it later, is absolutely unacceptable," Field said. "If it takes another four years to get it right, it takes four years to get it right."

Commissioner David Jennings said during the meeting that it's important to have a decision in December, to provide local groundwork for federal decision makers reviewing potential changes to critical habitats in February.

Ellensburg High School sophomore Glenn Paul was also in attendance researching the issue for an upcoming presentation for his FFA chapter in Ellensburg, Wash.

"I don't mind it if the wolves stay up in the mountains, but if they get down towards the livestock and start hurting my animals, I'd have a problem against that," Glenn said.

Spokane resident Ron Stepchuck spoke in favor of the wolves and the role they play in the state's ecosystem. He felt the plan wasn't sufficient in helping wolves become successfully delisted under the Endangered Species Act.

"It's been proven in Montana and Idaho that wolf predation accounts for a minimum of livestock cost," Stepchuck said, noting he believes measures should be taken if a rancher loses livestock to a wolf. "But I think the measures that need to be taken don't have to be lethal."

Online

wdfw.wa.gov/conservation/gray_wolf/