Published 9:00 am Wednesday, February 23, 2022
OLYMPIA — The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife won’t kill wolves in “chronic conflict” areas unless ranchers follow department-written plans to prevent depredations, according to a rule proposed Tuesday.
The rule would only apply to wolf packs with a multi-year history of attacking livestock. The proposal largely mirrors the department’s current informal policy of requiring ranchers to try non-lethal deterrents first.
The rule, however, responds to an order by Gov. Jay Inslee, who echoed complaints by wolf advocates that the department kills too many wolves in the Kettle Mountain Range of northeast Washington.
The department initially had resisted writing a rule, preferring a “protocol” that leaves it up to Fish and Wildlife Director Kelly Susewind to decide when to use lethal control.
The proposed rule retains the department’s flexibility, though Fish and Wildlife would have formal preventive plans for ranchers in areas where Susewind has authorized lethal control in at least two of the past three years.
Fish and Wildlife already meets with ranchers before grazing season to talk about preventing depredations.
The department’s wolf policy lead, Julia Smith, said the formal plans may not differ much from current practices, but could prevent conflicts by ensuring that protective measures are in place before wolves start attacking livestock.
“It doesn’t have to be something wildly different,” she said. “It’s more about formalizing it.”
The only pack that currently qualifies as a chronic problem is the Togo pack in northeast Washington. Susewind has authorized lethal control against the pack five times since 2018, but the department has killed only one wolf.
Stevens County rancher Scott Nielsen said Tuesday that cattlemen have cooperated with Fish and Wildlife to prevent attacks, but the department has failed to remove wolves and end the cycle of depredations.
“What’s a chronic-conflict zone? It’s someplace where things have not been fixed,” said Nielsen, who heads up the Cattle Producers of Washington range-riding program. “If a rancher does everything demanded by the department, they’re still not removing wolves.”
Fish and Wildlife suspended searching for the Togo pack last fall after 40 days had passed without a depredation.
The department said that just hunting for the pack may have discouraged wolves from attacking more cattle. “Our definition of success is not whether a wolf is killed,” Smith said.
Wolf advocates had proposed a rule that would put in place detailed requirements for ranchers, including the use of range riders. Fish and Wildlife rejected that approach.
The department said the wolf advocates’ proposal could lead to fewer dead wolves in the short term, but would allow depredations to escalate, perhaps causing the department to kill more wolves in the long run.
The department also said imposing a uniform set of requirements on all ranchers would be wasteful. The department said it will tailor preventive plans for each operation.
Fish and Wildlife says it does not have authority to order ranchers to use range riders to manage livestock, though the department could make range-riding a condition to resorting to lethal control.
The department will take written comments on the proposed rule until April 11. The Fish and Wildlife Commission is expected to consider adopting the rule in May. The rule would not take effect until January 2023.
Comments can be sent by email to WolfConflictDeterrence102@PublicInput.com. Comments also can be left by calling (855) 925-2801 and entering code 3861.
