[Humptulips]

[Ski]

Thursday July 27, 2017 16:50 PDT WDFW WILDLIFE PROGRAM New update on Washington wolves A new update on wolf activities is available on the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife’s website. link here -WDFW-

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Monday July 31, 2017 17:06 PDT WDFW WILDLIFE PROGRAM New update on Washington wolves A new update on wolf activities is available on the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife’s website. ( link here ) -WDFW-

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Thursday August 03, 2017 15:19 PDT WDFW WILDLIFE PROGRAM New update on Washington wolves A new update on wolf activities is available on the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife’s website. ( link HERE ) -WDFW-

[Ski]

Thursday August 10, 2017 14:52 PDT WDFW WILDLIFE PROGRAM Gray Wolf Update A new update is available on wolf-management activities by the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife. See: http://wdfw.wa.gov/conservation/gray_wolf/updates/update_on_washington_wolves.pdf -WDFW-

[Ski]

nwhikers member hbb posted this in another thread, but I believe it needs to be posted here as well A War Over Wolves published in the Seattle Times Thursday August 10. written by Lynda Mapes.

[Dave Workman]

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Monday August 14, 2017 17:30 PDT WDFW WILDLIFE PROGRAM Update on Washington wolves A new update is available on wolf-management activities by the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife. See: http://wdfw.wa.gov/conservation/gray_wolf/updates/update_on_washington_wolves.pdf

[Ski]

Thursday August 24, 2017 16:44 PDT WDFW WILDLIFE PROGRAM Gray Wolf Update A new update on wolf activities is available on the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife's website here. -WDFW-

[Ski]

Friday August 25, 2017 17:26 PDT WDFW NEWS RELEASE WDFW plans lethal action to address predation by wolf pack in Ferry County OLYMPIA – State wildlife managers plan to take lethal action against a wolf pack that has repeatedly preyed on livestock in Ferry County during the past two months. Jim Unsworth, director of the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) authorized field staff to lethally remove one or more members of the Sherman wolf pack, which was involved in four documented occasions of predations on livestock since mid-June. At least three calves were killed and one was injured by members of the pack, according to investigations conducted by WDFW field staff. The pack is estimated to have at least two members – including one fitted with a tracking collar – although a survey last winter indicated there were five members in the pack.. Donny Martorello, WDFW's lead wolf manager, said the department's response is consistent with Washington's Wolf Management Plan of 2011, which authorizes WDFW to take action to address repeated attacks on livestock. Martorello noted that the rancher who lost livestock to predation by the Sherman pack employed a variety of non-lethal deterrents before lethal measure were approved. The rancher engaged multiple range riders to patrol his herd in a leased grazing area on a near-daily basis. The rancher and the range riders also shared information with WDFW about cattle behavior and wolf activities throughout the area, Martorello said. "This rancher has made concerted efforts to protect his livestock using non-lethal measures, and has met the department's prerequisite for lethal action," he said. "Our goal is to change the pack's behavior before the situation gets worse." Martorello said the situation also meets the department's condition for lethal action that predation by a wolf pack occur three times in a 30-day period or four times in a 10-month period. That condition is part of a protocol for wolf removal developed by WDFW in conjunction with an 18-member advisory group that represents the concerns of environmentalists, hunters, and livestock ranchers. "The purpose of this action is to change the pack's behavior, while also meeting the state's wolf-conservation goals," Martorello said. "That means incrementally removing wolves and assessing the results before further action." That is the same approach the department took when it removed two members of the Smackout Pack in Stevens County. Since taking that action in late June, WDFW has not documented any further incidences of wolves from the Smackout pack preying on livestock and continues to monitor the situation. The Sherman and Smackout packs are two of 20 wolf packs documented in Washington state by WDFW in 2016. According to state surveys, the state's wolf population is currently growing at a rate of about 30 percent each year. For more information about wolf management actions, see Update on Washington Wolves at http://wdfw.wa.gov/conservation/gray_wolf/ == Friday August 25, 2017 17:27 PDT WDFW WILDLIFE PROGRAM Gray Wolf Update A new update on wolf activities is available on the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife’s website HERE -WDFW-

[Ski]

This is in response to member jaberwock's post regarding the authorization for lethal removal of wolf pack members in Ferry County announced by WDFW 08/25/17: Nothing to get all excited about. Lethal removal is provided for in the Washington State Wolf Management Plan and there is a very specific set of conditions which have to be met before the project supervisor signs off on it. The question to be asked is whether or not there is any definitive evidence that lethal removal of one or more pack members results in a change in the behavior of the rest of the pack; something which does not seem to be a known factor (although some insist that lethal removal of pack members results in increased levels of predation on livestock by other pack members.) (See Lynda Mape's most recent article in The Seattle Times about Rob Wielgus here.) The question which logically follows, of course, is at what point is it determined by WDFW (and other wildlife managers) whether or not the lethal removal of pack members has resulted in a change in pack behavior? There is apparently no established time frame within which that decision is made. It appears to be more of a "wait and see" process; it seems WDFW is going through a rather protracted learning curve with this experiment. These questions have been addressed to WDFW (as well as members of the Washington State Legislature) but thus far I have yet to receive any response. I guess a month isn't long enough a time for them to be able to come up with any sort of response other than their standard "form letter" that they send out in response to any "wolf" inquiries. There was a similar decision (to allow for lethal removal of pack members) in Stevens County just a while back. You'd have to scroll through that WDFW "wolf update" document to ferret it out. (The WDFW wolf updates are posted here in the "wolf" thread.) So again, the removal of pack members isn't anything new. Net dollar cost for removal of one animal from a pack: $19,286.00 (see above-cited Seattle Times article.) Total dollars spent on "wolf management" (by WDFW and other State and Federal agencies) during the last biennium: $5.2 million. Your tax dollars at work.

[JVesquire]

I'm guessing WDFW doesn't care if it is effective or not over the long term. It placates one voice in the argument, the rancher, who presumably has the ear of a sympathetic local legislator if need be.

[Ski]

If you read the WDFW press releases, the ranchers in both Stevens and Ferry County had complied with all of the requirements of the Washington State Wolf Management Plan that pertained to non-lethal actions. The local legislators do not make the rules - WDFW does.

[Ski]

Thursday August 31 2017 14:26 PDT WDFW WILDLIFE PROGRAM Gray Wolf Update A new update on wolf activities is available on the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife’s website here. -WDFW-