Groups want state’s wolf management info to be public

Associated Press

SPOKANE — Environmental groups are demanding the Washington Department of Fish and Wildfire be more transparent about managing the state’s growing population of wolves.

Fourteen conservation groups signed the letter, sent Friday.

They contend the agency has failed to be transparent enough about wolf management issues, including the current effort to kill some members of one wolf pack to prevent them from preying on livestock.

Specifically, the environmental groups want timely information on each known wolf pack, individual wolf deaths, chronologies of wolf-livestock interactions, photos and videos of wolves, and confirmations of litters born.

Wolves were hunted to extinction in Washington in the early 1900s. They began to return from neighboring areas in the early 2000s, and their population has grown to an estimated 115 wolves in 20 confirmed packs.