On Sept. 29, the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife shot another member of the Profanity Peak wolf pack from a helicopter. One adult and three pups remain alive. WDFW is still trying to kill them, too.
WDFW set this pack up to fail. Its Wolf Advisory Group is dominated by anti-wolf ranchers and hunters. Six environmental groups are on the 18-member group. WAG’s consensus model also silences them. Consensus rather than product is important. Everyone supports the majority position.
So it’s no surprise the protocol for killing wolves approved by WAG favors livestock over wolves. It’s unscientific, doesn’t distinguish between public and private land, is vague about what’s required of ranchers, and fails to require use of effective deterrents from day one of the grazing season. Also not surprising, the same rancher and grazing allotments were involved when Wedge Pack was eliminated. That cost our state about $77,000. We also pay for the livestock wolves kill and for some of the rancher’s deterrents. Costs associated with grazing lands far exceed the fees paid by ranchers.
If you don’t like this, please do something. Washington wolves need our help.
Let’s make WDFW do a better job of managing our wolves. Go to the next WDFW Commission meeting, Nov. 4-5, in Olympia. Tell your state legislators and our governor. Go to WAG meetings. The public is allowed to attend and speak. Contact the groups on WAG and tell them consensus isn’t working for wolves.
Martha Hall
Anacortes
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