June 8, 2011 in News

Charges filed in wolf poaching case

Becky Kramer The Spokesman-Review

A federal grand jury has indicted a Twisp, Wash., man for illegally killing two wolves near his property and trying to ship one of the pelts to Canada.

After Tom D. White shot the wolves, his father told a Canadian tanner that he had “a really big coyote” skin for processing, according to the indictment.

The indictment lists Tom White; his father, William D. White; and Tom White’s wife, Erin J. White, who is accused of using a false name to try to ship the package containing the wolf pelt to Alberta in December, 2008.

A Fed-Ex worker in Omak was suspicious of the bloody package and alerted Omak police, who began an investigation. A gray wolf and wolf parts were seized, the indictment said.

Tom White faces charges of unlawfully taking an endangered species. William White is charged with conspiring to unlawfully take an endangered species and making false statement. Erin White faces charges of false labeling of wildlife for export. In addition, all three Whites face smuggling and unlawful export charges.

A conviction for unlawful taking or conspiracy to take an endangered species can result in fines up to $100,000 and up to one year in prison.

The indictment was filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Spokane.

William D. White, reached by phone Wednesday afternoon, said his family had no comment. No arraignment date was been set for the Whites to respond to the charges.

The wolves killed were from the Methow Valley’s “Lookout Pack,” which was Washington’s first documented wolf pack. The poaching case has drawn national attention. Only two adult males are believed remain in the pack; the pack’s alpha female disappeared last year.

According to the indictment, Tom White killed two gray wolves from the Lookout Pack in 2008. In email correspondence from January, 2009, William White said he and others shot several wolves, specifically two wolves in one group of nine and one wolf in another group of three, the indictment said. The indictment didn’t indicate whether wolves shot by William White were injured or killed.

That same month, William White use pesticides to try and kill a wolf, according to the indictment. As early as 2007, William White had emailed a relative from Alaska for help in locating someone who knew how to snare wolves, the indictment said.

Wolves were taken off the Endangered Species List in the eastern one-third of Washington state this year. But they remain a federally protected species in the rest of the state, and no public hunting of wolves is allowed in Washington at this time.

13 comments on this story so far. Add yours!

dkap on June 08 at 3:56 p.m.
should have just buried the wolves……not a big fan of building up these huge populations of wolves…..should we try to get some T-rex’s re-introduced to the area as well?
jen28 on June 08 at 4:01 p.m.
Good—I hope they are all punished to the full extent of the law!
Wolves seem to be in everyone’s crosshairs these days.
Squid on June 08 at 4:18 p.m.
No one wants wolves anywhere near their property. The Government is forcing people to have to live among them. Nothing good will come from reintroducing them into their former habitat. The decimate wildlife populations and kill livestock just for fun. When they aren’t hungry, they will kill anything they can catch, eat the liver, and leave the rest. That is why there used to be a bounty on them.
force_vector on June 08 at 4:19 p.m.
Unless wolves are harassing livestock or threatening people, they should be left alone. And, killing dominant wolves in a pack for sport will only make the rest of the pack that much more prone to harassing livestock. Hopefully this guy gets the max.
notawolflover on June 08 at 4:57 p.m.
What a waste of taxpayer dollars pursuing a case of eradication of a known vicious and unbiased predator. Had this creature came upon one of your children, is it possible you would cheer the man for the same results?
flutieflakes on June 08 at 5:09 p.m.
“No one wants wolves anywhere near their property.”
No, YOU don’t want wolves anywhere near YOUR property. Speak for yourself, not everyone else.
force_vector on June 08 at 5:09 p.m.
“Had this creature came upon one of your children, is it possible you would cheer the man for the same results?”
I am no wolf expert, but it seems to me that they shy away from human contact at all costs. Just look at the ratio of wolf tags issued to wolf kills. These animals want nothing to do with you.
MrBloggy on June 08 at 7:32 p.m.
The magnificent wolf
is our spirit brother
to slaughter him
is unspeakable
The wolf is peaceable
loving unless attacked
by vicious deer, elk, crazed
lambs and cow spawn
ravening
for the blood of our
Spirit bro
These murderers
must pay
Justice demands
Mother Gaia is free
of sheep in wolves’
clothing
force_vector on June 08 at 8:01 p.m.
MrBloggy has obviously found that elusive meth dealer he’s been trying to track down. You make zero sense.
Thayne on June 08 at 9:14 p.m.
Humans are the only animal to kill for fun. Wild animals kill only for food or defense. The ridiculous claim that they would kill an animal only to eat its liver is almost humorous. Why does every living thing on earth need to be eradicated? If you live near wolves, mountain lions, bear etc, have the sense to know what to do to keep interactions safe for you and them. People leave food stuffs accessible and wonder why they have wild animals on their property. 2 wolves does not make a huge population. If you don’t want to deal with wildlife move downtown and live with the more dangerous 2 legged animals.
Squid on June 08 at 10:03 p.m.
Saying humans are the only animals that kill for fun is a ridiculous claim. Ever own a cat or a dog?
MrBloggy on June 09 at 7:42 a.m.
This morning
my spirit brother
A pure white
Gray wolf
came to me
in my wakening
“We love our brothers,
Men, but we beseech
him to cease his murder
of the Wolf kind.”
I asked him what
could I do?
Could
I
do?
A drum circle.
Tonight.
A drum circle creating
new realities?
no
Create harmonic convergency.
Gun barrels will turn
To butter.
krosnicki on June 09 at 8:44 a.m.
FYI (just the ignorant ones) , bees kill 53 people/year, rattle snakes 5 , spiders 6, pet dogs 31, and no wolf deaths in the US since 1888, although there have been 2 deaths in Canada attributed to Wolves in the past 100 years.
Now, humans, well, that total in the US, just from alcohol related causes in 2007 were over 23,000, motor vehicle related were 44,000, and around 18,000 from homicide. Now , maybe we should just kill off some people since they seem to cause a few more deaths than the wicked wolves.