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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

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$73,000 in fines for wolf poaching: a slap on the wrist?

A wolf photographed by a trail camera on at 8:58 a.m. on April 30, 2011, by Western Transportation Institute.  In July, the Washington Fish and Wildlife Department said DNA evidence confirmed that a fourth documented wolf pack had been confirmed in Washington. A radio-collared wolf helped them peg the pack in Kittitas County. It's been called the Teanaway Pack. (Western Transportation Institute)
A wolf photographed by a trail camera on at 8:58 a.m. on April 30, 2011, by Western Transportation Institute. In July, the Washington Fish and Wildlife Department said DNA evidence confirmed that a fourth documented wolf pack had been confirmed in Washington. A radio-collared wolf helped them peg the pack in Kittitas County. It's been called the Teanaway Pack. (Western Transportation Institute)

ENDANGERED SPECIES -- Three members of a Methow Valley family who raised havoc with the Lookout Pack, the first re-population of wolves discovered in Washington, were fined a total of more than $73,000 in plea agreements entered in Spokane federal court.

Some conservation groups are making headlines saying they think those penalties weren't enough, arguing the family members should get jail time.

Maybe, maybe not.

But perhaps the Seattle PI online gives us a perspective on how these issues are viewed on Western Washington. There's nothing particularly wrong with the story, but the headline caught my attention:

WOLF KILLERS IN METHOW GET OFF WITH PROBATION

 

What do you think? 

Is accurate to suggest a family that's had to pay $73,000 in fines and restitution is "getting off with probation?"



Rich Landers
Rich Landers joined The Spokesman-Review in 1977. He is the Outdoors editor for the Sports Department writing and photographing stories about hiking, hunting, fishing, boating, conservation, nature and wildlife and related topics.

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