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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Proposed bill would give counties more control over wolf management in Washington

A gray wolf is photographed as part of the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife’s ongoing Predator-Prey Project.  (Courtesy of Benjamin Drummond)

Washington counties would have more control over tracking, moving and killing gray wolves per proposed legislation.

House Bill 1698, which was introduced by Republican state Rep. Joel Kretz Wednesday, would allow the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, in conjunction with county governments, to manage gray wolves as if they had been removed from state endangered or protected status within counties which had documented three breeding pairs or if the state has 15 breeding pairs for at least three years.

Per the state’s current recovery plan, wolves can only be delisted at the state level after 15 successful breeding pairs are documented for three consecutive years, or after officials document 18 breeding pairs in one year. Under either scenario, however, the pairs must be distributed evenly throughout the state’s three wolf management areas.

That geographic requirement has slowed recovery, with the majority of Washington’s wolves concentrated in northeast Washington. The agency once predicted wolves would disperse throughout all three recovery zones by 2021. There were a minimum of 206 wolves and 33 packs in Washington state in 2021, according to the most recent survey.

“They haven’t dispersed as quickly as everyone thought they would,” Kretz said in an interview.

Wolves remain a federal endangered species in the western two-thirds of Washington. Kretz’s bill would have no impact on management in that zone. Kretz has introduced wolf legislation, some serious, some not, in the past. In 2019, he sponsored a bill which called for the relocation of wolves to Bainbridge Island.

Unlike previous efforts, Kretz’s current bill has bipartisan support with Democrat state representative Larry Springer co-sponsoring.

A WDFW spokesperson said staff were still reviewing the bill and couldn’t comment.

Samantha Bruegger called the legislation a “wolf-hunting bill.”

“It removes state protection for wolves in almost every county where wolves live now,” said the executive director of Washington Wildlife First, a nonprofit dedicated to reforming how the state manages wildlife. “It gives power to the same county officials who have often proclaimed their desire to decimate wolf populations.”

Bruegger believes current recovery guidelines are adequate and argued that limiting the death of wolves helps maintain pack cohesion, which in turn leads to pack growth and dispersal.

“We need healthy wolf packs in northeast to recover wolf populations throughout the state,” she said.

On the other side of the issue are some in northeast Washington who are frustrated by the lack of regional wolf management, said Jay Shepherd, a former WDFW biologist and the founder of the nonprofit Northeast Washington Wolf-Cattle Collaborative. He believes Kretz’s bill would address that frustration, but doesn’t think the bill will go anywhere.

“I don’t think the governor is going to sign it. That would be my guess,” he said. “In fact, take that one to Vegas.”

The bill will be heard Wednesday in front of the House Committee on Agriculture and Natural Resources at 8 a.m. To tune in, visit tvw.org.