Kim Thorburn: Governor shouldn’t meddle in wildlife decisions

By Kim Thorburn

The recovery of gray wolves in Washington is an endangered species story to be celebrated. Instead, our governor meddles in wolf conservation and management seeking to harm the very communities that are the most active participants in the success.

The Washington Fish and Wildlife Commission is considering two policies regarding wolf management: a petition demanding a rule that would essentially foreclose the use of lethal removal as a tool in human-wolf conflict and the long overdue periodic status review that recommends downlisting the state’s gray wolf endangered status. In accordance with state law, these policies should be decided by an independent governing commission responsible for making wildlife management policy that best benefits all state residents. This was the clear intent of Referendum 45 passed by a large majority of Washingtonians in 1995 that sought to establish autonomous wildlife governance responsible for appointing the director of the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife . The governor’s statutory role is to appoint representative commissioners, not influence decisions.

Ignoring the laws’ intent, the governor is leaning heavily on the Department of Fish and Wildlife to adopt both policies in manners that reflect the demands of an extremist vocal minority that insists humans should never kill wolves. Public testimony at a recent Fish and Wildlife commission meeting exemplified the radical position. The testifier correctly noted 10% of wolf mortality was human-caused in 2022 but failed to acknowledge the population increased.

In fact, since gray wolves began returning to Washington in 2008, annual mortality has been 10% to 12%. Yet wolf recovery has been so steady that population modeling demonstrates sustained growth and survival into the future even in the face of more severe mortality threats. Barring rare disease outbreaks, human causes – including legal hunting, car collisions, lethal actions in human-wolf conflicts and illegal poaching – are the main causes of mortality in this resilient and rapidly reproducing species.

Most Washingtonians want healthy wildlife populations, including gray wolves. Accomplishing this goal in our populous state is a challenge best achieved by wildlife management expertise, not political partisanship. That was the hope of Referendum 45. Wildlife experts put limits on wolf killings but also respect the diverse needs of all Washington communities related to a species that can have major intrusions on human activities. WDFW staff works with livestock producers to use nonlethal methods to deter losses from wolf depredation. Lethal wolf removal is a tool reserved for the failure of other approaches. Regulated wolf hunting is practiced by some Eastern Washington tribes. Poaching is investigated, and instigators are prosecuted when identified.

It is the facts that gray wolves are successfully established and scientifically managed on the state’s landscape that should weigh into the two gray wolf policy decisions facing the commission, not the absolutist perspective that human-caused wolf deaths are never acceptable. The governor, however, is trying to force the partisan view by putting pressure on the department to ignore the science supporting robust wolf recovery and packing the commission with members who hold his extremist views. The position completely disregards the needs of many Washington residents and communities, a toxic reflection of our divided society in which even our elected leaders fail to represent all constituencies.

The governor’s meddling is harmful beyond zealous intervention in wolf management policy. Gray wolves in Washington are recovered and here to stay for the foreseeable future. Wasting economic and human resources on unnecessary protective measures diverts those resources from wildlife species that need far more conservation and management attention to survive. It’s time to start celebrating gray wolves as a recovery success and put more wildlife management resources where there will be greater returns.

Kim Thorburn is a retired Spokane physician and a former member of the Washington Fish and Wildlife Commission.