Susan Kane-Ronning: Wolf recovery is ongoing in Washington and across the West

The Washington Fish and Wildlife Commission’s recent vote against translocating Washington wolves to Colorado was not a referendum against Colorado’s wolf recovery.

Washington’s wolf population declined by 9% in 2024, and breeding pairs dropped from 23 to 18. The request for Washington wolves also came after conservationists beat back a legislative attempt to downlist wolves from endangered to sensitive, weakening wolf protections. A Washington Fish and Wildlife Commission vote for translocation would make the state-endangered listing difficult to defend against future downlisting attempts.

Unfortunately, anti-wolf groups have mischaracterized the Washington Fish and Wildlife Commission’s vote as anti-Colorado wolf restoration and recovery. Weaponizing the no vote creates polarizing rhetoric that is grossly inaccurate. Washington can’t afford to give up wolves because our own wolf recovery goals have not yet been met. Colorado and its interstate supporters should not allow wolf and carnivore-hating narratives to prevail and derail further recovery efforts.

Colorado’s wolf restoration is unique and faces several obstacles. Locked between four states, wolves cannot easily disperse. Wyoming kills wolves in its predator zone. Utah has transient wolves and no wolf packs. New Mexico collars and traps Mexican gray wolves that cross state lines, and Kansas no longer has wolves.

Washington’s wolves dispersed naturally from Idaho and Canada – a benefit Colorado does not have. This natural dispersal from two source populations increased Washington’s wolves’ genetic diversity. Despite natural dispersal, Washington wolves still struggle with anti-wolf sentiment. Some ranchers remain resistant, some hunters falsely blame wolves, and wolf-haters hold rigidly to their beliefs. From 2020 through 2024, Washington experienced more than 150 wolf mortalities, including 82 on tribal sovereign and ceded lands. This wolf mortality across the five years included WDFW lethal removals, poaching and incidental deaths. A study released in May indicates Washington’s wolf population will meet its recovery goals by 2070 under specific conditions; lethal removals, mortality rates and lack of immigration will adversely impact that recovery.

Anti-wolf sentiments are often intractable, while also misleading and non-factual. Longitudinal research does not support erroneous beliefs that wolves deplete ungulate populations. A five-year study by the University of Washington’s Predator-Prey Project indicates wolves have not decreased elk, deer, or moose populations. Anti-wolf proponents still ignore this research and unite against wolf recovery efforts.

Colorado is experiencing its own infancy with wolf restoration, and will continue to have bumps and bruises. Coloradoans must work diligently to increase wolf genetic diversity and continue to enhance nonlethal protections and educate the public to protect their wolf population.

The blame for Colorado’s wolf restoration crisis falls squarely at the feet of the Trump administration. As the United States expanded to the West, government policies encouraged the elimination of wolves and other apex carnivores from the land – a goal that was largely met by the mid-1900s. Now, special interests are once again running roughshod on our public lands, with billions being spent to influences lawmakers and the Trump administration to remove endangered species protections. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Director Brian Nesvik’s restrictions on Colorado’s wolf recovery and the Endangered Species Act are no surprise, given agricultural interests’ predictable attempts to control our country’s public lands. Vilifying wolves just makes their land grabs easier.

Wolf recovery advocates understand wolves’ positive benefits and their crucial role in biodiversity. Wolves naturally balance ecosystems, restore riparian and aquatic species, and create carrion for other species. Landscapes without wild species and carnivores, including wolves, would be sterile, barren, and devoid of the vibrant complexity of nature.

Conservationists may share different perspectives on wolf recovery; however, we must work together against anti-wolf efforts and avoid polarization. While Washington state cannot provide wolves to Colorado, Washingtonians can offer compassion and hope for Colorado’s wolf recovery efforts. Foremost, we can stand united against the Trump administration’s efforts to dismantle wolf recovery in Colorado and across the West, and their onslaught against America’s vital endangered species.

Susan Kane-Ronning, of Bellingham, is a licensed psychologist. She is co-chair of the Washington Sierra Club Wildlife Committee.