Gray Wolf Conservation and Management

Draft Wolf Conservation and Management Plan

Draft Gray Wolf Environmental Impact Statement and Conservation & Management Plan Download DEIS and Draft Plan PDF Format [4.64 MB]   - Preferred Alternative #2 Summary - Comparison of the Four Alternatives - Draft DEIS Development Timeline Public Comment Period Public comment on the Draft EIS and plan ended on January 8, 2010. Comments submitted during that period are now being analyzed. Get Adobe® Reader If you require this information in an alternative format, please e-mail wildthing@dfw.wa.gov

January 13, 2010

In October 2009, the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) published a Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) titled: Wolf Conservation and Management Plan for Washington. This is a non-project review proposal. Non-project review allows agencies and the public to focus on issues that are ready for decision.

Gray wolves were classified as endangered in Washington at the federal level in 1973 and at the state level in 1980. They were delisted under federal law in 2009 in the eastern third of Washington, and remain federally listed in the western two-thirds of the state; they continue to be state listed throughout Washington. Expansion of a currently small breeding population of wolves in Washington is expected as a result of increased dispersal of wolves from recovering populations in Idaho and Montana, and dispersers from British Columbia.

In response to this, and in anticipation of the eventual return of all wolf management to the state, the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife initiated development of a state wolf conservation and management plan. A determination of significance and request for comments on scope of an environmental impact statement (EIS) was issued August 1, 2007. WDFW appointed an advisory Wolf Working Group comprised of 17 citizens to provide recommendations on the plan to WDFW. The draft plan establishes conservation/recovery objectives for downlisting and delisting the species, and identifies strategies to address conflicts and achieve recovery. The draft plan and DEIS released for public review in October 2009 contained recommendations and suggestions from public scoping comments, peer review comments, WDFW reviews, and Wolf Working Group recommendations.

The 90-day public comment period on the Draft Wolf Conservation and Management Plan for Washington and EIS ended on January 8, 2010. Comments submitted during that period, as well as blind peer review comments, are now being analyzed. An analysis of the comments received and any proposed revisions of the draft EIS/plan will be discussed with the Wolf Working Group in a meeting this summer. Following that meeting, a final EIS/plan will be completed. The final EIS/plan is expected to be presented to the Washington Fish and Wildlife Commission for consideration at the end of this year.  

For more information, see: Wolf Plan Development Process and Archive