Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) Director Kelly Susewind determined that the lethal removal of wolves from the Columbia Pack territory in southeast Washington was not warranted in response to recurrent livestock depredations impacting multiple producers.
Director Susewind's decision is consistent with the guidance of the State's Wolf Conservation and Management Plan and the lethal removal provisions of the Department's 2020 wolf livestock interaction protocol (PDF) (PDF). The rationale for not authorizing lethal removal of Columbia pack wolves is as follows:
The primary objective of lethal removal is to change a wolf pack’s depredating behavior when proactive and responsive deterrence measures best suited to the landscape and situation fail to do so. While considering the option to use lethal removal in this pack territory, it was determined that proactive and responsive deterrent measures were not fully employed.
Previous updates
2024 Columbia pack updates: