This update provides an overview of gray wolf conservation and management activities in Washington during March 2020.
Program updates
On August 1, 2019, the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) invited the public to comment on the scope of a post-recovery plan for wolves in Washington. WDFW is following the State Environmental Policy Act (SEPA) process to develop the plan. The first step of the SEPA process was scoping. Scoping helps to determine proposed actions, alternatives, and impacts to be discussed in the impact statement. Scoping improves decisions and encourages collaboration, cooperation, and early resolution of potential conflicts. It is intended to narrow the impact statement to only the relevant issues.
WDFW welcomes and values all input received, and summaries of comments received during the scoping period are now available. These comments do not necessarily represent the sentiments of the entire public. In addition, the comments may not reflect actual existing conditions on the ground or WDFW management policies or positions. The public comment process does not serve as a voting mechanism; instead, emphasis is placed on the content of the comments rather than the number of times a comment is received. WDFW considers the content of all comments equally. Commenters were not given specific questions to address in their correspondences.
The topics and comments summarized are intended to be representative of the spectrum of comments received in total. The summaries do not encompass the full text or content of all comments received. All scoping comments received in their original format are available via wdfw.wa.gov/wolves-post-recovery-comments.
The next steps in this multi-year process involve preparing a draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) that will be available for public review and comment once completed. That document will evaluate actions, alternatives, and impacts related to long-term wolf conservation and management. A draft EIS will be developed over the coming year.
Communication and coordination
WDFW staff have been working with co-managers to develop the annual wolf report which will be released in April. This report highlights the current status of wolves in Washington and the population’s progress toward recovery. It also summarizes known dispersals, mortality, conflict with livestock, funding and costs, and lethal removal operations in 2019. Previous annual reports are available here.
Current population status and proactive conflict mitigation
The year-end minimum population count for 2018 was at least 126 known wolves in 27 known packs including at least 15 breeding pairs. Annual wolf population surveys are conducted in the winter because wolf populations experience the least amount of natural fluctuation during this time. Counting the population at the end of each year allows for comparable year-to-year trends at a time of year when the wolf population is most stable. The year-end minimum population count for 2019 will be released in April 2020.
Reports of remote camera images or videos, wolf tracks, or sightings from the public are extremely helpful in locating previously undocumented wolf activity and potential new packs on the landscape. Please take photos of wolves or wolf sign (use some way to measure the size of a track) and upload them to the wolf reporting page via the following link: https://wdfw.wa.gov/species-habitats/at-risk/species-recovery/gray-wolf/observations
Definitions: A “pack” is defined as two or more wolves traveling together in winter, and a “breeding pair” is defined as at least one adult male and one adult female wolf that raised at least two pups that survived until December 31. In any given year, the number of packs will always be greater than or equal to the number of breeding pairs. The known territories and more information for each pack can be viewed by clicking the pack name.
Beaver Creek pack
A collared wolf from the Beaver Creek pack was documented in the Vulcan Mountain area in Ferry County by WDFW biologists. This pack has occasionally used the Vulcan Mountain area in the past.
Butte Creek pack
No activity to report.
Carpenter Ridge pack
No activity to report.
Diobsud Creek pack
WDFW biologists searched for wolf sign and checked trail cameras in this pack area.
Dirty Shirt pack
No activity to report.
Goodman Meadows pack
No activity to report.
Grouse Flats pack
WDFW biologists searched for wolf sign and checked trail cameras in this pack area.
Huckleberry pack
No activity to report.
Leadpoint pack
Wolves were recently seen and photographed by residents in this pack area.
Lookout pack
No activity to report.
Loup Loup pack
No activity to report.
Naneum pack
WDFW biologists searched for wolf sign and checked trail cameras in this pack area. Wolves have been seen in several new areas and a collared wolf from the Teanaway pack has spent several weeks in the Naneum Pack territory. No livestock conflicts have been confirmed to date. Two dead calves were investigated after a wolf was seen in the area. One dead calf was determined to be killed by an unknown predator and the other was not associated with any predator. A range rider is currently working in the pack territory.
Salmo pack
Wolves were recently seen around a calving pasture within the pack area.
Sherman pack
WDFW biologists searched for wolf sign and checked trail cameras in this pack area.
Smackout pack
No activity to report.
Stranger pack
No activity to report.
Strawberry pack
No activity to report.
Teanaway pack
WDFW biologists checked trail cameras in this pack area.
Togo pack
No activity to report.
Touchet pack
No activity to report.
Tucannon pack
WDFW biologists searched for wolf sign and checked trail cameras in this pack area.
Wedge pack
WDFW staff and an outdoor journalist documented recent wolf activity while conducting a winter wolf survey.
Miscellaneous/lone wolves
WDFW biologists documented wolf activity around the Cooper Ridge area in Okanogan and Chelan counties. Several trail cameras were deployed for long-term monitoring and surveillance.
WDFW biologists placed trail cameras and searched for tracks and sign of wolves in Skagit and Whatcom counties to follow up on wolf sightings and reports outside of the Diobsud Creek pack territory.
WDFW staff checked several trail cameras in the Vulcan Mountain area in Ferry County and documented two uncollared gray wolves. Recent wolf tracks were consistent with the wolves captured on camera.
WDFW staff deployed a trail camera in the former OPT pack area for long-term monitoring and surveillance.
Thanks to members of the public, images of wolves caught on trail camera south of Lake Chelan were submitted to the wolf observations webpage and more survey work will be conducted in the area.
Note: The Frosty, Nason, Nc’icn, and Whitestone pack territories are within the Colville Confederated Tribes (CCT) reservation and are managed under tribal authority. Information regarding these packs is proprietary and reported at the discretion of the CCT.
Mortalities
There were no wolf mortalities documented in March.
Depredation activity
Please report any suspected livestock depredations or the death or harassment of wolves to the WDFW Enforcement Hotline at 1-877-933-9847.
In 2019, 85% of known wolf packs were not involved in any documented livestock depredation.
There were no documented wolf depredations in March.
Below is a summary of packs with documented depredation activity within the past ten months through March 2020 (some packs have depredation history prior to the current ten-month window; this timeframe is considered based on guidance from the wolf-livestock interaction protocol).
|
Pack |
Depredation date |
Depredation type |
Proactive non-lethals |
Ten-month window |
Agency lethal removal actions |
|
Togo |
7/24/19 |
Confirmed kill of calf |
Yes |
5/24/20 |
|
|
|
7/29/19 |
Confirmed kill of calf |
Yes |
5/29/20 |
|
|
|
7/31/19 |
Confirmed injury of calf |
Yes |
5/31/20 |
|
|
|
8/11/19 |
Confirmed kill of calf |
Yes |
6/11/20 |
|
|
|
8/11/19 |
Confirmed injury of calf |
Yes |
6/11/20 |
|
|
|
8/11/19 |
Confirmed injury of calf |
Yes |
6/11/20 |
|
|
|
8/23/19 |
Confirmed kill of calf |
Yes |
6/23/20 |
|
|
|
8/31/19 |
Confirmed injury of calf |
Yes |
6/30/20 |
|
|
|
9/10/19 |
Probable kill of calf |
Yes |
7/10/20 |
|
|
OPT |
7/6/19 |
Confirmed kill of cow |
Yes |
5/6/20 |
Adult male lethally removed 7/13/19 |
|
|
7/18/19 |
Confirmed injury of calf |
Yes |
5/18/20 |
|
|
|
7/18/19 |
Confirmed injury of calf |
Yes |
5/18/20 |
|
|
|
7/20/19 |
Confirmed kill of calf |
Yes |
5/20/20 |
|
|
|
7/22/19 |
Probable kill of calf |
Yes |
5/22/20 |
|
|
|
7/26/19 |
Confirmed injury of calf |
Yes |
5/26/20 |
|
|
|
7/26/19 |
Confirmed injury of calf |
Yes |
5/26/20 |
|
|
|
7/26/19 |
Confirmed injury of calf |
Yes |
5/26/20 |
|
|
|
7/31/19 |
Confirmed injury of calf |
Yes |
5/31/20 |
|
|
|
8/5/19 |
Confirmed kill of cow |
Yes |
6/5/20 |
Juvenile lethally removed 8/7/19, juvenile lethally removed 8/8/19, adult lethally removed 8/13/19, two adults and two juveniles removed 8/16/19 |
|
Grouse Flats |
7/8/19 |
Confirmed kill of calf |
Yes |
5/8/20 |
|
|
|
7/22/19 |
Confirmed kill of calf |
Yes |
5/22/20 |
|
|
|
8/30/19 |
Confirmed kill of calf |
Yes |
6/30/20 |
|
|
|
9/12/19 |
Confirmed injury of cow |
Yes |
7/12/20 |
Adult female lethally removed 9/25/19 |
|
|
2/3/20 |
Confirmed kill of calf |
Yes |
12/3/20 |
|
|
Wedge |
6/12/19 |
Confirmed kill of cow |
Yes |
4/12/20 |
|