In 2018, the Washington Legislature directed the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) to evaluate wolf translocation using the State Environmental Policy Act (SEPA) process.
Translocation means moving animals from one area to another to establish or increase populations, often in regions that the species doesn’t currently occupy. WDFW has used translocation to recover and manage many species, including elk, bighorn sheep, pronghorn antelope, mountain goats, fishers, and turkeys.
The 2011 Wolf Conservation and Management Plan proposed translocation of wolves as a management tool if wolves did not naturally disperse to all recovery regions or if wolves achieved recovery objectives in some regions, but not others.
WDFW will begin a parallel SEPA and Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) process later this year that will propose the development of a post-recovery wolf conservation and management plan. The evaluation of wolf translocation will be incorporated into this process.
Wolves are currently listed as a state endangered species in Washington. The post-recovery planning process is being initiated proactively because WDFW anticipates it will likely take two to three years to complete. The post-recovery plan will guide WDFW in long-term wolf conservation and management, and will evaluate various wolf management tools, including translocation.
Because of the timing and content overlap in both the SEPA and EIS processes, WDFW combined the processes into one. By combining them, the department hopes to provide a clearer and more straightforward process for its stakeholders and the public. This will streamline scoping periods, public meetings, and EIS documents.
WDFW will announce the public scoping for the post-recovery plan and associated public meetings later this year.