Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) Director Kelly Susewind today (November 10, 2021) authorized permits for the removal of up to two wolves from an area of new wolf pack activity north of the Touchet pack territory and west of the Tucannon pack territory in southeast Washington’s Columbia County. This action is in response to repeated depredations of cattle on private grazing lands in Columbia County. Staff believe there are four adults and four pups in this pack.
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 2017 wolf-livestock interaction protocol (PDF). Consistent with the guidance of the plan and protocol, the rationale for authorizing permits for the lethal removal of these wolves is as follows:
WDFW has documented four depredation events affecting two different livestock producers resulting in one dead and four injured livestock since August 25, 2021, all attributed to wolves in the area of new wolf activity. All events except one were considered confirmed wolf depredation incidents; the other incident involved one calf confirmed injured by wolves and two others probably injured by wolves. All incidents took place on private land.
At least two (in this case, more than two) proactive deterrence measures and responsive deterrence measures (if applicable) were implemented by the livestock producers affected by the depredations, including the following:
Producer 1
Proactive deterrents
- Range riding (1 – 2 times per week) with herding dogs present
- Regular pre-grazing/turnout checks
- Fox lights deployed on pasture
- Delayed turnout to forested/upland grazing pastures (calves at least 200 pounds)
- Practicing carcass sanitation
- Opportunistically hazing wolves away from occupied pastures
Responsive deterrents
- WDFW staff communicated the location of a core wolf activity center to Producer 1, who then moved mineral blocks away from the wolf activity center.
- Producer 1 was willing to move livestock off their current pasture if WDFW could find different pasture ground, or take the cattle home if feed was available. WDFW staff were unable to find alternate pasture or purchase hay to feed their cattle for the rest of the grazing season.
- Producer 1 worked with an adjacent private property owner with fenced pasture ground and did move some of their livestock onto pasture further away from the core wolf activity center in mid-September.
- Producer 1 pyrotechnically hazed a wolf away from their pasture area on September 13.
- In response to the depredation on September 13, WDFW staff tried to haze wolves out of the area where livestock were grazing. On September 16, WDFW staff hiked into the rendezvous site to attempt to push the wolves to a new rendezvous site further from the livestock. Staff located several adult wolves and pups and used air horns, gunshots, and yelling to haze the wolves out of the area. The wolves responded to the disruption by moving out of the area temporarily but returned to the same location within a day of the harassment.
- On October 6, 16, and 26, Producer 1 gathered and moved a significant portion of their livestock off the private pasture and back to their home place (which is not an occupied wolf territory) in response to the wolf activity.
Producer 2
Proactive deterrents
- Range riding (near daily) with herding dogs
- Regular pre-grazing/turnout checks
- Fox lights deployed on pasture
- Delayed turnout to forested/upland grazing pastures (calves at least 200 pounds)
- WDFW staff communicated the location of a core wolf activity center to Producer 2, who then moved mineral blocks away from the wolf activity center.
- Practicing carcass sanitation
- Opportunistically hazing wolves away from occupied pastures
Responsive deterrents
- Producer 2 deployed additional fox lights.
- Producer 2 actively worked to keep cattle away from core wolf activity areas and moved mineral blocks.
- Producer 2 cleared brush in areas where cattle are vulnerable to depredation.
- In response to the depredation on September 13, WDFW staff tried to haze wolves out of the area where livestock were grazing. Producer 2 allowed land access for this purpose. On September 16, WDFW staff hiked into the rendezvous site to attempt to push the wolves to new rendezvous site further from the livestock. Staff located several adult wolves and pups and used air horns, gunshots, and yelling to haze the wolves out of the area. The wolves responded to the disruption by moving out of the area temporarily but returned to the same location within a day of the harassment.
The Department documented these deterrents in the agency's "wolf-livestock mitigation measures" checklist, with date entries for deterrent tools and coordination with the producers and range riders.
The proactive, non-lethal deterrence measures implemented by these two livestock producers were those best suited for their operations in the professional judgement of WDFW staff, with the exception of the frequency of range riding for Producer 1. WDFW has an expectation of daily to near daily range riding for dispersed grazing operations. Producer 1 has expressed willingness to use range riders and requested a WDFW-contracted range rider prior to experiencing depredation. Efforts were made by both the producer and WDFW staff to solicit one, but none were available in the Blue Mountains area. Ongoing labor shortages in southeast Washington made hiring additional hands challenging. Conservation Northwest provided a range rider for eight days in October.
Based on livestock remaining in the wolf pack territory for at least another month, where the depredations occurred, the amount of non-lethal deterrence measures already deployed and currently being utilized, and the behavior patterns exhibited by the wolves, WDFW staff believe depredations are likely to continue, even with additional non-lethal deterrence efforts.
The lethal removal of one to two wolves from the area of new wolf activity in Columbia County is not expected to harm the wolf population's ability to reach the statewide or local recovery objective.
On the evening of November 5, WDFW law enforcement received notification of a dead wolf along the side of a road in the area of new wolf activity in Columbia County. Upon retrieval and investigation, it was clear the wolf (a female yearling) had been killed by a vehicle while crossing the road.
With this information, WDFW has documented four known wolf mortalities in the state since Jan. 1, 2021. In previous years, WDFW has documented 12 – 21 mortalities per year and the population has continued to grow and expand its range.
The Department’s wolf plan also modeled lethal removal to help inform decision makers during this stage of recovery. The analysis in the plan included wolf survival estimates from northwest Montana, which incorporated a 28% mortality rate. It is important to note that agency lethal control was factored into that 28% mortality estimate. To err on the side of caution (i.e., when in doubt assume greater impact to wolf population so true impact is not underestimated), the scenarios modeled in the wolf plan included an even higher level of lethal control (i.e., removing 30% of population every four years in addition to baseline 28% mortality rate). Based on that modeling analysis, as well as an analysis of higher levels of potential mortality on the actual population level of wolves in the eastern recovery zone and statewide, WDFW does not expect removing one to two wolves from the area of new wolf activity in Columbia County to jeopardize wolf recovery in the eastern recovery zone or statewide.
The lethal removal permits expire when the wolf or wolves in the permits have been removed, livestock are moved from the affected pastures, or after Dec. 10, 2021 (regardless of whether wolves have been removed), whichever comes first. The authorization could be extended or amended to include other wolves in the pack area if additional depredations are documented in the 30 days following the initial authorization or other extenuating circumstances are identified.
WDFW will keep the public informed about this activity through weekly updates. The next update will be provided on November 18.
Previous updates
2021 Columbia County area of new wolf activity updates
WDFW will provide a final report on this and any other lethal removal actions during 2021 in the Washington Gray Wolf Conservation and Management 2021 Annual Report, which will be published during spring 2022.
A summary of all documented depredation activity within the past 10 months is included in every monthly wolf update.