Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) Director Kelly Susewind today (August 1, 2024) rejected the option of lethal removal of a wolf or wolves from the Leadpoint wolf pack in northeast Washington, in response to repeated depredations of cattle in Stevens County.
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). The rationale for not authorizing lethal removal of Leadpoint pack wolves is as follows:
WDFW has documented three confirmed wolf depredation events in the pack territory resulting in two dead (the first injured calf eventually died) and one injured livestock since June 28, 2024, all attributed to the Leadpoint pack.
At least two (in this case, more than two) proactive deterrence measures and responsive deterrence measures (if applicable) were implemented by the affected livestock producer, prior to these depredations events. They included range riding, removing injured cattle from the range, carcass sanitation, thinning trees that have provided cover for wolves, and human presence.
The Department documented these deterrents in the agency's "wolf-livestock mitigation measures" checklist, with date entries for deterrent tools and coordination with the producer. The proactive and reactive non-lethal deterrence measures implemented by the livestock producer were those best suited for their operations in the professional judgment of WDFW staff.
WDFW staff discussed the recent depredations by the Leadpoint wolf pack and associated effectiveness of the nonlethal deterrence tools implemented by the affected livestock producers. Staff determined that range riding occurred on a daily/near daily basis, along with regular human presence.
A yearling female wolf from this pack was killed after reportedly chasing livestock on July 26. Prior to that incident, staff believed the Leadpoint pack to be made up of seven adult wolves and an unknown number of pups. The death of the female wolf could disrupt depredation patterns of the pack. Because of this, WDFW staff recommended Director Susewind to enter an evaluation period to assess if the pack’s behavior changes and Susewind agreed.
Previous updates
2024 Leadpoint pack updates: