WDFW Director reauthorizes lethal action in Wedge wolf pack territory

Publish date

Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) Director Kelly Susewind today (August 11, 2020) reauthorized WDFW staff to lethally remove one to two wolves from the Wedge pack territory in response to repeated depredations of cattle on grazing lands in Stevens County. The Department believes there are currently two adult wolves in the pack.

On July 27, WDFW lethally removed an adult, non-breeding female member of the Wedge wolf pack. Following the lethal removal, WDFW staff have conducted multiple investigations of livestock reported as depredated by wolves in the Wedge pack territory. Of these investigations, nine livestock belonging to two different livestock producers (Producers 2 and 3 below) and were determined by WDFW staff to have been injured or killed by wolves (one probable mortality and eight confirmed injuries) in six different events.

Based on the age of the documented injuries, two of these events are believed to have occurred after the July 27 lethal removal. As such, Director Susewind has decided to reinitiate lethal removal actions in the Wedge pack.

The proactive and responsive non-lethal deterrents used by the affected livestock producers (described below) in the area this grazing season have not curtailed further depredations. 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.

Consistent with the guidance of the plan and protocol, the rationale for authorizing lethal removal of Wedge wolves is as follows: 

WDFW has documented 16 depredation events (12 within the last 30 days) resulting in four dead livestock and 19 injured livestock since May 11, 2020 attributed to the Wedge pack. All events were considered confirmed wolf depredation incidents with the exception of one probable incident.

At least two proactive deterrence measures and responsive deterrence measures (if applicable) were implemented by each of the three livestock producers affected by the depredations:

Producer 1

  • At the time of the first depredation, the affected livestock were pastured near the producer’s home; they were checked daily and there was regular human presence in the area. The producer calved near the home, monitored for sick/injured livestock, used carcass sanitation, and hazed wolves away during the first depredation incident. Following the depredations, WDFW staff placed Fox lights in the pasture. Producer 1 used Cattle Producers of Washington (CPoW) range riders mainly on a 100-acre private pasture near the residence. Range riders transitioned with the livestock to larger summer grazing allotments. Producer 1 has not experienced any depredation events since May 19. 

Producer 2

  • The producer removed or treated sick or injured livestock when discovered, used carcass sanitation, calved away from areas occupied by wolves, delayed turnout of livestock until wild ungulates were born, had human presence around livestock, and used range riders. This livestock producer used CPoW range riders for six full days and eight partial days from May 21 through June 18 mainly on an 800-acre private pasture. Range riders transitioned with the livestock to larger summer grazing allotments. Following the depredation confirmed on June 17, range riding and livestock monitoring efforts were intensified. Range riding has been occurring four days per week, with the largest gap in coverage being two days. In addition to this increase in range riding, the producer, family members, or ranch staff have checked the cattle on the grazing allotment in the Wedge territory on a daily basis since the depredation confirmed on June 17.

Producer 3

  • The producer removed or treated sick or injured livestock when discovered, used carcass sanitation, delayed turnout of livestock to forested/upland grazing pastures, used a CPoW range rider, and had daily human presence around livestock. Following depredations documented in August, this livestock producer deployed two Northeast Washington Wolf Cattle Collaborative (NEWWCC) range riders.

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.

WDFW expects depredations to continue even with non-lethal tools being utilized. Staff also believe there are no reasonable, additional, responsive, non-lethal tools that could be deployed.

The lethal removal of one or two wolves from the Wedge pack territory is not expected to harm the wolf population's ability to reach the statewide recovery objective. WDFW has documented three known wolf mortalities in the state since Jan 1, 2020. 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, we do not expect this action to jeopardize wolf recovery in the eastern recovery zone or statewide.

WDFW discussed the impacts of removing one or two wolves from the Wedge pack territory and determined the current level of mortality should not negatively impact the ability to recover wolves in Washington.

WDFW is providing one full business day (eight hours) advance public notice before initiating lethal removal activity.

WDFW will keep the public informed about this activity through weekly updates. The next update will be provided on Aug. 18.

Previous updates

2020 Wedge pack updates

WDFW will provide a final report on this and any other lethal removal operations during 2020 in the Washington Gray Wolf Conservation and Management 2020 Annual Report, which will be published during spring 2021.

A summary of all documented depredation activity within the past 10 months is included in every monthly wolf update.

Packs referenced in this update