State Rejects Downlisting Wolves From Endangered to Sensitive

On July 19, the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) asked the Washington Fish and Wildlife Commission to at last make a decision on WDFW’s proposal to downlist the status of gray wolves in the state from endangered to sensitive. In 2018, WDFW began its first status review of gray wolves in nearly 40 years. The department finished that review earlier this year and, based on clear science showing wolves in Washington are “not in danger of extinction or becoming endangered,” asked the commission to downlist gray wolves in February.

Commission meetings since the proposal have been filled with uninformed and emotional statements from animal extremists, disorganized or non-existent commission procedures, and commission members who are unwilling to accept clear scientific evidence gathered by the WDFW or Tribal wildlife managers, according to the Sportsmen’s Alliance. Multiple times, the WDFW and its Tribal partners have presented the commission with undeniable data that gray wolves in Washington no longer meet the definition of endangered in the state. “Meeting after meeting, the commission repels science-based information from their in-house experts and Tribal partners. This commission has proven they completely lack or ignore any administrative processes for effective rulemaking,” said Dr. Todd Adkins, vice president of government affairs at the Sportsmen’s Alliance.

A large gray wolf searches for deer in Ashland County, Wisconsin, in December 2023. (Deer & Deer Hunting photo)

The Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation also recently provided data to the commission proving a healthy, growing gray wolf population on the reservation. The Tribe has sovereign authority to manage wildlife on its lands. In particular, the Colville Reservation allows wolf hunting by Tribal hunters, and it represents a large portion of the state’s increase in gray wolf numbers in recent years. Animal extremists are currently attempting to discredit the accuracy of the Tribe’s work – which has been reviewed by WDFW wildlife managers, who have a long history in coordination and cooperation with Washington Tribes to successfully manage the state’s wildlife.

“Washington’s state endangered species act is designed as a pathway to protect those species at risk of extinction while providing tools to return these species to sustainable population levels,” said Torin Miller, associate litigation counsel at the Sportsmen’s Alliance Foundation. “The state ESA, however, is not intended to lock away species in perpetuity. The science is clear: gray wolves in Washington are no longer endangered, and that’s something to be celebrated. Willfully ignoring hard work and resulting successes is inexcusable.”

Ultimately, the commission made the decision to keep the status of the gray wolf as endangered, ignoring the WDFW and Tribe’s insights. The WDFW stated in a press release, “WDFW will continue to work closely with partners, stakeholders, and communities, just as over the past decade, on the recovery, conservation, and management of wolves in Washington, with a focus on reducing conflict between wolves and livestock, emphasizing proactive nonlethal conflict deterrence, achieving statewide recovery objectives, and supporting wolf expansion into all suitable habitat statewide. WDFW will revisit the state status of wolves as part of a future periodic status review process or sooner if the recovery objectives of the state’s Wolf Conservation and Management Plan are met within five years.”

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