Draft raises questions — on both sides
Wenatchee World article by KC Mehaffey on differing perspectives on revised wolf management plan, with quotes from Jasmine Minbashian of Conservation Northwest.
A local cattle rancher and an environmental group both found something to hate in the latest draft of the state’s wolf recovery plan, released Friday.
“We have some serious concerns about the direction the plan is going,” said Jasmine Minbashian, special projects director for Conservation Northwest. The Bellingham-based nonprofit group helped confirm the existence of the state’s first pack of wolves in 70 years by capturing remote camera images of the Methow Valley’s Lookout Pack pups.
“These changes definitely benefit cattlemen and sportsmen — which is important. They’re an important part of our community. But unfortunately, it’s being done at the expense of recovery for wolves,” she said.
But Les and Lorraine Kile, who own T and S Cattle Ranches in Cashmere and Entiat, said they don’t see any changes that truly address their concerns in the revised plan.
Minbashian said the biggest disappointment is that the state did not adjust the 15 packs necessary for removing Endangered Species Act protections, despite comments from two of three blind peer reviews that suggested more wolf packs were needed before federal protections are removed.
She said measures to allow landowners or Wildlife officers to shoot a wolf in the act of attacking livestock, domestic dogs or guard animals is too aggressive when wolves are still considered endangered. She said the Endangered Species Act will prevent people from killing a wolf in the act of attack in the western two-thirds of the state — or west of Highway 97 which runs through Okanogan County — because federal protections do not allow anyone to take an endangered species for any reason.
“I think it might take longer for wolves to recover in our state” if the changes are adopted, she said.
The Kiles — who wrote comments together after reviewing the revised plan on Tuesday — wrote they have no confidence that wolves will be delisted after 15 breeding pairs are achieved. “Just look at what happened in Montana and Idaho, even when the goal numbers were attained, a lawsuit was filed and a ‘willing’ judge agreed that the wolf numbers were too low in the original plan, so delisting was not permitted,” their email said. The Kiles also pointed out that a separate part of the revised plan says 1,000 wolves will be necessary for a genetically stable population in the state.
They called the provision for allowing a landowner to kill a wolf in the act of attacking livestock “ridiculous” and “meaningless” due to the extremely remote chances of catching a wolf in the act. “During the grazing season, my cattle are scattered over three ranches — about 3,000 acres,” they commented.
As for keeping dogs on leashes or in a kennel, the Kiles wrote that the recommendation doesn’t help when you have working dogs. Last winter, their two registered McNab border collies chased away coyotes trying to get to their newborn calves.
“I guess our only option is trade our border collie dogs in for French poodles and keep them inside the house at all times,” they wrote.
K.C. Mehaffey: 997-2512
