Wolf management topic of another public meeting

ELLENSBURG, Wash. The Washington Fish and Wildlife Commission meets in Ellensburg Monday to discuss a proposed plan for managing gray wolves in the state.

The meeting is the latest in a series of public meetings to determine how to recover wolves in their historic territory and ultimately delist them from endangered species protections while reducing and managing wolf-livestock conflicts.

A 17-member citizen advisory group has been attempting to agree on recommendations for a plan, which is nearly five years in the making, without agreement.

Some hunting and ranching groups particularly oppose the number of wolves called for in the proposed plan. The proposal calls for 15 successful breeding pairs for three consecutive years to delist the animals.

Conservationists have argued that landowners shouldn't be allowed to kill a wolf caught attacking a domestic dog, under the proposal.

Gray wolves were eliminated as a breeding species in Washington by the 1930s. Statewide, they are listed as an endangered species under state law, and gray wolves are endangered under federal law in the western two-thirds of the state.

Wolves have never been reintroduced to Washington but numerous sightings over the years suggested that the animals had crossed its border from neighboring states and British Columbia. Today, there are five confirmed resident wolf packs in Washington.

Under the plan, six breeding pairs would be required in Eastern Washington, four in the North Cascades and five in the South Cascades or Northwest Coast, namely the Olympic Peninsula.