Fish and Wildlife Department shift on wolves

I highly value the close working relationship Conservation Northwest has with the WA Department of Fish and Wildlife. We have partnered on fisher reintroduction, habitat corridor research, citizen wildlife (remote camera) monitoring of wolves and other wildlife, and much more. I was extremely impressed with WDFW’s successful process to develop and adopt the best wolf conservation plan in the West.

So it was with some alarm that I learned of department executives having just shifted responsibility for wolf management to the game division, taking it away from the endangered species division which normally oversee sensitive (listed) species and just scored the big win on the wolf plan.

I always understood that management would be part of the wolf issue, and that eventually a shift like this would happen. But this seems early, sudden, and unusual. I also understand that executives have considerations like efficiency and capacity that are difficult for outsiders to have full perspective on. I want to believe that this decision was based on such considerations, rather than a reaction to wolf anxieties among some stakeholders or politicians.

Furthermore, in management, “how” can be as important as “why.”

Whether or not this shift was the right thing for Director Phil Anderson to do (time will tell), it wasn’t done in the best way. The shift hurt dedicated, hard-working and accomplished public servants. It raised suspicions inside and outside the organization. And it probably lowered morale among at least some key staff.

At this point, my hope is that the department takes steps to restore its honor and that of its leaders who feel undermined or destabilized. Budget and other pressures are hard enough without adding this unnecessary tension in the agency. As for the wolves, department leaders promise me that the plan will be faithfully implemented and transparency will be high on everything from wolf sighting reports to processing of wolf removal applications. That is the only way the challenge of wolf recovery can be done right.