Inside the search for Washington's wolves

WINTHROP, Wash. - It starts with a faint beep bouncing off a target somewhere out there in the vast highlands of the of the Methow Valley.

The weak signal is picked up by Fish and Wildlife biologist Scott Fitkin's radio receiver, but its message is being heard loud and clear by the wildlife and people who live here.

Rancher Vic Stokes has seen just about everything about here, but he and his herd have never dealt with what's moving in.

"For me to understand the wolves entirely now, it's going to be a learning curve for me as a rancher,” he said.

Last summer, Fitkin and other agents captured and tagged the adult male and female wolves believed to leading the new pack. He hasn't seen them since.

"I think we'll head around the other side of the ridge and look for the female," he said.

Winding up a remote back road, Fitkin sights two locals who live as close as anyone to the pack. Lindsey Swope and Will Buchanan are among the very few to hear it.

"We hear them, pretty distinctive call, yeah," said Swope.

"Often times if the dogs and I are out we'll just look at each other and just like whoa, that's not a coyote," said Buchanan. 

Wildlife is plentiful here. Eagles dine on roadside meals, deer are everywhere, and even an extremely shy Pygmy Owl might drop by for a uncharacteristic appearance.

And it was while we were enjoying this rare sight and chatting about it, when it happened.

"Shhh … that's a wolf," said Fitkin.

Energized but out of daylight, we prepare for a trek tomorrow into wolf country, hoping against all odds to actually see one.

The first radio check of the day indicates the wolf is nearby. We even have hopes for an easy sighting. 

It’s pretty obvious this isn't going to be one of those days. We're going to have to go way into the mountains to go after him and you can tell by the condition we won't be able to walk so we'll have to use snowshoes.

The going is rough. Daylight is fading.

"Well we've got tracks of multiple wolves headed to the Northwest," said Fitkin

We begin to close in, but darkness is again edging us out. Fitkin tries one last attempt to track them down.

His howls, like the wolves themselves, seem to fade away on the winds of the Okanogan. At daylight we meet Ray Robertson, who is installing a wolf cam. He lives and works in some of the wolves’ favorite hangouts.

His motion detection cameras have captured some of the only photos of the Methow Valley wolves, but even he has never set eyes on one.

"Well I'd love to see one in the wild you know," he said.

And as if on cue, a howl.

"There's a whole group, they're up on that hill right over there," said Robertson.

We probe the hillside as we hear coyotes return the wolf call and then, a mountainside away, a lone wolf crosses the snow field.

Each step brings it closer to a rural controversy. Life here without wolves is over.

"Wow, this is amazing. After 50 to 70 years, wolves have come back to the state and here they are in this area,” said Robertson.

It's a fleeting view of a ghost from the past coming back to claim its place alongside the top predator in the Washington woods.

Biologists believe the eight wolves near Winthrop are part of a British Columbia pack that migrated south. They say after spending a winter here they are likely to stay.