Washington's wolves are back in the news

Washington's wolves are continuing to garner headlines - some good, some sad.   In the good news department, a recent court ruling by U.S. District Court judge Donald Molloy reinstated Endangered Species Act protection for wolves in the northern Rockies.  You can read a great editorial in the Eugene Register-Guard for more background. Molloy's decision affects the eastern third of Washington, and one of Washington's two confirmed packs - the Diamond Pack in northeast Washington.

In more of the "interesting news" department, an animal posing as a wolf was photographed near Riverside, WA (geographically somewhere in between where the two known packs hang out).  It's nice to think that wolves can still safely travel across Washington without getting shot (cameras shots are okay) or run over.  Time will tell.

And finally in the sad wolf news department, the Lookout Pack's breeding female is still missing.  The radio signal from the wolf’s collar was lost May 12^th and has not been received since.  Scott Fitkin, a biologist with the WA Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW), believes there are two possible explanations for the loss or detectable signal.  Either the collar malfunctioned, or the wolf was killed and the collar was destroyed.  Since the missing alpha male from Oregon's Imnaha Pack recently turned up in a remote camera photo and apparently has a faulty collar, we're really hoping that is the case with our lady wolf.  What's also interesting is the lack of the news from the case of last year's poaching incident of the pup from the Lookout Pack.  We're wondering why this case is taking so long to be prosecuted?

One things for sure though, you'll be hearing a lot more from us on wolves this fall as WDFW works to finalize the state wolf conservation and management plan.