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It’s an action that has prompted death threats against state officials and ranchers.
Last week, state Rep. Joel Kretz, R-Wauconda, told the newspaper that cattle producers also were receiving death threats in the wake of the controversy.
Wielgus said Len McIrvin of the Diamond M Ranch, which is near the border north of Kettle Falls was the ranchers that released his cattle that wolf habitat. Wielgus was challenged on that claim Monday afternoon by Conservation Northwest, a nonprofit environmental group, which said it heard the cattle were turned out 5 miles away from the den and that the den was not in use.
“At that time, we said we would restart this operation if there was another wolf attack, and now we have three”, said Donny Martorello, WDFW wolf policy lead in a public statement. A spokesman from WSU had no immediate comment on the situation.
State wildlife agents shot two pack members August 5, but announced an end to wolf-removal efforts after two weeks passed without finding any more evidence of wolf predation on cattle. And what incentives do ranchers have to change their practices if the state comes in and kills wolves at taxpayer expense every time they start losing cows? McIrvin has his cattle graze on public land in the Colville National Forest.
But the department announced Saturday that after more cows were killed, it would eliminate the entire Profanity pack. He praised the ranchers’ cooperation.
Washington Cattlemen’s Association Executive Vice President Jack Field says ranchers appreciate the department following through on plan that has been put in place. As such, they have contributed substantially to the growing anger and confusion about this significant wildlife management issue and have unfairly jeopardized the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife’s Wolf Advisory Group’s many-months long stakeholder process.
“Everybody is holding fairly tight on the deal”, he said.
“We are concerned that the Fish and Wildlife Service isn’t taking relevant science into account before ordering these removals”, said Santarsiere.
Wolves were trapped, poisoned and hunted out of existence in Washington in the early 1900s – in part by ranchers to keep them away from sheep and cattle.
By the time you read this, the pack could be wiped out – 12 percent of the state’s fledgling wolf population in just a few days.
The state has already killed six wolves, including a pup, and they are on the hunt for at least five more wolves that are members of the Profanity Peak wolf pack – blamed for recent attacks on calves.
Wolves are listed as endangered under state law, but the law allows officials to remove wolves found to be repeatedly preying on livestock.
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Department staff had killed six of the 11 members of the Profanity Peak wolf pack as of last Friday. Wielgus is the director of the Large Carnivore Conservation Lab at WSU and his research includes putting radio collars on 700 cattle and a dozen wolves.
