Three members of a Methow Valley family who decimated the
Lookout Pack, the first re-population of wolves discovered in
Washington, will get off with probation, fines and restitution in a plea
deal with federal prosecutors.
They have pleaded guilty to various charges including conspiracy to kill an endangered species, conspiracy to export an endangered species, as well as state charges involving using dogs to hunt a bear and killing a trophy deer out of season.
This photo helped confirm the Teanaway wolf pack in the Cascade Mountains. (Photo courtesy of Conservation Northwest).
“Criminal wildlife violations are serious federal crimes that will be investigated and prosecuted vigorously in the Eastern District of Washington,” Mike Ormsby, U.S. Attorney in Spokane, was quoted as saying in the Methow Valley News.
But the vigorous prosecution has yielded not a day in jail.
William White, 62, pleaded guilty to three felony charges involving the killing of two wolves from the Lookout Pack in 2008. He will be put on probation for three years, pay fines totaling $38,500 and lose his right to own a gun.
His son Tom White, 37, and wife Erin White, 37, have pleaded guilty to misdemeanor charges involving the killing of wolves. Tom White will pay $30,000 in fines and restitution, Erin White a $5,000 criminal fine, and both will be put on probation for three years. Tom White will forfeit the gun he used to kill the wolves.
William and Tom White have also pleaded guilty in local court to violating state hunting regulations. Tom White will lose his hunting privileges for five years.
The wolf kill came to light late in 2008, when a woman identifying herself as “Alison” — and giving a false phone number — tried to ship a parcel out of the FexEx office in Omak. Blood seeped from the parcel, which was found to contain a wolf pelt.
“Alison” was later identified as Erin White.
The Lookout Pack now consists of three remaining wolves. In addition to the two kills to which the Whites confessed, a female wolf was shot in 2010.
While the remaining wolves were thought to be males, “one has been showing female-type behavior,” said Mitch Friedman of Conservation Northwest, indicating there may be hope for the pack’s survival.
Friedman confessed to a “certain outrage” about the soft penalty to the White family. But wolves appear to be repopulating the Evergreen State. A pack has been confirmed in the Teanaway River valley of the Central Cascades, north and east of Cle Elum.
The other center of wolf activity is far northeast Washington, in and around the small Salmo Priest Wilderness Area. The region was once nicknamed the “state zoo” by Seattle Post-Intelligencer reporter Neil Modie. It has populations of grizzly bears, woodland caribou and moose.
Wolf packs have also been identified elsewhere in the southern Selkirk Mountains and the Kettle Range of northeast Washington, in highlands proposed for wilderness protection.
Rare, elusive wolverines have also been spotted in such places as Harts Pass in the North Cascades.
Wolves are protected under the Endangered Species Act in the western two-thirds of Washington.
Congress has ended federal protection of wolves in portions of the Mountain West — at the behest of Montana politicians and Idaho’s wolf-hating Gov. Butch Otter. The northeast Washington wolves still enjoy state protection.
The Washington Dept. of Fish and Wildlife provides information on wolf recovery at http://wdfw.wa.gov/conservation/gray_wolf
source
They have pleaded guilty to various charges including conspiracy to kill an endangered species, conspiracy to export an endangered species, as well as state charges involving using dogs to hunt a bear and killing a trophy deer out of season.
This photo helped confirm the Teanaway wolf pack in the Cascade Mountains. (Photo courtesy of Conservation Northwest). “Criminal wildlife violations are serious federal crimes that will be investigated and prosecuted vigorously in the Eastern District of Washington,” Mike Ormsby, U.S. Attorney in Spokane, was quoted as saying in the Methow Valley News.
But the vigorous prosecution has yielded not a day in jail.
William White, 62, pleaded guilty to three felony charges involving the killing of two wolves from the Lookout Pack in 2008. He will be put on probation for three years, pay fines totaling $38,500 and lose his right to own a gun.
His son Tom White, 37, and wife Erin White, 37, have pleaded guilty to misdemeanor charges involving the killing of wolves. Tom White will pay $30,000 in fines and restitution, Erin White a $5,000 criminal fine, and both will be put on probation for three years. Tom White will forfeit the gun he used to kill the wolves.
William and Tom White have also pleaded guilty in local court to violating state hunting regulations. Tom White will lose his hunting privileges for five years.
The wolf kill came to light late in 2008, when a woman identifying herself as “Alison” — and giving a false phone number — tried to ship a parcel out of the FexEx office in Omak. Blood seeped from the parcel, which was found to contain a wolf pelt.
“Alison” was later identified as Erin White.
The Lookout Pack now consists of three remaining wolves. In addition to the two kills to which the Whites confessed, a female wolf was shot in 2010.
While the remaining wolves were thought to be males, “one has been showing female-type behavior,” said Mitch Friedman of Conservation Northwest, indicating there may be hope for the pack’s survival.
Friedman confessed to a “certain outrage” about the soft penalty to the White family. But wolves appear to be repopulating the Evergreen State. A pack has been confirmed in the Teanaway River valley of the Central Cascades, north and east of Cle Elum.
The other center of wolf activity is far northeast Washington, in and around the small Salmo Priest Wilderness Area. The region was once nicknamed the “state zoo” by Seattle Post-Intelligencer reporter Neil Modie. It has populations of grizzly bears, woodland caribou and moose.
Wolf packs have also been identified elsewhere in the southern Selkirk Mountains and the Kettle Range of northeast Washington, in highlands proposed for wilderness protection.
Rare, elusive wolverines have also been spotted in such places as Harts Pass in the North Cascades.
Wolves are protected under the Endangered Species Act in the western two-thirds of Washington.
Congress has ended federal protection of wolves in portions of the Mountain West — at the behest of Montana politicians and Idaho’s wolf-hating Gov. Butch Otter. The northeast Washington wolves still enjoy state protection.
The Washington Dept. of Fish and Wildlife provides information on wolf recovery at http://wdfw.wa.gov/conservation/gray_wolf
source
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