In July 2015, some U.S. Air Force
personnel were hiking about eight miles up North Fork Chewelah Creek, in
northeastern Washington, when they found the chewed-up remains of a
cow. They notified the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, which
sent out investigators the next day. The investigators found a second
carcass nearby and three days later, discovered two more — a cow and a
calf. Wolves, they determined, had killed all four animals.
The
dead cattle were squarely in the territory of a wolf pack called Dirty
Shirt, and local ranchers’ reactions were predictably fierce. “The time
for the removal of the Dirty Shirt pack is now,” Justin Hedrick, the
president of the Stevens County Cattlemen’s Association, said in a
statement. But instead of mustering sharpshooters, wildlife officials
sent riders on horseback to keep the wolves away. They used generators
to shine bright lights around the rest of the herd, while other
employees patrolled the area. They shared data on the pack’s location —
three wolves are radio-collared — with area livestock producers, so
other cattle could be shifted out of harm’s way. But they also said that
if the wolves killed more cows, they would consider shooting them.
Within
a few days, the pack moved to a different part of its territory, and
fears died down. Three months later, its wolves remain on probation of a
sort, but the state hasn’t taken further action. And even though
tempers still simmer, the incident shows the difference between wolf
recovery in the Northwest compared to the Rocky Mountains or the
Southwest. Washington, with its generally more progressive politics, was
able to adopt policies that would have had little traction in the
Interior West. But even here, thanks to stark urban-rural political
divides, the effort’s successes come by way of a very delicate and
ongoing balancing act.
A curious gray wolf from the Lookout
Pack in northeast Washington encounters a trail-cam.
Trail-cam photos
like this can help wildlife officials document wolf presence and
estimate pack
composition, reproductive status and territory use.
David Moskowitz
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