A loving family
Wolves are on the move in Washington
state, but that doesn’t mean they are going away. Three packs already
have taken up residence on the east slopes of the Cascades — in the
Methow Valley, the Teanaway area of upper Kittitas County and just south
of Wenatchee. About a dozen packs reside in Washington, mostly in the
mountainous northeastern part of the state.
The wolves can move quickly across long distances. A
year ago, one collared female from the Teanaway Pack trekked out of
Kittitas County, crossed the Methow Valley and continued into Canada.
She was shot and killed in the pigsty of a farm near Kootenay, British
Columbia, about 100 miles north of Sandpoint, Idaho.
The wolf’s far-flung destination and eventual demise
point to issues that soon may confront humans and their domesticated
animals in areas of Yakima County where people co-exist with the wilds.
Wildlife officials say eventually wolves will disperse from packs and
seek new turf to the south, and even a barrier like Interstate 90 will
do little to slow their movement.
A key development in this issue came earlier this
month, when the Obama administration proposed lifting federal
protections on gray wolves across the Lower 48, a move that would affect
management of the animals in Yakima County. The wolves are delisted in
the eastern third of the state but not in south-central Washington; the
federal move eventually would change that.
The change won’t come overnight. The proposal will
be subject to hearings and potentially emotional testimony, and it also
could be challenged in court by environmental groups. So delisting won’t
happen for a year at the earliest, and most likely longer. That leaves
plenty of time for governmental authorities to educate local residents
about what to expect.
Rural residents in forested and riparian areas,
especially those with livestock, already deal with predators like
cougars, coyotes and packs of wild dogs. The movement of wolves will add
one more predator to the list, but delisting will offer greater tools
for protecting domesticated animals from wolf attacks.
This happened earlier this year, when the Washington
Fish and Wildlife Commission approved an emergency rule that allows
people to kill wolves caught in the act of attacking livestock — as long
as the property owner reports the incident within 24 hours, surrenders
the wolf carcass to Fish and Wildlife and lets investigators onto the
site. The rule applies only to delisted areas.
In addition, recreationists and cabin users will
need to learn how to live in wolf country. For example, a hiker who
takes his dog on the trail needs to understand that wolves view other
canines as a threat and could attack.
Wolves are thriving in north-central Washington
because the habitat is friendly to favored prey like deer and elk, and
south-central Washington holds plenty of similar habitat. The watchword
is awareness, not alarm; communication by state and federal agencies and
cooperation by local residents both are essential as the region
prepares for what is likely an inevitable migration to our neck of the
woods.
• Members of the Yakima Herald-Republic editorial board are Sharon J. Prill, Bob Crider, Frank Purdy and Karen Troianello.
