The Endangered Species Coalition as soon as once more helped lead the defeat of anti-wolf payments launched within the yr’s Washington Legislature. In what has turn into an annual prevalence, payments have been launched to permit the baiting and killing of wolves, permit counties to handle wolves, and to strip protections that wolves have below the state’s Endangered Species Act.
Wolves first began to recolonize the state in 2008 when the primary profitable breeding pair produced a litter. Throughout the previous seventeen years whereas we’ve got seen an general improve in numbers their fee of progress has slowed, poaching has elevated, and the variety of breeding pairs declined from 2022 to 2023.
 We nonetheless don’t have any packs or breeding pairs within the Southern Cascades and Northwest Coast restoration zone the most important of the state’s three restoration zone.
Throughout 2023 and 2024 the Endangered Species Coalition and our allies efficiently helped defeat a proposal from the Division of Fish and Wildlife that might have down listed protections of wolves from endangered to delicate below the state Endangered Species Act. This was particularly essential because the wolves within the japanese third of the state will not be protected below the federal Endangered Species Act.
Final yr the Washington Fish and Wildlife Fee voted to disclaim the division’s request because it didn’t meet the State’s Wolf Conservation and Administration Plan, was based mostly on a scientifically disputed modeling examine, and didn’t deal with the restoration of wolves all through the state.
This yr’s Washington Home Invoice 1311 would have overturned the fee’s determination. Our workers lobbied and testified towards the invoice and our Washington State members inundated the legislature with feedback towards the invoice which helped kill it.
