The WDFW has proposed a plan to downlist WA wolves from endangered to state sensitive. The numbers, science, data, conservation and wildlife support this effort.
Currently the WDFW commission is accepting comment on this issue until Aug 16th. On the recent podcast we were on with Commission Chair Barbara Baker she made it crystal clear that public comments weigh heavy into decision making on hot topic issues. Well... Nobody does this better than you via the HOWL platform.
What's happening?
This draft periodic status review summarizes the biology, population status, factors affecting continued existence, and recent management actions for gray wolves (Canis lupus) in Washington. This review also assesses whether this species should retain its current endangered status under state law or be reclassified. The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) has not previously published a status report for gray wolves since their initial state listing in 1980.
Based on 14 consecutive years of population growth, population modeling predictions that indicate Washington’s wolf population is robust and will continue to grow and expand its range (including in the Southern Cascades and Northwest Coast recovery region), and ongoing state and federal protections, we conclude that the wolf does not meet the definition of State Endangered, which requires that the species is “seriously threatened with extinction” (WAC 220-610-110).
Similarly, WDFW believes that the wolf does not best fit the definition of State Threatened, which requires that a species is “...likely to become an endangered species within the foreseeable future throughout a significant portion of its range within the state without cooperative management or removal of threats” (WAC 220-610-110). Current information does not indicate that wolves are threatened with extinction or likely to be threatened with extinction in the foreseeable future in Washington state.
WDFW’s draft recommendation is to reclassify the wolf to State Sensitive.
Make your comment via the link in our story, profile and
https://www.howlforwildlife.org/-Conservation Coalition of Washington-
