Don Jenkins
Capital Press
The only wolf-related legislation with a chance of passing the Washington Legislature succumbed to a disagreement among allies.
OLYMPIA — Okanogan County Rep. Joel Kretz battled against Washington’s wolf policies all session, but ultimately was thwarted by his natural allies in the livestock industry and Legislature, who saw Kretz-sponsored legislation as gambling too much for too little gain.
As the 2015 session wound down, Kretz said Tuesday that he had the same worries. Nevertheless, he maintained that reopening the state’s wolf plan was the only practical path toward change and worth the risk because the status quo is intolerable for ranchers.
“It comes down to, ‘How’s it working for you now, boys?’” he said.
Kretz, a Republican, shepherded a measure through the Democratic-controlled House to review the wolf plan. House Bill 2107 didn’t dictate changes, but ordered wildlife managers to take into account that wolves are increasing in Kretz’s district, northeast Washington’s ranching country.
The bill died in the Republican-controlled Senate, where Sen. Brian Dansel, who represents the same district, opposed it, a position shared by the Stevens County Cattlemen’s Association. “They’re the ones who will be effected,” Dansel said Tuesday. “It was a no-brainer for me to listen to my constituents.”
Stevens County rancher Ted Wishon said ranchers were concerned that environmental groups would seize the chance to amend the plan to their liking.
Among other things, HB 2107 instructed the Department of Fish and Wildlife to review the circumstances in which it will shoot wolves to stop livestock killings. Environmentalists and ranchers have fundamental differences on how lethal force has been used in the past.
“We really weren’t ready for that fight,” Wishon said. “Reopening that wolf plan wasn’t really where I thought we needed to go.”
The Washington Cattlemen’s Association was firmly behind the bill. “I’m extremely disappointed,” Executive Vice President Jack Field said. “Basically, we’re set up for more of the status quo.”
Early in the session, the Cattle Producers of Washington supported Kretz’s bill. As the weeks went on, however, the group moved to a neutral position, spokeswoman Jamie Henneman said.
She said there was concern that HB 2107 would have assigned a large role to a mediator, Francine Madden, who persuaded WDFW to close to the public a meeting in May of the department’s wolf advisory group. “There were a lot of mixed feelings on the board,” Henneman said.
The House proposed spending $850,000 to contract with Madden to lead wolf advisory group meetings. There’s nothing in the final budget passed Monday by the Legislature. Kretz said Madden would have been a “huge boom” to resolving conflicts and helping the advisory group make recommendations to WDFW.
“I felt that was the most promising part of the whole deal,” he said.
Dansel questioned the value of reopening the wolf plan. He said he thinks there’s a chance the House and Democratic Gov. Jay Inslee can be persuaded next year to take wolves off the state’s protected species list in Eastern Washington.
“I still believe we have to pursue a regional delisting,” he said. “I believe we have that ability.”
Kretz has introduced bills to delist wolves in Eastern Washington, but the measures have not come close to passing. He said he doesn’t foresee that changing, but that he heard this session more wolf advocates open to compromising on the recovery plan.
“This is what we could get out of here,” he said. “I think we’re right back to the status quo.”