by CHRIS INGALLS / KING 5 News
NWCN.com
OLYMPIA — The members of Washington’s newest wolf pack are dead -– or are they?
The Washington Department of Fish & Wildlife commission is scheduled to be briefed Friday on the latest information on the status of the Wedge Pack, which was targeted for elimination last month after it began preying on cattle in Stevens County.
The commission meeting will hear from a combustible mix of citizens.
A group of protestors gathered Friday on the steps of the Capitol in Olympia to protest DFW’s decision to deploy sharpshooters to kill more than a half dozen animals. That decision was made after wildlife officials concluded that there was no other way to protect cattle in the area.
Ranchers are expected to tell the commission that they believe there are still more problem wolves in the area.
If that’s true, the commission will have to decide whether to hunt and kill those animals as well.
But Phil Anderson, DFW’s director, said the agency is confident that all of the problem wolves have been removed from the area where the Wedge Pack established itself. He also does not expect that any more wolves will need to be killed in that area, in part because the cattle that was grazing on forest land have been moved to winter pasture.