A discussion of wolf management by the state Department of Fish and Wildlife will be held on the westside of the Cascades, with a meeting taking place Tuesday in Lynnwood.
Department managers will provide information on recent wolf attacks on livestock in the state. They also will talk about the packs involved in these incidents, the Huckleberry pack in Stevens County and the Profanity Peak pack in Ferry County.
The department took multiple steps, eventually using lethal means to kill a female member of the pack, earlier this summer to protect sheep from the Huckleberry pack. Wolves from that pack killed or injured more than two dozen sheep. Information on those attacks can be found at wdfw.wa.gov/conservation/gray_wolf/huckleberry_faq.html.
The department also has confirmed recently that wolves were responsible for killing a cow and calf at a cattle grazing site in Ferry County, within the range of the newly discovered Profanity Peak pack. Wildlife conflict specialists from the department continue to monitor that situation.
In 2011, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service removed gray wolves from the federal list of endangered species in the eastern third of the state, but the species is still protected under state law. The state Wolf Conservation and Management Plan and state laws set the parameters for responding to wolf predation on livestock, according to a department news release.
The department also has formed a wolf advisory group that provides input to the department on wolf plan implementation. More information on that group is available at wdfw.wa.gov/about/advisory/wag.
Several meetings on wolf management have been held previously, but those have taken place in Eastern Washington where the incidents have taken place.
Tuesday’s meeting will take place from 6-9 p.m. in Room 1EF of the Lynnwood Convention Center, 3711 196th St. SW, Lynnwood.