WIN in Washington state! Wolves to remain protected as endangered

A seventeen-month fight to strip Washington State wolves of protection afforded under the state endangered species act was finally defeated by a 5 to 4 vote at the Washington Fish and Wildlife Commission’s July meeting.

Endangered Species Coalition staff and our Washington State volunteers led the grassroots efforts in opposition to the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife’s proposed downlisting of the wolf’s status from endangered to sensitive.  

State protection for wolves is important as wolves are only protected in the western two-thirds of the state under the Endangered Species Act.

Wolves returned to Washington in 2008 but still only number approximately 250 animals.

In 2011, Washington Developed a Wolf Conservation and Management Plan, a nearly 300-page document subjected to peer review and analyzed through an Environmental Impact Statement. 

The Plan sets standards before wolves can be delisted or downlisted, and Washington’s wolf population has not met these benchmarks.   

The Plan established three wolf recovery zones: Eastern Washington, Northern Cascades, and the Southern Cascades and Northwest Coast. To downlist to threatened, the Plan requires at least two successful breeding pairs in each of the three recovery regions. To downlist to sensitive, the Plan requires at least four successful breeding pairs in each of the three recovery regions. 

There are no successful breeding pairs in the South Cascades and Northwest Coast recovery zone, the largest recovery zone with the most wolf habitat. 

Under pressure from special interests, the department chose to ignore the conservation and management plan and proposed downlisting wolves to sensitive status. This would have decreased the penalties for poaching wolves from $5,000 and/or up to a year in jail to $1,000 and/or up to 90 days in jail when wolf poaching incidents are on the rise.   It would have also eliminated the requirement that foresters avoid tree harvesting and road construction within 1 mile of known wolf den sites, a rule that will become increasingly important as the wolf population moves west. 

When the department proposed the downlisting in February 2023, 681 of our Washington members commented opposing it. When the final draft proposal was released this year in March, ESC testified against it, and 423 Washington residents and 8,851 members from across the country submitted comments.

The commission decided to vote on the proposal at its July meeting. In response, the Endangered Species Coalition turned out over 40 of our members to testify at their June meeting.And on the weekend before the July vote we were able to get over 100 of our Washington State members to write personal letters to the commissioners opposing the proposal.Along with other environmental organizations, we intensely lobbied commissioners until the last moment. 

The outcome of the vote was unknown and only decided once the votes were cast. One commissioner switched his vote to keep wolves listed as endangered, giving wolves a 5 to 4 victory.