WDFW, Producers Work Together To Avoid Wolf Issues

The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife says some quick thinking, cooperation, and willingness to work outside the norm led to avoiding potential problems between wolves and livestock in North Central Washington earlier this year.  In late May 2019 WDFW confirmed wolves were denning on an allotment in the Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest.  Due to previous notification of wolf trapping in the pasture, the livestock producer had already taken steps to avoid interactions between wolves and cows by voluntarily delaying turning out livestock to that grazing area.

To discuss how to address federal and USFS staff, WDFW staff, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) staff, and the two producers who share the allotment held a meeting to discuss wolf behavior, nonlethal deterrence measures, and depredation investigation procedures.  For the livestock producer who had the den site on the permitted pasture, USFS offered two alternative allotments that were vacant for the season.

The Department also offered pasture in the Big Valley Unit of the Methow Wildlife Area, which had been used as emergency pasture following the Carlton Complex Fire in 2014.  It can be a challenge to find available or nearby alternative parcels in many cases, and all three options this time posed difficulties concerning infrastructure such as fencing and watering points. In the end, the producer elected to utilize the Big Valley Unit.

Okanogan lands staff were able to improve infrastructure of the approximately 250-acre Big Valley area on short notice. The unit was used until August, at which point livestock were relocated to the original USFS allotment after the denning period ended and wolves had moved their young to a rendezvous site outside the pasture. The grazing rotation continued as per the annual operating instructions and the season ended without incident.

This example of working together on a short timeline to come up with a solution to avoid a potentially negative situation demonstrates the benefits of cooperation between public lands agencies and livestock producers.

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