November 30, 2022, Vashon-Maury Island Beachcomber, Claire Loebs Davis: Washington’s management of fish and wildlife must be reformed. When I started a legal practice focused on wildlife law in 2017, my first lawsuit was against the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, challenging its killing of state-endangered wolves. Despite following wildlife issues closely, at that time, I had heard relatively little about state management issues and generally assumed Washington must be doing a decent job. I was shocked and appalled by what I discovered.

November 10, 2022, The Spokesman-Review: Eli Francovich, New poll suggests Washington wildlife management ‘out of touch with the public,’ may have political implications. A majority of Washington’s voters believe state wildlife managers’ goal should be  “preserving and protecting fish and wildlife” according to poll commissioned by a nonprofit dedicated to reforming the state’s wildlife management agency. That language was pulled directly from the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife’s mission statement and was juxtaposed against the second part of the mission which calls for the maximization of “hunting and fishing opportunities.” Twenty percent of those polled said that should be WDFW’s goal.

November 7, 2022, Outdoor Life: Andrew McKean, In Washington State, Hunters May No Longer Be “Necessary to Manage Wildlife.” When the Fish and Wildlife Commission met in Colville last week, they were welcomed sarcastically to the “center of wolf recovery” by members of a pro-hunting organization called Northeast Washington Wildlife Group. But the commission also heard from predator advocates, represented by members of Washington Wildlife First, a non-profit founded last year whose mission is “transforming the Washington Department of Fish & Wildlife from a model of consumptive use” to one that “prioritizes the preservation of natural ecosystems.”

November 6, 2022, The Spokesman-Review: Eli Francovich, Wildlife conference in Spokane receives flak over inclusion of ‘animal extremists’ groups. A well-respected wildlife conference is getting flak from some in the hunting community following inclusion of two advocacy groups focused on reforming state wildlife management. “All are welcome,” Ed Arnett the CEO of the Wildlife Society said in a voicemail shared with The Spokesman-Review. […] Two events, however, have drawn the ire of hunting advocacy groups. On Monday night, Washington Wildlife First – an organization dedicated to reforming the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife – will host a meet-and-greet and show an animated film based on a poem written by the late Spokane-based wolf advocate Hanke Seipp.

November 5, 2022, The Spokesman-Review, Samantha Bruegger: Washington wildlife management must evolve to meet its responsibilities to the people. I write on behalf of 10 organizations that advocate for Washington’s wildlife and wild fish. Our organizations are diverse in size and scope, areas of focus and expertise, and philosophy. Yet we are united behind efforts to reform the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, and for that purpose we participate in a loose coalition of about 50 local, state, and national organizations. Because our philosophies toward fish and wildlife management differ, our reform priorities are not rooted in any particular ideology. Rather, they follow fundamental tenets of good government.

June 28, 2022, Associated Press: Nicholas K. Geranios, Conservationists call for action on Northwest wolf poaching. Wildlife advocates say there has been a distressing uptick in wolf poaching cases in the Northwest in the past year and a half and wolf experts say the actual number of poaching incidents is likely to be much higher probably due to intentional poisoning, but no arrests have been made in the case, despite conservation groups offering a $30,000 reward for information leading to a conviction.

June 2, 2022, The Center Square: RaeLynn Ricarte, Dead wolves spark debate over Washington state management. The deaths of four wolves in northern Stevens County have added a new twist to the controversy over state management of the apex predators, conservation groups claim the dead wolves were deliberately poisoned, and Washington Wildlife First has responded to the deaths by offering a $10,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of “wolf killers.”

May 8, 2022, Northwest News Network, Oregon Public Broadcasting: In the context of a state-funded mentoring program aimed at increasing the number of hunters in the state, Claire Davis shares that Washington Wildlife First is pushing for WDFW to reform funding plans and management to also consider and represent those in the state that use public lands in ways other than hunting.

April 8, 2022, University of Washington School of Law Discovery Podcast: Claire Davis, founding board member of Washington Wildlife First, speaks on the need for wildlife to be managed in the public trust and for reform of an outmoded system.

May 27, 2022, Fox 8 Spokane, $30,000 reward offered for info on Washington wolf killings our wolves found dead in northeast Washington; environmental groups allege poisoning. A 30,000 reward is being offered by the Center for Biological Diversity, Defenders of Wildlife, Northwest Animal Rights Network, Predator Defense, Speak for Wolves, Washington Wildlife First, and Western Watersheds Project for information leading to a conviction in the illegal killing of four wolves in northeastern Washington earlier this year.

May 26, 2022, Spokane Spokesman Review: Eli Francovich, Four wolves found dead in northeast Washington; environmental groups allege poisoning. The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife has launched a poaching investigation after two Stevens County deputies stumbled upon four dead wolves in Northeast Washington while on snowmobile patrol near the Canadian border on Feb. 8, 2022.

March 17, 2022, Columbia Insight: Dawn Stover, Group says state wildlife agency values hunters over conservation, aims for reforms.  Less than a year old, an organization focused on wildlife management in Washington is challenging the state’s proposed spring bear hunt. For starters.

May 8, 2022, Northwest Sportsman: Andy Walgamott, More Details On NE WA Wolf Death Investigation: 4 Found In Feb. In light of an ongoing state investigation due to more wolves being found dead in Northeast Washington, Washington Wildlife First claims that WDFW has been “dodging questions” about wolf poaching in the state and “sometimes outright lying to the public.”

Feb. 21, 2022, King5: Alison Morrow, Liza Javier, Wolf in Washington pack shot, killed by wildlife officials. In the context of the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) officials shooting and killing a male wolf that had been preying on livestock in the northeastern part of the state, Claire Davis, the representing attorney for the Center for Biological Diversity, are suing the state over its lethal removal policy and issued a restraining order on the state to refrain from taking any lethal action.

Jan. 12, 2022, The Associated Press: Washington state wildlife manager accused of poaching. Samantha Bruegger from Washington Wildlife First and the Kettle Range Conservation Group provided insight on poaching activities by Fish and Wildlife north-central region director Brock Hoenes which allowed The Ferry County prosecutor to charge him with second-degree unlawful hunting of big game.

January 12, 2022, The Seattle Times: Eli Francovich, Washington state wildlife manager accused of poaching. The Ferry County prosecutor accused Brock Hoenes, the director for WDFW’s north-central region, with unlawful hunting of big game in the second degree.

Oct. 20, 2021, My News Network: Courtney Flatt, Controversial spring bear hunt up for debate in Washington. In the context of the spring bear hunt season, Claire Davis, board president for Washington Wildlife First, speaks on the issue of hunting bears in the spring after their hibernation period when they are on the verge of starvation making the bears slow and easy to kill.

Sept. 29, 2021, The Daily World: Dan Hammock, Wildlife groups call for changes at Fish and Wildlife Commission. Washington Wildlife First sent a letter to Gov. Jay Inslee to appoint two new members to the Washington State Fish and Wildlife Commission, the request came after the State Auditor’s Office released a performance audit on the workplace culture at the Department of Fish and Wildlife, to which Claire Davis, board president for Washington Wildlife First, identified that those interested in protecting Washington’s wildlife cannot do their jobs in hostile working environments.

Sept. 26, 2021, Spokane Spokesman Review: Eli Francovich, Culture audit of Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife finds problems with trust, bullying, communication. A cultural audit of the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, started in lieu of allegations of pervasive sexual harassment, found problems with communication, bullying and internal accountability, according to the Office of the Washington State Auditor. . .Following the publication of the audit’s finding, Washington Wildlife First, a new nonprofit aimed at reforming WDFW, published a news release and letter asking Gov. Jay Inslee to appoint two new commissioners to the WDFW Commission, a nine-member commission that oversees the agency.

Sept. 23, 2021, Spokane Public Radio: Rebecca White, Environmental Groups Call on Governor to Appoint New Fish and Wildlife Leadership. A slate of environmental groups are asking Governor Jay Inslee to appoint new, reform-minded leadership at the Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife. The requests come in the wake of an audit that recommends cultural changes.

Sept. 20, 2021, The Daily World: New nonprofit seeks reform of state wildlife management. State wildlife advocates have launched Washington Wildlife First, a new nonprofit dedicated to reforming Washington’s environmental and wildlife management agencies, starting with the Department of Fish and Wildlife.

Sept. 12, 2021, Spokane Spokesman Review: Eli Francovich, New nonprofit focuses on reforming state wildlife management, advocates shift from ‘consumption’ to ‘conservation.’  A new nonprofit has entered the conservation fray, and is focusing on reforming how Washington state manages its wildlife and ecosystems.  “Washington Wildlife First” will set its sights on reforming state agencies, primarily the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife.

Sept. 12, 2021, KREM2: Mary Alice Ginther, New Washington environmental nonprofit demands reform of state wildlife management. State wildlife advocates announce the launch of Washington Wildlife First, a new nonprofit dedicated to reforming environment management agencies.

July 28, 2022, The Spokesman-Review: Eli Francovich, Preliminary findings from Washington Predator-Prey Project indicate whitetail population is ‘neither increasing nor decreasing’. Taylor Ganz, a Ph.D. student at the University of Washington, monitors deer and elk in Eastern Washington using GPS collars as part of a multiyear study looking at the tangled web  of connection between predators, prey and humans; and gives opinion on the findings of the study which was done in partnership with the University of Washington and the Washington state Department of Fish and Wildlife.

May 28, 2021, The Seattle Times: Sophia Ressler, Rethink Spring Bear Hunts. Sophia Ressler of the Center for Biological Diversity writes that wildlife officials should properly protect the state’s black bears for all Washingtonians — not turn them into targets for the few who choose to hunt these animals in the spring.

March 14, 2021, The Spokesman-Review: Timothy Coleman, Thorburn’s double standards. Tim Coleman of the Kettle Range Conservation Group writes that the Fish and Wildlife Commission should represent the interests of all Washingtonians in state fish and wildlife management, the vast majority of which do not hunt or fish.

March 2, 2021, The Spokesman-Review: Kim Thorburn, Culture wars. WDFW Commissioner Kim Thorburn protests that she is not taking sides in the “culture wars.”

Feb. 23, 2021, The Spokesman-Review: Ron Reed, Thorburn doesn’t listen. Washington Wildlife First Vice President Ronald Reed writes that Fish and Wildlife Commissioner Kim Thorburn has ignored the voices of the majority of Washingtonians and WDFW’s own scientists and staff who must implement the policies that she approves.

Jan. 30, 2021, The Spokesman-Review: Rebecca Strauch, Conservation without ideology?  Spokane resident Rebecca Strauch writes that ethics in hunting does matter.

Jan. 29, 2021, The Spokesman-Review: Chris Bachman, Hunting in Washington is not under threat. Washington Wildlife First Advocacy Director Chris Bachman writes that hunting is not threat and there “is room for all of us.”

Jan. 27, 2021, The Spokesman-Review: Claire Loebs Davis, I agree, Commissioner Thorburn; conservation should not be driven by ideology. Washington Wildlife First President Claire Loebs Davis writes that Commissioner Kim Thorburn’s “inflammatory rhetoric is an irresponsible attempt to ignite the very ‘culture wars’ she pretends to bemoan, and to distract from valid criticisms of the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife.”

Jan. 24, 2021, The Spokesman-Review: Kim Thorburn: Conservation should not be driven by ideology. WDFW Commissioner Kim Thorburn writes that hunting under attack in Washington, and defends hounding, spring bear hunting and coyote contests.

Jan. 17, 2021, The Spokesman-Review: Ronald Reed, Will the real Kim Thorburn please stand up? Washington Wildlife First Vice President Ronald Reed writes that Fish and Wildlife Commissioner Kim Thorburn has reneged on her commitment to be a “‘voice on the commission for the largest constituency of wildlife consumers, those of us who enjoy fish & wildlife by watching & photographing.'”

June 24, 2020, The Spokesman-Review: Chris Bachman, Oh, deer. Washington Wildlife First Advocacy Director Chris Bachman writes that science shows that carnivores are not decimating deer and elk populations, and that carnivore populations self-regulate and do not require hunting or trapping seasons to “manage” their numbers.

May 5, 2020, The Spokesman-Review, Sophia Ressler, Washington’s cougar-hunting increase won’t improve public safety.  Sophia Ressler of the Center for Biological Diversity writes that WDFW’s recent decision to increase cougar hunting is “misguided decision by a commission that continues to ignore science – even the guidelines of its own Fish and Wildlife Department – in favor of allowing hunters to kill more animals than their populations can reasonably withstand.”

Oct. 13, 2019, The Seattle Times: Chris Bachman, Time to strike a balance between protecting wolves and cattle. Washington Wildlife First Advocacy Director Chris Bachman thanks Gov. Jay Inslee for writing a letter to the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife to require that it engage in rulemaking on how to respond to wolf predations on livestock.

Aug. 7, 2019, The Seattle Times: Chris Bachman, Move the livestock and quit shooting wolves. Washington Wildlife First Advocacy Director Chris Bachman calls for WDFW to halt its plans to kill the Old Profanity Territory pack wolves.

May 12, 2019, The Spokesman-Review: Beth Robinette, Bruce McGlenn and Chris Bachman, A question of balance: Working together on wolves. What happens when three people from different backgrounds and different ideologies come together to talk about wolves? If they listen to one another, they find common ground.

Feb. 20, 2019, The Spokesman-Review: Chris Bachman, The wolf you feed. Washington Wildlife First Advocacy Director Chris Bachman discusses a parable about the battle inside all people between “two wolves.”

Sept. 15, 2018, The Spokesman Review: Chris Bachman, A question of grazing. Washington Wildlife First Advocacy Director Chris Bachman writes that it is time for us to consider moving livestock to more protected areas or for private industry grazing livestock on public lands to assume risk of loss.

Aug. 29, 2018, The Seattle Times: Sharon Stroble, Wolf management: Don’t Trust WDFW. Seattle resident Sharon Stroble writes that a recent restraining order pertaining to lethal removal of wolves is an important petition to bring the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife into compliance with the law.

June 1, 2018, The Spokesman-Review: Chris Bachman, Scientist silenced for telling the truth about wolves. Washington Wildlife First Advocacy Director Chris Bachman discusses the silencing of Dr. Rob Wielgus, who was silenced for attempting to tell the truth about the slaughter of the Old Profanity Pack wolf pack.

LEADERSHIP

July 27, 2022, Northwest Sportsman: Andy Walgamott, Inslee Has New Senior Natural Resource Policy Advisor. Washington Governor Jay Inslee has a new senior natural resource policy advisor, Ruth Musgrave, Musgrave’s focus will include wildlife and wolf management, wildlife conservation, orca recovery, North of Falcon salmon-season setting, fisheries and co-management, and more.

July 24, 2022, The Spokesman-Review: Eli Francovich, Washingtonians support legal hunting, but more than ever don’t care either way, survey finds.  A survey commissioned by the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife and published Thursday, shows that approval of legal, regulated hunting has decreased substantially, going from 88% in 2014 to 75% in 2022, the report looked at a number of other issues including Washingtonian’s attitudes toward predator management and views on human-wildlife conflict.

July 16, 2022, Daily News: Eric Barker, Commission votes yes on cougars, no on bears. Although hunter can have an opportunity to take a second mountain lion in a portion of the Blue Mountains, they are unlikely to approved for a second straight spring black bear hunt, in a 5-4 vote WDFW commissioners chose to put off individual spring black bear hunting season until it rewrites the policy regarding the limited but controversial hunt.

July 1, 2022, Lewiston Tribune: Eric Barker, Washington Fish and Wildlife Commission unlikely to approve spring 2023 black bear hunt or increase in cougar bag limit. In light of recent deliberations, the Washington Fish and Wildlife Commission have begun revising the state’s game management plan, amid a recent emotional tussle over the proposed spring black bear hunting season where the commission opted to kill the permit only hunt for at least this year.

June 24, 2022, NRA Hunters’ Leadership Forum: Cody McLaughlin, Washington State’s Anti-Hunting Wildlife Commission Majority Pushes to Overhaul Game Management Plan. State wildlife commissioners are now debating each other over the future of the state’s game management plan, some are demanding to see early drafts of a public opinion survey of attitudes on hunting and hunting practices claiming there is an urgent need for an update to the state’s game management plan, but the NRA claims this clear anti-hunting attitude will have disastrous consequences.

June 3, 2022, Lewiston Tribune: Eric Barker, Washington Fish and Wildlife Commission culture war continues. Work to revise the game management plan has begun and is expected to include how much biological data should be collected and how should new and emerging science be incorporated into the plan, commissioners are also expected to discuss how and when bear and mountain lions should be hunted, following the reconstruction of the commission, commissioner Thorburn believes some commissioners have an anti-hunting outlook and are attempting to clog the process.

May 10, 2022, Northwest News Network: Courtney Flatt, Wildlife funding problems emerge as fewer people learn to hunt in the NW. Fewer people in the Northwest are learning to hunt, which causes funding problems for state fish and wildlife departments. To solve the funding problem, experienced hunters are teaching newbies how to get involved in the sport.

April 4, 2022, Lewiston Tribune: Eric Barker, Washington big game hunting seasons a go. Washington Fish and Wildlife commissioners approved big game hunting seasons but put off a vote on a controversial proposal to allow for more people to comment on the proposed rule that would clarify when wolved would be killed for attacking livestock, and they also enacted a ban on the importation of deer, elk, moose, and caribou from outside of the state to prevent chronic wasting disease from entering Washington.

March 20, 2022, Lewiston Tribune: Eric Barker, On 5-4 vote, Washington Fish and Wildlife Commission rejects season that would have issued 644 permits. Commissioners question the ethicalness of the spring bear hunting season through a 5-4 vote rejecting the seasons and suggest that the agency may have set an unrealistic population objective after being briefed on an assessment of the Blue Mountain elk herd.

Jan. 26, 2022, Lewiston Tribune: Eric Barker, Washington has 3 new Fish and Wildlife Commissioners. Washington Gov. Jay Inslee appointed three new members to the Washington Fish and Wildlife Commission, Melanie Rowland, of Twisp, John Lehmkuhl, of Wenatchee, and Timothy Ragen, of Skagit County, will join the nine-member panel, and Lehmkuhl, a retired research biologist for the U.S. Forest Service, fills a seat that by statute is reserved for a resident of eastern Washington.

Sept. 29, 2021, The Daily World: Dan Hammock, Wildlife groups call for changes at Fish and Wildlife Commission. Washington Wildlife First sent a letter to Gov. Jay Inslee to appoint two new members to the Washington State Fish and Wildlife Commission, the request came after the State Auditor’s Office released a performance audit on the workplace culture at the Department of Fish and Wildlife, to which Claire Davis, board president for Washington Wildlife First, identified that those interested in protecting Washington’s wildlife cannot do their jobs in hostile working environments.

Jan. 10, 2021, The Spokesman-Review: Eli Francovich, New commissioners and lawsuits have some saying hunting is under attack in Washington. Hunting is under attack in Washington. At least that’s the assessment of Kim Thorburn, a Washington Department of Fish and Game commissioner from Spokane. “I’m pretty upset about what’s going on,” she said. “We’re looking at hunters as an enemy.”

BEARS

November 22, 2022, The Seattle Times: Nicholas Turner, WA bans spring bear hunting. Spring recreational black bear hunting was banned indefinitely by the state last week. The state Fish and Wildlife Commission voted 5-4 on Friday against recreational black bear hunting in the spring, effectively banning the annual practice unless the commission reverses.

August 4, 2022, KIRO 7 News: Shawn Garret, Black bear killed after attacking man in Whatcom County; first human/bear incident since 2015. A man jogging on a Whatcom County trail sustained multiple injuries from a black bear on Wednesday, according to the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife and according to WDFW, the last fatal bear attack in Washington was in 1974 and this is the first human-black bear encounter with an injury since 2015.

May 31, 2022, The MeatEater: Travis Hall, You can help bring back Washington’s spring bear season. The latest proposal on spring bear hunting was submitted through a regulatory form called a CL101, WDFW is going to honor a previous motion by Commissioner Don McIsaac to revisit spring bear hunting no later than October, both the CL101 and the public comments will be topics of discussion at the upcoming meeting of the Washington Fish and Game Commission.

May 31, 2022, Outdoor Life: Bob McNally, After Canceling Its Spring Bear Hunt, Washington Sees Bear Conflicts in the Suburbs. Washington’s spring black bear hunting season should be in full swing right now. Instead, officials are dealing with conflicts between bears and humans in suburban parts of the state.

March 21, 2022, The MeatEater: Travis Hall, Spring bear hunting season shut down again in Washington state. The decision to cancel the spring bear season for 2022 has been met with resounding backlash from the hunting community who of which claim is part of Gov. Inslee’s broader political strategy to decrease hunting rights in Washington.

March 18, 2022, The Lewiston Tribune: Eric Barker, Washington wildlife manager says black bear data requested by Fish and Wildlife commissioner doesn’t exist and isn’t needed; group to vote Saturday on spring hunt. Commissioner Ragen requests for more biological data from the Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) before he can approve a spring bear hunting season, WDFW states the department does not have the budget or staff to produce those kinds of reports on most hunted species.

Aug. 31, 2021, King 5 News: Erik Wilkinson, Invisible victims: Bear cubs rescued from recent Washington wildfire. Four black bear cubs were rescued in recent weeks from wildfires raging in eastern Washington.

Jan. 5, 2021, The Spokesman-Review: Dave Nichols, Field reports: Lawsuit filed to challenge spring bear hunt. Two Washington residents filed a lawsuit in Thurston County Court last week to challenge the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife’s Dec. 18 decision to authorize a largely recreational bear hunt this spring. Washington is one of eight states that still allows bear hunting during the spring, as most states have banned the practice.

Oct. 28, 2020, KING 5 News: Michael Crowe, Court rules Washington state exceeded authority with controversial bear hunting program. A new ruling from the state court of appeals found the state exceeded its authority in the way it allowed bear hunts using bait and hounds. The ruling is the result of a lawsuit filed by the Center for Biological Diversity, following a 2017 KING 5 investigation into the Bear Depredation Management Program, in which reporter Alison Morrow found Washington Fish and Wildlife was allowing the voter-outlawed practices to continue, using a loophole in the governing initiatives.

April 23, 2018, KING 5 News: Alison Morrow’s 2-Year investigation into secret bear hunts on timber farms.  KING 5’s environmental reporter Alison Morrow details her in-depth investigation into WDFW’s illegal program to allow hound hunting on commercial timber farms.

COUGARS

July 18, 2022, Big Country News, WDFW Commissioners Vote to Increase Cougar Bag Limit in Portion of Blue Mountains. A second cougar tag can be purchased in population management units 9,10, and 11, after WDFW commissioners voted on the increased bag limit due to WDFW staff determining that predation on elk calves must be addressed by reducing cougar density.

June 5, 2022, Spokane Spokesman Review: Eli Francovich, Cougar attack on 9-year-old reignites long-simmering public-safety fears in northeast Washington. While playing hide and seek a young girl was attacked by a cougar, the person who killed the cougar was not an employee of the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (“WDFW”), Stevens county created a new position known as the Stevens County Conflict Wildlife Specialist to address WDFW’s lack of responsiveness to the rising number of cougar depredation in the area.

June 2, 2022, The MeatEater: Travis Hall, Mountain lion attacks 9-year-old girl in Washington. After cougar attack on young girl, WDFW claims there is a rise in human-cougar conflict due to Washington’s human population boom, and after WDFW biologists concluded that elk calf deaths in the Blue Mountains, WDFW will take public comment on a proposal to allow hunter to take a second mountain lions, a proposal that could be adopted as soon as July 15.

May 31, 2022, The Center Square: Lawrence Wilson, Washington proposes upping cougar kill limit, coinciding with attack on girl.WDFW is proposing a rule change to increase the bag limit for cougar hunters in certain areas which is in response to a recent WDFW monitoring effort that showed cougar predation in the Blue Mountains attributed to higher elk calf mortalities, and the department is seeking out public comments on the change.

May 30, 2022, The Center Square: RaeLynn Ricarte, Cougar attack on Washington girl indicative of growing population of the wild felines.  Stevens County Wildlife Conflict Specialist Jeff Flood identified that the problem cougar was not accompanied by a mother and was between one- and two-years of age, Flood claims the cougar population is growing and there are more sightings in populated areas.

June 27, 2021, The Spokesman-Review: Colin Tiernan, Washington’s Fish and Wildlife Commission talks human-cougar conflict. For some Washingtonians, cougars are a growing public-safety issue and a nuisance, preying on livestock and pets. Others say the cougar threat has been exaggerated and government agencies are killing far too many.

May 6, 2021, The Spokesman-Review: Eli Francovich, Cougar proviso in Washington budget offers ‘carrot’ to sheriff departments killing cougars.  Local law enforcement agencies will have to share data on how many cougars they kill to be eligible for some state money, according to a proviso in the new Washington state operating budget.

Jan. 30, 2021, The Spokesman-Review: Eli Francovich, Washington wildlife commissioners approve limited hound training program.  The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife Commission approved a limited hound pursuit training program on Friday. The program will allow agency-approved hound handlers to nonlethally pursue cougars, bears or bobcats to train their dogs.

Sept. 24, 2020, Columbia Insight: Dawn Stover, With WDFW’s blessing, Klickitat County’s sheriff has amassed a hound-hunter posse to kill cougars. Is it really all about public safety? 16 and Counting, Inside a Washington community’s war on cougars.

ORCAS/WHALES

November 27, 2022, The Chronicle, Racquel Muncy: Chinook Threshold Decreased for Endangered Orcas. The Pacific Fishery Management Council has decreased the number of chinook salmon it allocates each year to feed Southern Resident orca whales. The number is important because added conservation measures to ensure adequate food for the Southern Residents can only be put in place if that number is not reached.

August 15, 2022, Fox 13: Matthew Smith, Clean up efforts continue after diesel, oil spill near San Juan Island; scientists concerned about orcas. Dr. Deborah Giles, with Wild Orca, said she is preparing to use specialized tools to “haze” or re-direct any orcas that try to get closer to the spill site, but the biggest worry has become how the Southern Resident killer whales will be affected if they spend time in the water before the fuel is cleaned up, or dissipates.

July 5, 2022, King 5: Associated Press Staff, Decrease in salmon threatens Southern Resident killer whales, study finds. The study found a fluctuating level of salmon had a detrimental effect on killer whale health, threatening a small and fragile group of animals and studies have shown that a lack of food intake for killer whales has led to lower birth rates and higher death rates.

July 1, 2022, The News Tribune: David Rasbach, Washington issues emergency order to protect endangered Southern Resident killer whales. The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife has issued a state emergency order increasing the distance boats are required to stay away from the endangered Southern Resident Killer Whales, which was prompted after the Sealife Response, Rehabilitation and Research team, identified several pregnant orca whales in poor condition through non-invasive photogrammetry research.

June 27, 2022, Fox13 Seattle: Matthew Smith, Protecting Southern Resident orcas: What role do new regulations play?  New enforcement resources are needed in Washington, WDFW needs to focus on food, pollutants, and vessel noise, and as long as enforcement boats are on-scene, recreational boats pose less of a problem.

June 1, 2022, King 5: Quixem Ramirez and Erica Zucco, Boaters fined for approaching Southern Resident orcas, potentially hurting feeding. By law recreational boats must stay at least 300 yards to the sides of the orcas and at least 400 yards in front and behind the endangered animal, research from NOAA indicated boat traffic within 400 yards can interrupt deep-water foraging by the whales that includes capturing prey.

Octover 25, 2021, My Northwest: Potential ‘irreparable damage’ to Puget Sound orcas over alleged illegal salmon hatchery expansion. The Wild Fish Conservancy (WFC) and The Conservation Angler filed a lawsuit Oct. 11, which alleges that WDFW “embarked upon a massive expansion in the production of hatchery salmon that could cause irreparable damage to fragile wild fish populations and to endangered Southern Resident killer whales.”

Sept. 23, 2021, The Washington Post: Sydney Page, Only 73 southern resident orcas exist in the wild. Scientists just discovered that 3 of them are pregnant. The prospect of a small baby boom is critical, scientists say, because it could help bring the species back from the brink of extinction, but there’s been a relatively high rate of reproductive failure among southern resident killer whales and according to the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, the population continues to face three challenges to long term survival such as food shortages, chemical pollution, and vessel noise and disturbances.

Aug. 2, 2021, The Spokesman-Review: Associated Press, Southern Resident orca near Washington state presumed dead. The cause of death for the Southern Resident orca pod’s oldest male, known as Cappuccino or K21, is still undetermined, but could include starvation, a chronic disease such as cancer, or both, and with K21 presumed dead, the number of Southern Resident orca whales drops to 74.

July 30, 2021, Seattle Pi: Callie Craighead, Washington’s orca whale pods receive new federal habitat protection. The National Marine Fisheries Service finalized rules to expand the orca’s critical habitat from the Canadian border all the way down to Point Sur in California, and Julie Teel Simmonds, an attorney at the Center for Biological Diversity states, “This long-overdue habitat rule will help save these extraordinary animals and their prey from pollution, noise, harassment and habitat degradation.”

July 7, 2021, The Seattle Times: Lynda Mapes, Record heat, drought threaten even the toughest survivors: L25, the oldest orca and the winter Chinook she depends on. Both southern resident orcas and the Chinook they primarily depend on are in a fight for their lives as environmental conditions turn increasingly hostile. Chinook, with few exceptions, are in trouble throughout their range.

May 30, 2021, The Seattle Times: Lynda Mapes, We’re changing the habitat for the orcas and salmon– and not for the better. The Muckleshoot Indian Tribe has invested heavily in the Green-Duwamish River, and its treaty entitles them to half the salmon catch. But half of next to nothing is just about nothing. The catch was so small in this briefest of openings that there would not be another fishery allowed that season, despite the treaty’s promise.

Jan. 20, 2021. The Seattle Times: Lynda Mapes, Population of formerly endangered gray whales along West Coast plunges. The gray whale population has plunged 24% along the West Coast since the last estimate in 2016, estimates released Tuesday show.

Jan. 17, 2021: Lynda Mapes, Female resident orcas especially disturbed by vessels, new research show. Female orcas are most thrown off from foraging when boats and vessels intrude closer than 400 yards, according to new research — troubling findings for the endangered population of southern resident orcas that desperately needs every mother and calf to survive.

Sept. 19, 2020, The Seattle Times: Lynda Mapes, Researchers attach cameras to Pacific Northwest orcas, revealing a marvelous underwater world. For nearly a month the team has been at sea, marveling at the prowess of southern and northern resident killer whales as they follow the orcas’ foraging rounds, using a drone and stick-on cameras to record the daily lives of orcas, even underwater.

Jan. 28, 2020, The Seattle Times: Lynda Mapes, Another southern resident orca feared dead. Another southern resident orca, L41, is feared dead, according to the Center for Whale Research. The whale, born in 1977, was not seen during an encounter with its family by the center’s researchers on Friday.

SALMON

July 13, 2022, MyNorthwest: Dalton Day, Puget Sound fish farming unlikely to be the single cause of Chinook extinction, NOAA says. Four pens owned by Cooke Aquaculture farmed Atlantic salmon until their fish pens broke, spilling an estimated 4,000 non-native salmon into the Sound and Pacific Ocean but NOAA released a BioOp that concluded net-pen aquaculture in Puget Sound is safe for the environment and safe for the endangered species that live in these waters: this in contradiction to data showing damaging effect of fish farming.

July 1, 2022, Oregon Public Broadcasting & ProPublica: Tony Schick & Irena Hwang, PNW hatcheries aren’t saving salmon, investigation finds. After two decades and $2 billion in spending, the U.S. government’s promises to Native tribes to boost fish populations in Oregon and Washington haven’t held up.

Feb. 4, 2022, Associated Press Staff,250K steelhead fish missing from Washington state hatchery. State wildlife managers say nearly 250,000 young steelhead fish are missing from a rearing pond at the Lyons Ferry Hatchery on the Snake River near Palouse Falls after a gasket failed and left an inch and a half gap with created a path for the fish to head to the Snake River.

Aug. 6, 2021, Center for Biological Diversity: Cooke Aquaculture Secures Permit to Stock Risky Washington Fish Farm. Despite ongoing litigation and timing questions regarding the lease for the facility, the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife has granted fish farming giant Cooke Aquaculture a permit to stock its Hope Island facility in-water net pens with steelhead.

June 29, 2021, The Seattle Times: Lynda Mapes, Pacific Northwest heat wave sets up ‘grim’ migration for salmon on Columbia, Snake river. Temperatures in the Columbia and Snake rivers are already within two degrees of the slaughter zone of 2015, when half the sockeye salmon run was lost because of high water temperatures. An estimated 250,000 sockeye died that year long before reaching their spawning grounds.

Feb. 18, 2021, The Seattle Times: Lynda Mapes, Warming seas could wipe out Snake River chinook by 2060, scientists predict. Snake River spring-summer chinook could be nearly extinct by 2060 and interventions are “desperately needed” to boost survival in every stage of their lives, scientists warn.

Jan. 2, 2021, The Seattle Times: Lynda Mapes, Lake Washington sockeye hit record low; another signature Seattle fish at brink of extinction. They are as Seattle as the Space Needle. But Lake Washington sockeye, once the largest run of sockeye in the Lower 48, are failing.

Aug. 13, 2020, The Seattle Times: Lynda Mapes, Hundreds of sea lions to be killed on Columbia River in effort to save endangered fish. Approval to kill up to 716 sea lions in a portion of the Columbia River and its tributaries over the next five years to boost the survival of salmon and steelhead at risk of extinction is expected from federal officials Friday.

March 2, 2020, The Seattle Times: Lynda Mapes, Court upholds termination of Cooke Aquaculture net-pen lease in Port Angeles. Termination of the lease for a fish-farming operation in the harbor at Port Angeles has been upheld in Thurston County Superior Court. Cooke Aquaculture Pacific said it would appeal the ruling.

WOLVES

August 17, 2022, Methow Valley News: Ann McCreary, Five conservation groups sue over Fish & Wildlife Commission’s inaction on wolves. The lawsuit, filed on Aug. 5, asks a state court to enforce an order by Gov. Jay Inslee directing state wildlife officials to enact rules outlining what steps must be taken before the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) can kill gray wolves because of attacks on livestock.

July 9, 2022, The Daily News: Eric Barker, Fish and Wildlife Commission sticks with status quo on wolf-livestock protocols.  On Friday, the Washington Fish and Wildlife Commission voted 5-4 to dismiss the proposed rule and instead continue current procedures with WDFW claiming to continue to strive to improve its management conflicts between wolves and livestock, with or without, a specific rule.

July 8, 2022, Spokane Spokesman Review: Eli Francovich, Washington wildlife commissioners vote against wolf-livestock rule. Washington will not implement wolf-livestock rules and the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife will continue to manage wolves under the wolf-livestock protocols.

July 6, 2022, Capital Press: Don Jenkins, WDFW: Removing wolves works, doesn’t harm recovery. Wolf advocates say the state needs a more restrictive and enforceable rule that binds the department and ranchers to a slate of non-lethal measures, amid claims from WDFW that shooting a wolf within seven days of a predation can keep conflicts from escalating and it would not harm the wolves’ ability to thrive.

July 1, 2022, The Center Square: RaeLynn Ricarte, Washington wildlife managers argue for more wolf protection. Washington wildlife managers argue for more wolf protection but commissioners’ views on new wolf rules are conflicting.

June 30, 2022, The Spokesman-Review: Eli Francovich, State wildlife commission debates wolf rule in charged meeting. The new proposed wolf rule has caused some debate at the commission meeting June 24, where some commissioners believe that a new rule is not needed, but other support implementing nonlethal deterrents before livestock owners kill a wolf.

June 28, 2022, The Associated Press: Nicholas Geranios, Conservationists call for action to combat Northwest wolf poaching. A total of 20 wolves have been poached or found killed in Oregon, Washington and Idaho since the start of 2021, and wolf experts say the actual number of poaching incidents is likely much higher.

June 24, 2022, Northwest Sportsman: Andy Walgamott, Fireworks At Fish And Wildlife Commission Meeting On Wolf Rules. Panel members and WDFW staffers spoke about whether to adopt more binding rules around conflict prevention measures and lethal removals, the science around killing wolves, and how seriously the agency takes its role in managing the species’ recolonization and its impacts on cattle producers and others.

June 13, 2022, The Spokesman-Review: Eli Francovich, State wildlife managers given green light to kill Togo wolves following cattle attacks. Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife will attempt to kill up to two wolves in the Togo pack and claim that the killings are not expected to harm the wolf population’s ability to reach the statewide recovery objective, although research indicates killing wolves disrupts pack structure and can lead to more attacks on livestock.

June 13, 2022, Capital Press: Don Jenkins, WDFW plans to cull Togo wolf pack. Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife has again targeted the Togo wolf pack, preying on calves in northeast Washington, claiming that removing one or two wolves from the pack won’t harm the recovery of wolves in the state.

June 10, 2022, The Spokesman-Review: Eli Francovich, Togo wolf pack kills another calf in northeast Washington, state considering how to proceed. Wolves killed a calf on private industrial timber land and the attack could prompt the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife to kill some wolves from the Togo pack.

June 2, 2022, The Center Square: RaeLynn Ricarte, Dead wolves spark debate over Washington state management. The deaths of four wolves in northern Stevens County have added to the controversy over state management of the apex predators and the Kettle Range Conservation Group and others claim the dead wolves were deliberately poisoned, although the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife has provided no evidence to support that claim.

April 13, 2022, The Center Square: RaeLynn Ricarte, Washington ranchers no longer trust State on wolves, says lawmaker. As Washington wolves continue to progress toward recovery Washington ranchers claim WDFW leaves them with no protection from devastation of their herds by apex predators and are paying for a local wildlife specialist to be present at WDFW investigations into wolf attacks to ensure that evidence is gathered properly since they have lost trust in the department’s process.

April 9, 2022, The Associated Press: Nicholas K. Geranios, State says Washington’s wolf population grew 16% last year. Washington wolves are continuing to progress toward recovery with four new packs documented in 2021, and livestock depredations recorded have been the lowest in the state since 2017.

Feb. 21, 2022, The Spokesman-Review: Eli Francovich, Responding to pressure from Inslee, Washington wildlife managers consider implementing new wolf-livestock rules. Per a new proposal, before the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife could kill wolves that attacked livestock, agency staff would need to confirm that livestock owners had implemented appropriate nonlethal deterrents, and the new proposal would create Chronic Conflict Zones within the state.

June 15, 2021, The Seattle Times: Female wolf was illegally killed, Washington state officials say.  A female wolf that had pups earlier this year has been illegally killed in northeast Washington state. Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife biologists responded to a report of a dead wolf on May 26 in the Sheep Creek area of Stevens County. The agency says the female died of a gunshot wound.

Sept. 7, 2020, OPB: Nicholas K. Geranios, Environmentalists say Washington’s wolf program is broken. Gov. Jay Inslee has directed the Washington Fish and Wildlife Commission to draft new rules governing the killing of wolves involved in conflicts with livestock, a move winning praise from conservation groups.

Sept. 4, 2020, The Spokesman-Review, Dave Nichols, Gov. Inslee directs drafting of new rules for wolf management. Gov. Jay Inslee on Friday directed the Washington Fish and Wildlife Commission to draft new rules governing the department’s lethal removal of wolves involved in conflicts with livestock.

August 17, 2020, National Geographic: Josh Adler, Controversial killing of wolves continues in Washington State. The state recently killed the three members of the Wedge pack, the latest flashpoint in a fierce debate over how to best manage the carnivores.

Aug. 14, 2020, The Spokesman-Review: Dave Nichols, WDFW removes Tim Coleman from wolf advisory group; Lethal removal order issued for Leadpoint Pack.  A member of the state’s Wolf Advisory Group has been dismissed from the committee by Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife director Kelly Susewind in the latest twist of hotly debated issues surround wolf-kill orders in northeast Washington. Tim Coleman, executive director of Kettle Range Conservation Group, was removed Aug. 3.

June 26, 2020, OPB: Nicholas Geranios, Washington Commission Rejects Petition to Limit Killing of Wolves. A petition that called for new rules to limit when the state can kill endangered wolves that prey on livestock was rejected Friday by the Washington Fish and Wildlife Commission.

Jan. 26, 2020, The Spokesman-Review: Eli Francovich, Investigation: Ferry County range riders were in Spokane when they were supposed to be patrolling. Two range riders who were supposed to be protecting cattle in Ferry County in 2018 were more than 100 miles away in Spokane, shopping and spending time at the Davenport Hotel, according to a Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife investigation that has since been referred to a Thurston County prosecutor.

Dec. 18, 2019, Los Angeles Times: Richard Read, One ranch, 26 wolves killed. Fight over endangered predators divides ranchers and conservationists.

Oct. 23, 2019, Los Angeles Times: Richard Read, Gray wolves are protected in Washington. So why does the state keep killing them? Somewhere near this tiny farming town last month, a Washington Department of Fish & Wildlife hunter conducted what officials call a lethal removal, killing a gray wolf, a member of a species that the state considers endangered.

Oct. 1, 2019, Capital Press: Don Jenkins, Inslee: WDFW shooting too many wolves.  Shooting wolves annually in the Kettle River Range in northeast Washington is “simply unacceptable,” state Gov. Jay Inslee said in a letter Monday to Fish and Wildlife Director Kelly Susewind.

Aug. 19, 2019, KING 5 News: Alison Morrow, Killings of another Washington wolf pack sparks debate over predator management. After yet another wolf pack was killed last week in northeast Washington, critics of predator management are sounding off about why things need to change.

Aug. 2017, The Seattle Times: Lynda Mapes, A War Over Wolves. Outspoken researcher says his university and lawmakers silenced and punished him for speaking out about the killing of the Profanity Peak Pack.

July 31, 2017, Predator Defense: The Profanity Peak Pack: Set Up & Sold Out. Film produced by Predator Defense details the failures that led to the killing of the Profanity Peak Pack.

June 20, 2022, The New York Times: Margaret Renkl, Washington might be about to do something right for America’s wildlife. The single most effective tool in combating biodiversity loss since the Endangered Species Act, the Recovering America’s Wildlife Act which the House passed last week in a 231-to-190 bipartisan vote, will now head to the Senate.

May 17, 2022, Missoula Current, Former FWP supervisor: Large carnivore hunting needs inclusive input. According to Jim Williams, biologist and former Fish, Wildlife, & Parks supervisor in Montana, “if sportsmen can’t show that killing large predators means more than just a trophy on the wall, a growing proportion of the public is going to push back.” He continues that as hunters, pointing to their funding of wildlife management through the sale of hunting licenses, resist the idea that wildlife species belong to all Americans, discontent further grows.

April 27, 2022, Popular Science, The future of American conservation lies in restoration, not just protection. This article highlights how the America the Beautiful Challenge and the Recovering America’s Wildlife Act could share funds with local wildlife agencies to help save biodiversity.

September 5, 2021, The Pagosa Springs Sun: Molly Absolon, A close encounter with wolves and fear. I knew, and I hope most people know, that wolf attacks on humans are extraordinarily rare. In fact, even minor attacks by predatory animals are rare, yet it doesn’t take much to get our imaginations to run wild with fear of fangs and blood.