WDFW agrees to remove Wedge pack

September 26, 2012

Ranchers met with WDFW representatives in the Stevens County Commissioners’ hearing room last Thursday evening. In photo center is WDFW’s Steve Pozzanghera.

Because of the ongoing loss of cattle at the Diamond M ranch in Northeast Washington, the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) has agreed to remove the “Wedge” wolf pack they say has become “habituated” to eating cattle.
According to the Stevens County Cattlemen’s Association, the Diamond M has experienced at least 18 wolf attacks on their herd since June, with 10 dead and eight injured calves.
In a public meeting last Thursday, WDFW Regional Director Steve Pozzanghera said that the behavior of the Wedge pack this summer is “unacceptable” and that the pack has “turned a corner.”
“This pack has turned the corner and has made cattle their primary prey,” said Pozzanghera. “This pack needs to be removed.”

WDFW says it’s committed to removing entire pack

Pozzanghera said WDFW is committed to removing the entire Wedge wolf pack using trapping and shooting methods, including the use of night vision equipment. Aerial equipment may also be used in the eradication efforts.
“We know wolf behavior is different in different situa¬tions,” Pozzanghera said. “Not all wolves habituate in eating livestock. Wolves have a different ‘search image’ when looking for prey and that doesn’t include cattle.
“But the problems with this pack have escalated over the last several months and the situation is unacceptable. So we are committing additional resources and activities to the removal efforts.”

Would like to see ranchers & WDFW work together

However, the Diamond M owners, the McIrvins, and members of the Stevens County Cattlemen’s Association, are skeptical.
“The department has changed the number of wolves they are going to remove all summer, so when they make this statement, they need to prove it. Success is not measured by efforts, but by results,” said Diamond M co-owner, Len McIrvin.
A press release posted to the WDFW website (http://wdfw.wa.gov/news/sep2112a/)) reads that WDFW Director Phil Anderson said the plan has the support of key conservation interests and livestock operators. Two organizations that participated in developing the state’s 2011 Wolf Conservation and Man¬agement Plan--Conservation Northwest and the Washington Cattlemen’s Association--joined the department in issuing a statement explaining their position.
Anderson said two WDFW teams are in the field with the goal of killing the members of the Wedge Pack, a group of at least eight wolves whose range includes a remote, roughly triangular area of northern Stevens County bordered by Canada and the Columbia and Kettle rivers.
Conservation Northwest Executive Director Mitch Friedman said, “As difficult as this situation with the Wedge Pack is to accept on a personal level, we understand and agree that pack removal is the right action at this point.
“We have been strong advocates for exhausting all non-lethal means possible to avoid this situation and are extremely disappointed that it has come to this.”

*Read the full story in the 9-26-12 hard copy edition of the S-E!