Local Ranchers Voice Complaints Against State Agencies and Policies

“We are seeing our state regulatory agencies get increasingly hostile with landowners and cattlemen,” said Scott Neilson, president of the SCCA.

“Whether this is with Department of Ecology (DOE) when it comes to access to water, or with the Department of Fish and Wildlife’s (WDFW) refusal to confirm wolf depredations or remove problem wolves, these agencies are operating in a way that hurts local residents and economies,” Nielsen stated.

USDA officials said their mission is to keep America's farmers and ranchers in business and ensure the nation's meat, poultry, and egg products are safe, wholesome, and properly labeled. They distribute federal funds along these lines and, according to Nielsen, “The money is supposed to go to helping agriculture, yet our state agencies are using it to cripple ranchers.”

Per the SCCA press release, “The Department of Ecology is projected for the 2025-2027 fiscal year to receive over $469 million in federal funds representing over 20% of their combined operating and capital budgets. The WDFW is expected to receive over $172 million to their operating budget representing 21.8% of total operating budget funds.”

This money is supposed to also help cover costs incurred by ranchers in loss of cattle due to predator attacks, according to Nielsen, who said, “The state is given money to give ranchers as compensation, yet they cap it at $30-$40,000 a year; the feds are saying ‘why are we giving them all this money to have them cap it out to producers?’”

The SCCA press release included an announcement from Brooke Rollins, USDA Secretary of Agriculture, made in April of their move to "launch a new web portal to help ranchers, farmers and landowners report cases of lawfare from government agencies.” Rollins defined “lawfare” as legal action undertaken as part of a hostile campaign against a group.” 

Nielsen said, “These agencies are significantly funded using federal dollars, and we anticipate that with enough public comment, these USDA funds will either influence state management to work in a productive manner with Agriculture, or United States Department of Agriculture funds should be withdrawn from the state of Washington.”

Some complaints that ranchers have voiced to Nielsen include the concern that the state agencies are not user friendly. He said, “Multiple producers have claims that are more than the department will pay out and the department protocol is to give you a form and tell you to call a number that is inactive." He explained, “You have to do the form properly and if it’s not, they send it back repeatedly and then send you an offer for only a fraction of what you asked for.”

Nielsen said that claims often lead to litigation, costing the rancher time and lawyer fees, which interferes with production. He also shared that the ranchers feel they have to fight all the way through the process, which seems counterproductive.

The process Nielsen referred to is to prove wolf predation on rancher’s livestock. He said, “The wolves are a major concern for producers in the area. There have been hundreds of losses in one year in Stevens county, but only a few confirmed depredations. The WDFW will say there has only been four to six, and the criteria to get a confirmed depredation is that you must have hemorrhaging.” According to Nielsen, for an animal that has been killed and not found for a few days, this is very difficult to prove because, by then, the body is scavenged. “You must prove the animal was alive when the wolf bit it; it’s a high bar. The department will push back saying the animal died there and wolves just scavenged [after the fact],” he added.

Nielsen continued, “Depredation means an attack on a cow by a wolf; it doesn’t necessarily mean the cow was killed. Frankly, they are likely still alive when a wolf bites a cow…you can see the bite marks usually on the rear flanks, where wolves generally attack. It is a little bit unusual to find a dead one.” He called the process  “unfair because bitten up ones we can find, but to get to removal you have to have a dead one, and you have to reach their number of three attacks in 30 days, or four [attacks] in 10 months for them to start to consider it.”

Nielsen persisted, “It’s really damaged relations with local staff and ranchers. They treat us fair, they come out and do an investigation, but then it gets evaluated by a team of people who have never been to the scene and seen it. The original point of all of this is that I don’t think that that is what the Department of Agriculture intended when they gave money to Department of Fish and Wildlife.”

When contacted about this recent SCCA press release, the WDFW eastern region director Mike Kuttel Jr. stated, “WDFW is committed to a self-sustaining population of gray wolves in Washington, along with livestock protection, through strategies including proactive and reactive non-lethal measures, incident response, and stakeholder engagement. Our conflict specialists work closely, and regularly, with ranchers and farmers to find solutions to conflicts with wildlife. Part of their job is to stay in close contact with producers in their area.”

Regarding the SCCA’s claim that the WDFW has refused to confirm wolf depredations or remove problem wolves, Kuttel Jr. said, “WDFW received only one official request from Stevens County producers in 2025 to investigate suspected wolf depredations on livestock. If the department isn’t notified of producers’ concerns, we have no opportunity to investigate depredations. Investigations are a requirement for those seeking compensation for losses from probable or confirmed wolf depredations or for WDFW to manage wolf-livestock conflicts in a way that minimizes livestock losses by the producers.”

He continued that, “In past years, WDFW has investigated livestock depredations and lethally removed wolves in Stevens [County] and neighboring counties under the guidelines provided in the Wolf-Livestock Interaction Protocol.” Kuttel Jr. asserted that the “WDFW values input provided by Stevens County farmers and ranchers and have provided opportunities for engagement and feedback regarding management through public meetings, accessibility to staff on a daily basis and through the Wolf Advisory Group (WAG), which advises WDFW’s director, Kelly Susewind, on management of wolves in Washington. It has five members that represent the ranching/agricultural community and includes a member from the Stevens County Cattlemen’s Association.”

According to WAG’s website, this group is tasked with recommending strategies for reducing conflicts with wolves outlined in the state's Wolf Conservation and Management Plan. Specific issues include: encouraging livestock producers to take proactive, preventative measures to decrease the risk of loss; providing compensation for economic loss due to wolf predation; monitoring recovery of the wolf population and its effect on prey species; and providing information to the public on wolf recovery in Washington.  

Per WDFW website, gray wolves are listed as endangered under state law throughout Washington, and, “Under state law, illegally killing a wolf… is a gross misdemeanor, punishable by up to one year in jail and a fine of up to $5,000.”

Kuttel Jr. said, “WDFW is committed to working with the producers of Stevens County. We understand the hardship that conflict with wildlife can present and we work to find ways to mitigate it. We have staffers that not only work but live in Stevens County. The area’s farmers and ranchers are their neighbors, and staff know their concerns first-hand.”

Nielsen remarked, “The more problems people have with wolves, the less they work with the department, because it’s become such a dysfunctional model. They [the ranchers] will try and do what the department asks… yet they [WDFW] keep adding on, most of what they are asking are things that serve as a stall tactic.” He said there are multiple investigations on the Sherman pack which started depredating early in the spring, stating, “They [WDFW] removed one wolf all season from that pack and I believe that pack has killed or maimed hundreds of cattle.” Nielsen commented, ”Much of that process could be working the way it’s supposed to. I am closer to it, because I am involved and can see where the breakdowns are happening. The policy side is where the problems are coming from.”

Nielsen said policies coming out of the DOE have resulted in letters sent to local residents regarding water rights for cattle and the potential to pollute. This is another form of “harassment," that could be reported through the lawfare web portal, according to the SCCA press release. In a USDA’s press release, the portal is described as a way to address “senseless politically motivated prosecution” being driven by federal funds. 

Nielsen said, “There are ongoing battles regarding cows’ access to water, and anything short of a tank, but that’s not consistent with the law. The DOE has a terrible overreach; they don’t want cows having access to live water.”

He continued, “They argue they have authority over ranchers and if a cow has access to water, it causes pollution. Yet the Natural Resources Conservation Services has said that most of that pollution is coming from home septic systems, soaps or stream temperature. I don’t believe our farms are causing the water pollution; they aren’t proving it’s impaired from livestock. They are overstepping the conservation district.” 

Brook Beeler, DOE eastern region director, stated,  “Just three weeks ago, Ecology director Casey Sixkiller and I sat down with Stevens County ranchers, landowners, and elected officials in Chewelah to hear their concerns and talk about how we can work together to protect water quality.

We are committed to building positive, collaborative relationships with landowners. These partnerships are important because they help us identify lasting solutions that support both working lands and clean water. We encourage members of the agricultural community to contact us directly with any questions or concerns about our work.” 

Beeler continued, “In the Colville Valley, and throughout the state, our approach is to work with landowners to offer both technical and financial assistance to support cleaner water. We also connect landowners with trusted partners, such as the local conservation district, which provides additional programs and resources. Much of the funding our agency receives gets passed on to communities in the form of grants and loans to support clean water work. This includes programs to repair and replace leaking septic systems and grants to local organizations that work with landowners.”

Nielsen said, “This portal is for far more than just northeast Washington; it’s nationwide, but they are getting an amazing number of hits about agency overreach in the state of Washington. We can’t make the WDFW do anything, but they can stop funding them if they don’t do anything about this. We want to get some eyebrows raised about the DOE letters, or not being treated right in the wolf issue. The sheer volume of complaints from Washington will bring attention.”