This has been a tough week for wolves and those of us who are committed to their recovery. Wildlife officials in Washington state have made the decision to kill the Profanity Peak wolf pack due to repeated depredations since July 8.
This is a point we never wanted to come to. In our vision for wolves, lethal removal would never have to be used. Defenders of Wildlife has been working for decades to help avoid conflicts with wolves, specifically because of the deadly results these conflicts often end up having for them.
When we lose wolves, it is devastating for those who advocate for their recovery, as we have for decades at Defenders. It can be easy to feel that we are losing ground when decisions like this one are made. But as a biologist and president and CEO of Defenders of Wildlife, I want to let you know that as gut-wrenching as this loss is, the work we do every day is creating a safer landscape for wolves.
The Incredible Return
Gray wolves once roamed freely throughout much of North America, possibly numbering in the hundreds of thousands. But government sponsored programs to hunt, trap and poison wolves almost wiped them off the map in the continental U.S. by the 1930s.
Today the gray wolf is the true "comeback kid." It is slowly but surely returning to some of its former habitat in several states, including Washington, as a result of strong conservation efforts throughout the years - conservation efforts in which Defenders played a major role.
Defenders' Leadership on Wolves
Defenders has been at the forefront of wolf recovery for more than 20 years. We were the first conservation group to introduce the idea of bringing wolves back to Yellowstone. We understood that for wolf recovery to succeed it was vital that we worked with the ranching community. The ranchers of today have never ranched in wolf country so while we look at recovery as a natural restoration of the landscape, ranchers look at it as a new hurdle they have to jump to make a living. This might be hard for some wolf advocates to digest, but the reality is that without the cooperation of ranchers, wolves don't have a chance on the landscape.
Defenders was on the ground supporting the reintroduction: paving the way by working with ranchers through an innovative compensation program for ranchers who experienced depredations. The federal and some state governments now manage and support this same program.
We also put our own staff on the ground to help ranchers and save wolves. We provided resources and technical expertise. Our experts explored coexistence efforts from other countries to bring ranchers the best tools to live with wolves. And it has paid off for the wolves.
Now, thanks to these cooperative efforts, a large and growing number of ranchers and rural communities are finding ways to successfully coexist with wolves, taking proactive steps to minimize the chance of a conflict - which is a win for them and wolves. The prevailing attitude of ranchers 20 years ago was total opposition to wolves. We were - and still are -- trying to change an entire culture, one that was built on the absence of wolves over the span of decades. Now we hear, "The wolves are here to stay so we have to learn to live with them."
Our approach in the Yellowstone and Northern Rockies region is the best way to secure a real future for wolves in Washington.
Wolf Recovery in the Northwest
Because of our expertise in wolf recovery and coexistence, Defenders of Wildlife has a seat at the table once more, this time on Washington's Wolf Advisory Group (WAG). The WAG is a cross-section of organizations and individuals that work together to provide guidance to the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife on how to implement the state's wolf management plan.
Each member of the WAG has different priorities -- ours being wolf recovery. As national leaders in coexistence, Defenders provides recommendations on how the state can handle conflicts between wolves and livestock. Working with the other stakeholders on the WAG, we have been able to negotiate a far better deal for Washington's wolves.
It cannot be overstated how big a difference the new protocols have made for Washington wolves. In just the past two years, the number of livestock producers in Washington that are participating in conflict prevention plans with WDFW has tripled -- a striking indication of how attitudes are changing across the landscape.
A Brighter Future for Wolves
While the authorized removal of the Profanity Peak wolf pack is a distressing loss to process for all of us, we strongly believe that this tragic situation will not undermine our overall goal of achieving wolf recovery in Washington state.
As the leader of the group that helped bring back wolves to Yellowstone and the Northern Rockies, I know we will be able to recover wolves in Washington and ensure their safe passage on suitable lands where they can rightfully roam freely in the wild.
There is tough work ahead. Together we can all make our vision for wolf recovery a reality.