Wolf Kill Update Pt 2
I'm Bob Larson. An Olympia judge ruled a wolf from the Togo pack in Ferry County CAN be killed, and over the weekend state Fish and Wildlife carried out the removal in an effort to slow the attacks on cattle in Northeast Washington.
Representative Joel Kretz says the easiest bill to kill in Olympia is anything with wolf in the title, so there are better answers than legislative moving forward ...
KRETZ ... "We've got wolves everywhere up here, enough for the whole state to be delisted under the numbers. Why don't we do a pilot delisting in these four counties and give us a little more flexibility on making a system that will work, and I want it to work for wolves AND ranchers."
Kretz says wolves aren't the problem ...
KRETZ ... "The wolves are doing what they do. The problem is groups like we had, that sued, that have not tried for a solution that just want to enflame the situation and be able to get all their rhetoric out there. That's where I'm upset is with that kind of approach for wildlife management and having two out of state groups and an Olympia judge running wolf management in the state of Washington. That doesn't work."
Kretz says there has to be an answer ...
KRETZ ... "I don't want to lose this rancher. I don't want to lose the whole ranching industry up here. It's like Seattle losing Boeing and Microsoft and Amazon. That's the impact on this country and we're right on the edge of it."
The Center for Biological Diversity, that requested the initial restraining order, argues the lethal-removal policy violates state law and they plan to pursue more options.
