King County Court Issues TRO On WDFW Sherman Pack Kill Permit

WDFW has been barred from lethally removing another wolf from a depredating pack in Northeast Washington after a King County Superior Court commissioner issued a temporary restraining order against the operation today.

Only one day had been left in the week-long agency permit to kill a Sherman Pack wolf in response to two recent confirmed calf depredations, but predator advocates claimed WDFW’s decision in granting it had been “arbitrary and capricious,” according to the Capital Press.

With Director Kelly Susewind out of office in the field last week, the permit had been issued by WDFW Deputy Director Amy Windrope. In announcing the decision, state wolf managers outlined their rationale, guided by established wolf-livestock conflict protocols, here.

But in court this afternoon, Commissioner Mark Hillman said, “Weighing the downside for the state versus the downside for the wolves, frankly, the wolves would lose if I don’t grant the injunction,” per the Press.

A commissioner is someone appointed by Superior Court judges, who themselves are elected to four-year terms, to preside over various cases, calendars and preliminary hearings as assigned by those judges.

The challenge to the lethal removal was brought up by Kettle Range Conservation Group, Predator Defense and Washington Wildlife First.

The Spokane Spokesman-Review reported that their petition argued “livestock producers affected by the wolves hadn’t done enough to keep their cattle from being attacked. They also noted that WDFW had already killed a wolf from the pack in August and argued that removing another could endanger the pack’s survival.”

Since mid-August, the Sherman Pack has been involved in six confirmed and probable wolf depredation events that left three calves dead and four injured. In response, in late August, WDFW removed an adult female wolf. The Press reported there is one adult wolf and six pups, while WWF stated there are two adult females.

WWF considered the commissioner’s granting of the TRO a “victory” that “came just in time.” It might have also come just in time for an organization that has seen its influence and relevance in Washington wildlife affairs on the wane this year as the Fish and Wildlife Commission has been reshaped to the better by Governor Bob Ferguson, its machinations in recent years to get more of its kind of commissioners on the board were exposed, a key funding source in their battles against WDFW has become known, and their uncompromising approaches countered in the pages of a pragmatic new handbook for big-tent environmental solutions.

The country where the Sherman Pack is depredating has looooooong been one of the hottest parts of the state for wolf-livestock conflicts. In late August, WWF decried WDFW’s “execution” of the wolf, while today, affected Diamond M rancher Len McIrvin told the Press, “It’s a sad thing when the enviros can persuade a judge’s decision when wolves need to be killed.”

The TRO ensures the fire stays hot, the angst stays high. Lethal removal of the wolf would “not jeopardize wolf recovery in the Eastern Washington recovery zone or statewide,” WDFW stated last week.

Next up for all is a preliminary injunction hearing on October 28.