Wolf Culling Notice Pt 1

Wolf Culling Notice Pt 1

Bob Larson
Bob Larson
I'm Bob Larson. A real gut punch to cattle ranchers as the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife promises to give a one business day notice before removing a wolf determined to have attacked livestock, in order to give out of state environmental groups time to get a restraining order.

Washington Farm Bureau's Tom Davis says the state Wolf Advisory Group already has approved protocol in place ...

DAVIS ... "And that's what guides the department as they work with livestock producers to do the non-lethal protective measures on the front end and when those fail then it allows the department to step in and remove problem wolves. So, it's the most essential, important tool the department has to manage problem wolves and to protect our state's livestock producers. And now, by providing eight-hour notice, it gives this out of state extreme environmental group the opportunity to file another lawsuit and stop the department from being able to implement the lethal protocol."

Davis says it's all very frustrating ...

DAVIS ... "So, it's devastating for our livestock producers in the state, especially those in the northeast corner where the wolf population has already recovered. This isn't about helping a species recover. A species has recovered and is in such numbers now that it's causing more and more problems for our livestock producers."

Fish and Wildlife made the promise after a Thurston County judge dismissed a lawsuit challenging a case in which they decided to cull a wolf from the Sherman pack.

Davis expects the courts will be sympathetic to restraining order requests from the Center for Biological Diversity.

Listen tomorrow for more on this latest hurdle thrown in the path of livestock producers.

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