The only participation that Dashiell has effectively accomplished is that of a gaslighter, Dashiell needs to be removed from WAG for his recent remarks against WDFW. He truly has no respect nor comprehension of the graphic in this post, he is only concerned for 1 side, calls for wolves to be all killed in Public meetings it is reported to Us by several followers. It is time that all of our Followers email the New Director requesting his removal and point out that there are no Native Americans on the Wag. Perhaps They should offer Protect The Wolves™ again after Martorello claimed he didnt invite Us to re-invite Us to Join as the first Native American Voice. Their failure not only appears to be biased, but discriminatory, with the fact that there is only 1 color represented.
The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife has verified that a calf was mauled by a wolf in the Grouse Flats area along the Washington-Oregon border in the state’s southeastern corner.
Ben Maletzke, the state’s wolf specialist, said the calf was in a private pasture and survived the attack.
“We did have an injury that occurred (Thursday),” he said. “It had injuries consistent with wolves, based on the investigation by our conflict specialist down there.”
“We are working with the producer and they have been checking their cattle regularly, and they removed the injured calf so they can get veterinary attention for it.”
Maletzke said the area where the attack occurred is within the territory of the Grouse Flats wolf pack. The pack was first identified last summer and verified as an official Washington wolf pack in the state’s annual wolf report released earlier this year.
The attack on the calf marks the first recorded time the pack has gotten into trouble by preying on livestock. The other two packs in southeastern Washington — the Tucannon and Touchet packs — also have largely managed to stay out of trouble, although members of the Tucannon pack were blamed for killing a calf in 2016.
The Grouse Flats incident comes as tensions between the state’s livestock producers and wolves are rising. Fish and Wildlife officials approved lethal action against members of the Togo Pack in Ferry County this week after repeated attacks on cattle. However, a Washington judge placed a temporary restraining order on the department following a lawsuit.
Also Thursday, a livestock producer in Ferry County shot at a member of the Togo Pack. According to a Fish and Wildlife news release, the rancher told investigators he responded to radio collar data shared with ranchers that indicated a wolf was near his cattle. When he searched the area he saw two wolf pups, heard barking and growling and was approached by a barking adult male wolf fitted with a radio collar. He shot at the wolf in self-defense and reported the incident to the Ferry County sheriff.
Fish and Wildlife officials said the collar worn by the wolf is equipped with a mortality signal — a function that sends an email to biologists if the wolf doesn’t move for an extended period of time, indicating it has died. That function has not been activated and wildlife officials believe the wolf is alive. They were unable to find any evidence that it was wounded.
The news release states it is not uncommon for wolves to bark or growl when people approach their pups, and adult wolves often attempt to move people away from their young. The release said such behavior is not “necessarily predatory in nature” but it can feel threatening to people who experience it.
Wildlife officials will continue to investigate the incident.
County commissioners from Ferry, Stevens, Pend Oreille and Okanogan counties met in Colville on Friday to discuss wolves and frustrations experienced by livestock producers because of the restraining order, according to a report in the Spokesman-Review newspaper in Spokane.
“The meeting today was to try and develop, I guess, a strategy to go forward figuring out how to give the people in these counties a little bit of relief,” Stevens County commissioner Don Dashiell told the newspaper.
The northeastern Washington county commissioners also discussed potential legal remedies they might pursue and commiserated about livestock owners being vulnerable to additional attacks on their cattle while the restraining order remains in place. The judge is scheduled to revisit his order .
“When the judge put the restraining order on the department he didn’t put the restraining order on the wolves,” Dashiell told the Spokesman-Review.
Jay Holzmiller, a rancher from Anatone and a member of the Washington Fish and Wildlife Commission, told the Tribune that ranchers are fed up with continued depredations and their lack of tools to stop it. Just like wolves in Idaho, those in the eastern third of Washington were removed from the federal endangered species list years ago. But unlike Idaho wolves, the Washington animals remain protected under a state version of the ESA.
Wolf hunting is not allowed in Washington, but in cases of repeated livestock depredations, Fish and Wildlife officials can kill offending packs or parts of packs if nonlethal deterrents have failed. However, Holzmiller said ranchers fear the restraining order preventing that action may be made permanent.
“Then where are we at? Do we just sit there and feed cattle to wolves?” he said. “We are not going to get any relief from the governor. Maybe, maybe, maybe from the Legislature, but that is six months out.”
Source: Wolves maul southeastern Washington calf | Northwest | lmtribune.com