The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) is finalizing a Wolf Conservation and Management Plan to determine the ways wolves are managed as they naturally return to Washington from nearby states. The public has until January 8, 2010, to submit written comments on the plan and 5 public hearings to make their voices heard.
Join NPCA as we work to see wolves returned to our state and our national parks!
NPCA asks you to submit written comments on the plan and try to attend at least one of the public hearings being held around the state. You can read the final draft and submit written comments by visiting the WDFW website on wolves.
Listed below are the locations of all the public hearings and the contact person for each meeting. NPCA is working with a coalition of conservation groups to organize for these meetings. If you are interested in attending a pre-hearing meeting to learn more about the plan, please contact the person listed below each meeting.
All hearings will be from 6:30 PM – 9:00 PM. The pre-meeting will start at 5:30 PM at a location decided by the contact person.
Monday, November 2nd – Seattle
REI Flagship Store, 222 Yale Ave N
David Graves, dgraves@npca.org, 206-903-1444 x25
Wednesday, November 4th - Mount Vernon
Cottontree Inn Convention Center, 2300 Market St.
Bob Aegerter, boba@openaccess.org, 350-671-2652
Jim Davis, jimdaviscpc@comcast.net, 360-715-3458
Thursday, November 5th – Sequim
Guy Cole Convention Center, Carrie Blake Park, 212 Blake Ave.
David Graves, dgraves@npca.org, 206-903-1444 x25
Monday, November 9th – Omak
Okanogan County Fairgrounds Agriplex, Hwy. 97 South
Jay Kehne, jkehne@conservationnw.org, 509-470-1767
Tuesday, November 10th – Wenatchee
Chelan County PUD Auditorium, 327 N Wenatchee Ave.
Jay Kehne, jkehne@conservationnw.org, 509-470-1767
NPCA and the conservation movement support the creation of this plan. Finalizing this plan is the first step in a process to reestablish viable wolf populations to the state. While NPCA supports the process, there are several sections that could use improvement. Most notably, the target population of wolves for the entire state is only 15 breeding pairs. This is too low to maintain a genetically viable wolf population. On the other hand, the plan does call for translocation of wolves to areas where the animals may have difficulty migrating naturally. In particular, we support translocation to the Olympic Peninsula because of its prime wolf habitat.
