Five conservation groups have filed a lawsuit asking a Washington state court to enforce Gov. Jay Inslee’s order directing state wildlife officials to enact wolf management rules.
The groups say the rules should have outlined what steps must be taken before wolves can be killed for conflict with livestock.
The filing notes that Gov. Inslee ordered the Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife to undertake a formal wolf rulemaking process in 2020, following a petition from conservation organizations. The petition asked the state to require the use of nonlethal deterrence measures by livestock operators before authorizing the killing of wolves involved in livestock conflicts. While the department started the process, in July the state’s wildlife commission voted 5-4 not to enact the proposed rules.
In May of 2020 the groups filed a petition in response to state officials’ repeated killing of wolves on behalf of one livestock owner in northeast Washington, where the groups say a lack of adequate conflict-deterrence measures has resulted in chronic conflicts. The petition also aimed to prevent chronic conflict areas from developing elsewhere in the state by standardizing accountable and enforceable measures statewide.
The latest lawsuit was filed in in Thurston County Superior Court on behalf of the Center for Biological Diversity, Cascadia Wildlands, the Kettle Range Conservation Group, Western Watersheds Project and WildEarth Guardians.
