(The Center Square) – Washington is inching closer to removing gray wolves from the list of endangered species.
If wolves were to establish habitat in the Southern Cascades, they would meet all the criteria for Washington State to be delisted as an endangered species under state law. Wolves were almost completely eliminated from the state in the 1930s, until Washington state classified them as an endangered species under state law in 1980.
Gray wolves were removed from the Endangered Species Act by the federal government for about a year in 2021, but a judge reclassified them. By 2022, two-thirds of western Washington will once again be at risk of extinction.
Last year, the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife recorded a population of 270 wolves, the highest number on record and an increase of more than 17% from 2024. There are currently 23 breeding pairs and 49 breeding flocks across the state. WDFW’s Wolf Advisory Group met Monday to discuss what lies ahead, calling the delisting a “blank book.”
“It’s unclear to me what will substantively change in the delisted population,” said WDFW Wolf Biologist Trent Roussin. “It’s like a blank book at the moment. Post-delisting, it’s a blank slate for us. That could mean something.”
He cautioned WAG members not to bring in any preconceptions about what delisting would mean.
WDFW’s recovery plan provides two options for deregistering wolves with similar criteria. Either record 15 breeding pairs for three years in a row, with four pairs recorded in recovery areas in each state, or three pairs recorded elsewhere in the state. Alternatively, 18 breeding pairs have been recorded across the state, with at least four in Eastern Washington, four in the Southern Cascades, and six more in other parts of the state.
The state tracked at least two wolves moving through the Southern Cascades in 2025, but found no packs or breeding pairs in recovery areas. Once WDFW records at least four breeding pairs in the area, a regulatory review, public comment period and environmental review will begin, after which a separate Fish and Wildlife Commission will vote on whether to delist the wolves and reclassify them under state law.
The commission considered reclassifying wolves as classified in 2024, but voted to maintain that status.
One thing that needs to be considered is whether residents will be allowed to hunt wolves after the designation is lifted.
“This issue has to be addressed at some point, so we can talk about it, dance about it, whatever,” WAG member Lisa Stone, who represents the hunting community, said Monday. “But at some point the department or the commission will have to make a decision on that.”
Once delisted, the commission must decide whether to classify wolves as a game species that can be hunted or as protected wildlife. However, the decision only affects eastern Washington, where the federal government will not list wolves as an endangered species until the government removes them completely from the ESA.
If wolves remain protected under state law after delisting, there would be no open season, but WDFW could have more discretion to implement damage control and depredation policies. Washington state now allows farmers in eastern Washington to kill one wolf each year for attacking livestock.
Farmers would be required to allow or assist WDFW to enter their premises to investigate deaths, and could face charges if wolves are found to have been killed in a manner that violates regulations.
WDFW recorded 17 incidents last year in which wolves killed nine cattle and injured eight others. Some WAG members said Monday that depredation figures underestimate what is actually happening on the ground because livestock owners are losing trust in WDFW. Many people are now calling their county sheriff instead.
“This producer contacted me in February wanting to buy the bull, but when I called back two weeks later, he had sold the house as well as all 400 cows,” said Clarkston livestock owner Sammy Charriere. “He sold it that way… because there were extreme losses, but those don’t seem to be reflected.”
WDFW spent nearly $2 million on wolf management last year, but only $90,419 went to compensation for livestock losses, and an additional $92,410 went to “lethal extermination operations in response to depredation.”
Roussin said it will be difficult for WDFW to monitor wolves as the population continues to grow.
Some WAG members expressed concern that if the commission ultimately delists wolves, livestock owners will have to deal with growing populations and states will cut funding for monitoring.
“Monitoring will become more difficult,” Roussin said. “As the population grows, it will become increasingly difficult to maintain the level of accuracy we currently maintain.”
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