Washington state says that even though the gray wolf will be delisted as an endangered species, not much will change in their area.
Department Wolf Coordinator, Julia Smith says that 21 of Washington’s 26 packs have been in the federally delisted eastern part of the state, meaning they have been under the state’s authority since 2011.
The only big change is the state can implement wolf conservation and management plans without going through U.S. Fish and Wildlife.
“Our emphasis on proactive, non-lethal deterrence is going to be there regardless of any sort of listing status or recovery status,” she states. “If conflict were to get to such a state that it needed to get to the point where we would consider lethal removal, that would be an option that’s on the table, but that has already been on the table for most of Washington’s wolves anyway.”
Smith says that another advantage of the delisting is that resources for the gray wolf can now be redirected to endangered species that face a more immediate biological need.
Related:
Mixed reactions to gray wolf delisting