Wolves, other wild critters abound

MOSES LAKE - The series of sounds were haunting and certainly unforgettable. The pitch went up, then down. It sounded again and I knew it was not a coyote, which can be heard frequently around the Columbia Basin. My coyote experiences have the animal voicing a series of barks along with a high-pitched howl.

I was on a fishing trip deep in the wilderness, north of Kamloops, British Columbia. There were no roads to the lakes, so anglers needed to reach the main lake by float plane.

A lodge provided meals, a cabin, boats on several of the fishable lakes, with a short hike needed to reach the outlying areas.

The trail from one of the smaller lakes to the main lake was narrow with lots of brush on each side. Up north, nighttime does not come early, but the gloaming was beginning the transition as the sounds began, with the end of my fishing day still a mile down the road.

Even though my eyes never settled on the animal it was evident the critter making these sounds was a wolf. My distance from the howling animal was difficult, if not impossible, to determine, because of the terrain. Was it 500 yards away, three miles away or just over the little rise to my right front?

It was a great time at the remote lakes with lots of fish caught during the trip, but it was the howling wolf which created the lasting memory. And my imagination is flowing with thoughts of the animal.

The sounds came from only one animal, I'm sure of it, and no other wolves answered the first one. Was it a wolf kicked out of a pack and now on the hunt for a mate to begin a pack of its own?

It was spooky enough to hear just one wolf howl, but what if there would have been three or five howling all around me? My footsteps were hurried at this point and there was significant relief when the lights of the lodge came into view.

Such an experience is possible today, right here in Washington State.

A July 5 press release from Fish and Wildlife reports a fourth wolf pack living in Washington has been confirmed. Biologists caught, collared and released an adult female wolf. The animal was producing milk, signifying the animal was nursing puppies.

DNA testing was conducted on tissue and hair samples to find out if this was a wild wolf or a wolf-dog cross. Results of the testing confirmed the animal was a wild gray wolf.

Captured in Kittitas County, it has been named the Teanaway Pack. The Teanaway is east and north of Cle Elum and the Teanaway River is a part of this valley. The pack name gives us an indication of where it is generally located. The collar is helping biologists keep track of its location.

Fish and Wildlife has not indicated they have transplanted any wolves in Washington, so the establishment of another pack indicates the wolves are naturally returning to the state.

Wow, four packs, how many do we need? This seems to be the mission-dollar question.

Last January, while attending the Shooting, Hunting and Outdoor Trade Show in Las Vegas, I attended a round-table discussion about wolves and getting them off the federal endangered-species list.

In front of the large audience sat Cal Groen, then director of the Idaho Department of Fish and Game, M. David Allen, president and CEO of the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, and Michael Bean, Counselor to the Assistant Secretary for Fish and Wildlife and Parks of the US Department of the Interior.

Groen and Allen were groaning about the difficulty of getting the wolves in Idaho and elsewhere delisted. Groen told about signing the papers agreeing to the reintroduction of the species, with specific numbers indicated on the paperwork.

A couple of years ago, all seemed well as the numbers were reached and wolf hunting tags issued. Some of those tags were filled, but shortly thereafter, a federal judge placed wolves back on the list.

When all appeared set for another delisting to occur another federal judge stopped the action. Both Allen and Groen agreed federal judges were taking away a state's ability to regulate the populations of big game animals in their boundaries.

Allen was expressing grief about the wolf population, which was larger than agreed upon in the beginning and devastating the elk and deer herds. The results were less big game animals, less hunters buying hunting licenses and more outfitters going out of business, because of the fewer hunters and big game animals.

Mr. Bean didn't have much to say. The Department of the Interior needed to follow the orders of the federal judges and this was the end of the story.

This spring congress passed the federal budget bill with an attachment to take wolves off the endangered-species list. The bill ordered the Obama administration to lift protection of wolves in five western states, including Idaho, Montana, Washington, Oregon and Utah. Congressional representatives indicated the amendment was to get around the federal judge who continually blocked proposals to delist wolves. Plus the new law blocks further court interference.

Hurrah for Congress. But while the gray wolf is no longer a federal endangered-species in Eastern Washington it is listed as a state endangered species.

So now Washington has four wolf packs. Wow, four packs, how many do we need? Currently there is a 17-member citizen group working to develop a wolf conservation and management plan. Well, come on, you people, get busy.

Develop the plan before these four packs begin to devastate our elk and deer herds. Set wolf-hunting seasons and let Fish and Wildlife control the wolf population by issuing hunting tags.

Issue the first tags to ranchers with livestock herds, so they can cull out wolves who acquire a taste for beef, goat, sheep, hogs, horses and any other domesticated animal.

Yes, being able to hear the call of the wild through a wolf howl will be an exciting experience in Washington, but we need to make sure the wolf knows its place in the world.