Wolves in Washington endangered, again

I was so excited to hear about the confirmed presence of wolf packs in Washington. Now some state legislators are trying to strip them of protection. If this interests you and you are a resident of Washington state, please write your representatives and urge them to vote against these bills.

If you're a resident of other western states that have wolves, or likely soon will as they slowly reestablish their ancient territory, then I urge you to think about to coexist. There's room for both wolves and people if we set aside our prejudice and fear.

According to Conservation Northwest:

Washington's Wolves Under Fire
Urge state lawmakers to support wolf recovery and to oppose efforts to strip wolf protections

One would hope that state politicians are hard at work solving our state's economic crisis, but instead some are hard at work stripping protections for endangered wolves in Washington. We need your help to protect wolves. Three extreme, anti-wolf bills have been introduced into the state legislature this session, all of which can be stopped with your help.

Representatives Taylor, Shea, and McCune have introduced bills (HB 1107, 1108, and 1109) that together would harm wolves and wolf recovery. They propose to circumvent a collaborative process to develop a balanced, scientifically-based wolf management plan for Washington; challenge the authority of the US Fish and Wildlife Service to protect wolves in Washington and make it virtually impossible for the state to work with the US Fish and Wildlife Service on wolf recovery; spread unnecessary fears that wolves carry diseases that are harmful to humans and other wildlife; and permit wolf poaching by prohibiting the citation or arrest of anyone who illegally kills a wolf.

If these legislators get their way, they plan to quickly move these bills to a vote before the public has had a chance to weigh in.

Please send a quick letter today for Washington's wolves. Urge your state representative and key members of the House Committee on Agriculture and Natural Resources to do all they can to stop this backdoor attempt to harm wolf recovery efforts in Washington.