With the plethora of annual anti-wolf bills in the Legislature across the county right now, we know you’ll be pleased to hear about all the exciting news for wolves and other apex predators in the Pacific Northwest!

Big Muddy Creek Pack

Despite the year round hunting of wolves in Idaho and the ongoing poaching occurring in Washington and Oregon, it’s always great news to hear of dispersal from these hostile areas. 

First wolf pack in a century in SW Washington!
Washington wildlife officials just announced the exciting news of the Big Muddy Creek wolf pack in SW Washington. The new pack is named after the Big Muddy Creek, which comes off the east side of Mount Adams and empties into the Klickitat River north of Glenwood, Washington. The creek lies within the Yakama Indian Reservation, and the Yakama Nation chose the pack’s name. The wolves have established a territory in the southwest portion of the reservation and western Klickitat County. It’s a sparsely populated area where local livestock producers have long been anticipating the arrival of wolves and are already testing strategies to prevent conflicts with cattle. 

Wolverine Spotted Near Portland

Within this last month, there have been multiple confirmed sightings of a wolverine in Oregon—outside of the Wallowa Mountains, for the first time in over 30 years! Wolverines are thought to have been extirpated from Oregon by 1936, though reports were documented each decade from the 1960-1990s. Most accounts reported are visual encounters that can be difficult to verify.

Wolverine are rare and listed as threatened in Oregon. The species is the largest member of the weasel family and resembles a small bear. Wolverine are widely distributed in Canada and Alaska, with smaller populations occurring in Washington, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming and Oregon, which is the southern edge of the current wolverine range in North America. They are strongly associated with snowpack and are most commonly found at high elevations. They can travel 30 miles a day; this individual is likely dispersing from Washington.

Submit Comments on Montana’s Wolf Plan by April 22!

Montana Fish Wildlife and Parks (FWP) is preparing an environmental impact statement (EIS) and conducting public scoping on a proposed action to revise the existing Montana Gray Wolf Conservation and Management Plan, which was developed 20 years ago. FWP is accepting public comments regarding the appropriate scope of the EIS, which would include the identification of any potentially significant issues that should be analyzed by the EIS and any alternatives to the proposed action of developing a contemporary wolf management plan that may be appropriate for FWP’s consideration.

Check out their proposed plan and submit your comments here: 
https://fwp.mt.gov/aboutfwp/public-comment-opportunities/wolf-eis-scoping

Rethinking Wildlife Management Webinar

Webinar: From Wildlife Policy to Social Justice: Rethinking Wildlife Management in the U.S.
Tuesday, April 25, 11AM PST / 2PM EST
Join Project Coyote for a one-hour introduction to Wildlife for All, a national campaign to reform wildlife management in the U.S. to be more democratic, just, compassionate and focused on protecting all wild species and ecosystems.

Speakers Kevin Bixby (Wildlife for All) and Michelle Lute (Project Coyote) will explain how the current system of wildlife is itself a barrier to achieving coexistence with wild creatures and meaningful biodiversity protection. They will discuss how this outdated and entrenched system is built on an ethic of domination and exploitation, intended mainly to serve consumptive users (hunters, anglers and trappers), dismissive of other values and voices, not based on sound science, and must be changed to prevent extinctions, promote democracy and protect wildlife for the future.

Register here: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_62z-DzvNQRGhGaPSWTDKNA#/registration 

Past Annual Conference Tees 50% Off!

Check out the Speak for Wolves store and grab remaining stock of past conference t-shirts for 50% off!

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Speak for Wolves is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization with a GuideStar Silver seal of transparency. Donations are tax-deductible in the US: EIN: 46-2867294