Tell Washington Governor Inslee to Hold WDFW Accountable for Wolf-killing Policies

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Tell Washington Governor Inslee to Hold WDFW Accountable for Wolf-killing Policies

Washington Governor Jay Inslee

Last September, Washington Governor Jay Inslee instructed the state's Department of Fish & Wildlife (WDFW) to make changes to its wolf management policies to reduce the number of wolves that the state kills. In spite of that instruction, Kelly Susewind–the WDFW Director–issued a kill order for two wolves from the Togo pack.

State officials are right now hunting these wolves to kill them despite limited evidence that a Togo wolf was involved in the depredations the state is acting on, and without having fulfilled Governor Inslee's instructions to prioritize non-lethal solutions.

The state has killed at least thirty one wolves since 2012. Twenty six of those wolves were killed in response to complaints filed by one public lands rancher.

In continuing on this path of killing on demand to placate the livestock industry, WDFW is demonstrating its lopsided and unscientific priorities. On top of that, they are completely ignoring the state's governor and treating his instructions as little more than feedback that they are free to ignore.

And Governor Inslee's office has done nothing. It has failed in managing this seemingly-rogue state agency that flouts gubernatorial instructions and spends state resources to prop up private ranching that is already getting nearly-free access to rangeland.

Governor Inslee must act. Another letter is not enough. Ignoring this will only encourage further abuse. Please join us in demanding that Governor Jay Inslee reverse this kill order and request the resignation of WDFW Director Kelly Susewind and regain control of his state's agencies.

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Endangered Species Coalition

To: Washington Governor Jay Inslee
From: [Your Name]

The continued disregard of science and your own written instructions by the Washington Department of Fish & Wildlife (WDFW) is disrupting wolf recovery and destroying wolf packs.

Killing wolves to placate ranchers that have failed to institute non-lethal measures will not stop depredation on cattle and will encourage this industry to continue to abuse the system your office allows to remain in place.

Researchers have demonstrated that killing wolves to deter depredation on cattle and other livestock is ineffective and can even make the problem worse by shattering pack structure and causing chaos and desperation. In the absence of pack leadership that has been killed by the state, wolves often turn to the easiest meal–unguarded cattle on public lands–furthering the cycle.

Director Susewind has had ten months to institute demonstrable changes to the way his agency manages wolves. Your letter instructed him to make changes to "further increase the reliance on non-lethal methods, and to significantly reduce the need for lethal removal of this species."

In issuing this kill order–and maintaining it for weeks–Director Susewind is showing his intent to continue ignoring this guidance and instead continuing on the same, anti-conservation path.

Please reverse this unfounded kill order and request the resignation of WDFW Director Kelly Susewind and see to it that his successor intends to follow the guidance you put forth in September of 2019.