S-2122.1

SUBSTITUTE SENATE BILL 5960


State of Washington	64th Legislature	2015 Regular Session

By Senate Ways & Means (originally sponsored by Senator Dansel)

READ FIRST TIME 02/27/15.

AN ACT Relating to requiring the department of fish and wildlife to update the 2011 wolf conservation and management plan to ensure the establishment of a self-sustaining population of gray wolves while also ensuring social tolerance of wolf recovery; creating a new section; and providing an expiration date.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. (1) The department of fish and wildlife must engage in a process to amend the existing wolf conservation and management plan, as adopted in December 2011, to better address the wolf recovery rate and uneven distribution of wolves in northeast Washington that has occurred since the initial adoption of the plan.

(2) In amending the wolf conservation and management plan, the department of fish and wildlife must use the most updated available science and coordinate with the existing wolf advisory group.

(3) The wolf conservation and management plan must be amended as the department of fish and wildlife best sees fit to manage the state's growing wolf population. However, the process must consider, at a minimum:

(a) A change in the metric for identifying successful wolf recovery that is based on the number of wolf packs in the state and not on the number of breeding pairs;

(b) Additional options for the number of wolves and distribution of wolves necessary to no longer consider the species in danger of extinction within the state;

(d) A determination of the reasonable prevention measures expected of a livestock producer prior to consideration of compensation or the lethal removal of the depredating wolves;

(e) A review of the current conditions that warrant lethal management of individual wolves;

(f) The development of criteria for the use of lethal management tools to address repeated depredations by wolf packs; and

(g) The incorporation of recent data on wolf/ungulate interaction and the potential impacts to wild ungulate herds from recovering wolf populations.

(4) The amendments to the wolf conservation and management plan made under this section are not subject to the provision of RCW 43.21C.030(2)(c).

(5) The amendments to the wolf conservation and management plan required under this section must be completed by June 30, 2017.

(6) All requirements in this section are subject to the availability of amounts appropriated for the specific purposes described.