A Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife file photo shows a member of the Teanaway wolf pack. Some local and state officials want the department to share wolf tracking data with ranchers during denning season.

Washington’s wolf population grew by 15% in 2019, even as statewide recovery goals lost ground, according to a report released Monday by the state Department of Fish and Wildlife.

About four-fifths of the state’s 145 wolves were in Ferry, Okanogan, Stevens and Pend Oreille counties in northeast Washington.

Stevens County Cattlemen’s Association President Scott Nielsen said he wasn’t surprised wolves are concentrated in northeast Washington.

“If I were a wolf, I’d be comfortable in Stevens County. You have an endless supply of Red Hereford cattle,” he said.

Washington wildlife managers conceived wolf recovery over a decade ago as a statewide project, expecting wolves to reproduce in Eastern Washington, the North Cascades, and South Cascades in roughly equal numbers as early as 2021.

Wolves have yet to colonize the South Cascades, and the number of breeding pairs in the North Cascades declined last year.

Meanwhile, wolves have met or exceeded recovery goals in Eastern Washington since 2014.

Fish and Wildlife statewide wolf specialist Ben Maletzke said a wider distribution of wolves will happen. “I think wolves are making their way,” he said. “I don’t think it’s that far off.”

Fish and Wildlife’s count represents the minimum number of wolves at the end of 2019. The department counted 126 at the end of 2018. The wolf population has increased 11 straight years, averaging 23% growth per year.

Fish and Wildlife cautioned the new count may be skewed. The Colville tribe has declared wolves recovered on its reservation in northeast Washington and discontinued winter counts. Based on sightings, the tribe estimated there were 37 wolves on its reservation, adding to the 108 counted by Fish and Wildlife.

The state wolf plan measures recovery by breeding pairs, not total population. The plan calls for at least four breeding pairs in the three regions. Eastern Washington had eight breeding pairs last year, including two in southeast Washington. The number of breeding pairs in the North Cascades dropped to two from three.

Six wolves wearing radio collars left their packs in 2019, but no wolf went in a direction that would have advanced recovery goals. The six went to Idaho, Oregon, Montana, British Columbia or another pack in northeast Washington.

Maletzke said wolves have a tendency to go toward other wolves, rather than cross unoccupied territory. “It’s a little scary to walk through a ghost town,” he said.

Wolves have largely run out of room to form new packs in northeast Washington, Maletzke said. The region’s population may ebb and flow as packs grower larger or smaller, he said.

Nielsen said Fish and Wildlife has not done enough to discourage wolves from attacking livestock in northeast Washington. “If they were, they would disperse,” he said.

The department documented two new wolfpacks — the Sullivan Creek pack in Okanogan County and the Kettle pack in Ferry County. Western Washington’s only pack in 2018, the Diobsud Creek pack in Skagit County, was down to a lone wolf and no longer qualified as a pack.

“While we’re glad to see another year of wolf population growth and we remain optimistic overall, its’s concerning that progress toward recovery continues to be slow in the Cascades and Western Washington,” Conservation Northwest policy director Paula Swedeen said in a statement.

The Kettle pack formed after Fish and Wildlife eliminated the OPT pack in July. The pack members are the new occupants of an area where wolves have attacked cattle on federal grazing allotments for several years. Fish and Wildlife’s use of lethal control there is being challenged by wolf advocates in a pending lawsuit in King County.

“We would expect wolves to re-establish there,” Maletzke said. “It’s good quality habitat. That’s why wolves are there.”

In all, Fish and Wildlife killed nine wolves in 2019 to stop attacks on cattle. Tribal hunters harvested six wolves. No other hunting of wolves is allowed in Washington.

Two wolves were lawfully killed while attacking cattle, while another wolf was shot in self-defense. One wolf was killed by a cougar. One died of unknown causes. The department says it’s investigating one other death.

Fish and Wildlife confirmed 25 attacks on livestock and spent $1.5 million on wolf activities.