The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife closed a key wolf policy meeting to the public, shielding from public view discussions on how the department will respond to attacks on livestock this grazing season.

The department’s Wolf Advisory Group was scheduled to meet virtually May 30 to talk about whether to recommend changes to Fish and Wildlife’s protocol for deciding when to shoot wolves to deter predations.

The changes could affect what ranchers must do before Fish and Wildlife takes action against a pack that is killing and mauling livestock.

The high-profile advisory group, praised last month by Fish and Wildlife Director Kelly Susewind for its invaluable counsel, normally meets in public. The department gave vague reasons for closing the meeting.

The department’s actions will have more credibility and acceptance if the public can watch policies take shape, said Claire Loebs, president and executive director of Washington Wildlife First. “It’s way better for them to be open and transparent to the public,” she said.

The Wolf Advisory Group is not covered by the state’s meeting law. Meetings, however, are often well attended by the public. The department closed a portion of a meeting last month “to allow for focused, in-person relationship building.”

This meeting was expected to have more substance, as the group discussed changing the protocol for the upcoming grazing season. The group was scheduled to meet for three hours.

The Wolf Advisory Group, though only an advisory body, crafted the current protocol, which puts demands on ranchers and sets the threshold for considering lethal control.

“They are an integral part of these discussions. Their discussions shouldn’t be behind closed doors,” said state Sen. Shelly Short, a Republican who represents wolf-saturated northeast Washington.

“Because of the importance of their work, it needs to be transparent,” she said. “To me, there’s no good reason to have closed doors.”

Fish and Wildlife spokeswoman Staci Lehman said the meeting was to be conducted on Teams, an online platform that will allow advisory group members to work on documents. Normally, the public is invited to join on the online platform Zoom, but that would have cost more money, she said.

The amount the department saved was not available. The Wolf Advisory Group has worked before on documents during public meetings held on Zoom. The public can watch live events on Teams, according to a Microsoft website.

In an email, Fish and Wildlife said the closed meeting was an “internal meeting for WAG members and WDFW staff to follow up on some unfinished draft languages and updates that we could not finish during April’s WAG meeting.”

Fish and Wildlife Commission Chairwoman Barbara Baker declined to comment on the closed meeting, saying the Wolf Advisory Group advises the department, not the commission.

“We actually try hard to stay in our lane and not pass judgment on what they do,” she said.

The department established the Wolf Advisory Group more than a decade ago to iron out differences between ranchers, wolf advocates, hunters and outdoor enthusiasts. The state has spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on the advisory group.

Susewind told the advisory group in April that its advice was “incredibly helpful and meaningful.” Wolves are the subject of intense interest, he said. “You mention wolves and people lose their minds in all directions.”