OLYMPIA — Two sheriffs told the House Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee that county officials in northeast Washington should have more say in managing wolves.

Stevens County Sheriff Brad Manke and Ferry County Sheriff Ray Maycumber testified Wednesday for a bill calling for local boards to develop wolf-management plans in counties with at least three reproducing wolf packs.

The boards would be obligated to maintain stable wolf populations, but also could explore the quicker use of lethal control to protect livestock.

“I’m really excited about this bill,” Maycumber said. “It gives the people who live around wolves and in wolf-affected areas an active role.”

Northeast Washington long ago surpassed the state’s wolf-recovery goals, but remains under a statewide management plan. Northeast Washington Rep. Hunter Abell, a Republican, introduced House Bill 1442 to create the county wolf plans.

The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife said it expected the bill to apply to Ferry, Stevens, Okanogan, Pend Oreille, Asotin, Garfield, Columbia and Walla Walla counties.

Washington set a goal in 2011 of having at least 15 reproducing wolf packs distributed around the state. At last count, northeast Washington had 21 breeding pairs, while the rest of the state had four — too few to meet the distribution requirement.

“Wolves are completely recovered in northeast Washington, so much so we can satisfy the entire state recovery plan,” Manke said.

Fish and Wildlife stayed officially neutral on the bill, though wildlife program director Mick Cope said the department is concerned about the practicality of helping eight counties draw up wolf-management plans within six months, as called for in the bill.

Wolf advocates opposed the bill. Speak for the Wolves program co-director Rachel Bjork said it would politicize wolf management.

The committee also heard a bill Wednesday that would repudiate the Fish and Wildlife Commission’s decision last summer to keep wolves on the state endangered species list, rather than reclassifying them as a “sensitive species.”

In a 5-4 vote, the commission rejected the recommendation of Fish and Wildlife biologists who said wolves were in Washington to stay and did not meet the definition of an endangered or a threatened species.

House Bill 1311, introduced by Rep. Andrew Engell, R-Colville, would downlist wolves to “sensitive” by adopting the biologists’ recommendation.

Sensitive species are protected, though the penalty for poaching a sensitive species is up to 90 days in jail and a $1,000 fine compared to a year in prison and a $5,000 fine for an endangered species.

Engell said he was open to amending the bill to stiffen penalties for poaching wolves.

Most wolf advocates opposed the bill. Conservation Northwest policy director Paula Swedeen said she supported the bill, though with the tougher poaching penalties added.

“We don’t want to artificially keep (wolves) on the endangered list,” she said