OLYMPIA — A Republican senator reintroduced a bill that would let ranchers shoot the first wolf that returned to the scene of an attack on livestock, calling it a more effective way to keep predations from escalating.

The response to an attack would be swifter and more likely target the wolf that killed the livestock, said Sen. Keith Wagoner, R-Sedro Woolley.

“The way Fish and Wildlife does it now, the odds are they’re not getting the right wolf,” he said. “They launch a helicopter and kill a wolf in the area.”

Senate Bill 5590 was sent Jan. 30 to the Senate Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee. Wagoner made the same proposal last year. The bill got a hearing, but didn’t have enough support to pass the committee.

Wagoner said the committee’s new chairman, Sen. Mike Chapman, D-Port Angeles, has committed to giving the bill another hearing. Four of the committee’s nine members were not on the committee last year.

“Maybe a new agriculture committee will look at it a little more kindly,” Wagoner said.

Wolf advocates opposed the bill last year, while ranchers testified for it. The Department of Fish and Wildlife didn’t outright oppose it, but had reservations, including whether waiting over a carcass was like baiting wildlife.

Fish and Wildlife spokeswoman Staci Lehman said the department will review the bill and has not taken a position on it yet.

Ranchers can legally shoot wolves caught attacking livestock, but are expected by Fish and Wildlife to promptly remove dead or injured livestock.

Fish and Wildlife will consider shooting one or two wolves after a pack attacks at least times within 30 days or four times within 10 months. Lethal removal is a last resort to protecting livestock, according to the department.

If shooting one or two wolves doesn’t stop the attacks, the department will consider killing more. Limited lethal removal is more effective if done soon after a predation, according to the department.

Wagoner said his bill would accomplishment that. “I think it would actually be better for wolves and our ranchers and farmers,” he said.