A northwest Washington lawmaker has introduced a bill to allow ranchers to shoot the first wolf that comes back to feed on dead livestock.

Rather than indiscriminately culling a pack, killing the wolf that returns to the carcass will make it “far more likely to get the proper wolf,” said Sen. Keith Wagoner, R-Sedro Woolley.

“You may be killing a wolf completely innocent of anything, but that’s how it works right now,” Wagoner said. “If we shoot the right wolf every time, we might actually see the depredations on livestock drop.”

Tim Coleman, executive director of the Kettle Range Conservation Group, said packs work together to bring down livestock, so the first wolf to come back to feed may not be the one that brought down the animal.

“I appreciate that the senator wants to do something, but I don’t think this the way to do it,” Coleman said. “Ranchers are not supposed to leave dead animals out so they can become an attractant.”

The Department of Fish and Wildlife shoots wolves to keep attacks on livestock from spiraling out of control. The department staff — often shooting from a helicopter — does not single out a particular pack member.

Wolf advocates have proposed limiting lethal control to wolves that actually attacked livestock. Wildlife managers have said they can’t distinguish between a wolf that’s a killer and a wolf that’s a scavenger.

Under Senate Bill 5939, co-sponsored by Wagoner and Sen. Kevin Van De Wege, D-Sequim, a rancher finding wolf-killed livestock could watch and shoot the first wolf returning to the carcass.

The law would expire after three years unless extended by legislators.

Wagoner said he got the idea while touring northeast Washington, the corner of the state with the most wolves. He said he talked to Colville tribal members, who manage wolves on their reservation, and to ranchers.

“It seems like a commonsense solution coming from the folks who have to live with it every day,” he said.

“I think it’s a heck of an idea,” said Scott Nielsen, organizer of the Cattle Producers of Washington range-riding program. “I think producers should have that legal right.”

Nielsen agreed shooting the first wolf that returns would increase the chances of removing the wolves attacking cattle.

“I think it’s the best argument for it,” he said. “I think it would be far more effective in getting the offending animal and stop the depredations than what the department is doing now.”

Fish and Wildlife’s concerns

Fish and Wildlife will thoroughly review the bill, spokeswoman Staci Lehman said in an email. The department’s immediate take was the bill might contradict the protocol for deciding when to lethally remove wolves, she said.

The protocol was worked out by the department’s Wolf Advisory Group, which included representatives of the livestock industry.

Fish and Wildlife also has questions about enforcing the bill and the implications for the western two-thirds of the state, where wolves are federally protected, Lehman said.

The bill is positioned to at least get a hearing. Van De Wege, the co-sponsor, chairs the Senate Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee. Van De Wege is also a candidate for public lands commissioner.