Washington Senator Wants Petitions Filed Where Wildlife Is Locate

Washington state Senator Shelly Short has filed legislation that would require injunctions preventing the lethal removal of a wolf to be filed in the county in which the depredation takes place.

For years, wolf advocates have filed injunctions, primarily in King and Thurston counties, to prevent the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife from lethally removing wolves.

Senator Short said the fact that decisions impacting her constituents can be made in a courtroom hundreds of miles away is infuriating.

“And I'm just like, you know what? They need to come to our neck of the woods. They need to be dealing with our communities, our court system, and they need to look my constituents in the eye.”

The Court Stall Gave Wolf Advocates The Win They Were Looking For

Short said an October ruling in King County that prevented WDFW from removing a wolf from the Sherman pack was the nexus behind this proposed legislation.

That order was eventually lifted October 31st, but by that time, WDFW decided not to pursue the lethal removal.

Short said the stalling tactic provided a win for the wolf advocates.

Short says if SB 5908 doesn’t get a hearing or move forward, not all hope is lost.

“I told them I'd like to have a work session on the issue and really look at it in greater detail to say, ‘are there any constitutional issues with that?’, ‘are there any statutory issues with that?’ And really dig in. So, this could actually, even if the bill doesn't progress, I think it's the beginning of a conversation that is long overdue."