Lands Council: Killing Wolves May Not Protect Washington Livestock

According to a recent study, “Predator Control Should Not Be A Short in the Dark’, killing predators to protect livestock has little scientific evidence.  Mike Petersen, executive director of the Lands Council in Spokane told the Washington Ag Networ if cattle are in wolf country, there will be problems.

“If you turn cattle out on certain allotments, you’re going to have predation,” Petersen said.

Petersen added there need to be compromise between the wolf advocates and the cattle industry.  And he said it’s important to have those conversations now, before the Profanity Peak pack is eliminated.

“Someone’s going to give something up, and I want to compensate that rancher.  Right now, it’s really expensive, I mean I’m going to guess they are going to spend $200,000, the state of Washington, the tax payers trying to kill off that wolf pack.  The amount that rancher pays for allotment are a few hundreds of dollars.”

Petersen said he would like to take the different to purchase feed and hay for Washington cattle producers to ensure their operation continues to grow.  He added common ground, and scientific bases studies are important.

For more of our conversation with Petersen, or to find out what he thinks Washington State University should apologize, check out our podcast:

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