PULLMAN — A controversial wolf researcher will accept a $300,000 settlement to leave Washington State University, the school said.
Robert Wielgus, director of the Carnivore Conservation Lab, sued the Pullman school for infringement of his academic freedom.
Wielgus angered ranchers with his research of wolf behavior. He concluded the state’s policy of killing wolves that preyed on cattle was likely to increase cattle predation because it destabilized the structure of wolf packs.
Ranchers complained to the Washington State Legislature, which cut Wielgus’ funding and demanded he be removed as principal investigator on his ongoing work.
Wielgus then filed a lawsuit alleging the university punished him to placate politicians beholden to ranchers.
The Seattle Times reported Tuesday that WSU administrators became worried the dispute would hurt chances for funding its new medical school.
“If wolves continue to go poorly, there won’t be a new medical school,” Dan Coyne, lobbyist for WSU, wrote to another WSU lobbyist, according to emails obtained by the newspaper through a public information request.
The settlement will be paid from the state insurance liability account.
The lawsuit was filed with the assistance of PEER, or Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility.
Jeff Ruch, executive director of PEER, said the case showed that Washington had politicized its wolf policy.
“Rob published in very prestigious journals. You would think they would be proud of him and have his back,” Ruch said of WSU administrators. “Instead they had a knife in his back.”
The university issued a statement on Monday.
“Washington State University and Dr. Rob Wielgus have reached an agreement under which Dr. Wielgus will resign at the end of the spring 2018 semester and release all claims and employment rights in exchange for two payments totaling $300,000, with funds coming from the state,” the university said. “In reaching this agreement, neither party acknowledges any wrongdoing. Both parties view this as an opportunity to sever the employment relationship on mutually acceptable terms, while resolving disputed legal claims.”
While Wielgus’ research indicated wolf kills of cattle are rare, the return of the gray wolf to Washington this century has been met with fierce resistance by some ranchers.
Washington has about 120 known wolves in 22 packs, mostly in the northeastern corner of the state. The state has engaged in the killing of problem wolves, which has outraged conservation groups.
