Wolves’ movement through Cascades provides optimism

Wolf recovery in Washington took a crucial step forward last year thanks to the first documented pack in the southern Cascades.

Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife wolf specialist Ben Maletzke said the agency initially spotted a collared wolf breaking away from the Naneum pack and establishing a territory in Klickitat County in December 2021. When another wolf joined in spring 2022, it officially became the Big Muddy Pack, one of 37 packs statewide, according to the WDFW annual report released this month.

“The amount of movement dispersal in the north Cascades gives me hope that we’ll have more wolves moving down through the south Cascades,” Maletzke said. “As a pack forms, then they become more consistent in their movements and they’re easier to find.”

He said the two wolves inhabit a large territory in Klickitat County as the first pack in the Southern Cascades/Northwest Coast region, which represents the area west of Highway 17 and south of Interstate 90 and Highway 395. Some of the pack’s territory falls on the Yakama Reservation, where the Yakama Nation Wildlife Resource Management Program assists the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife’s monitoring and plays a key role in recovery.

Although the agency hasn’t yet confirmed the presence of wolves in Yakima County, it’s expected to be only a matter of time. Maletzke said the agency has several ways to monitor movement of the animals, including cameras set up by Seattle-based nonprofit Conservation Northwest to monitor the reintroduction of fishers that began in 2015.

Wolves began reappearing in Washington 15 years ago, when Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife wildlife managers documented a resident pack in Okanogan County. Since then, the predators’ estimated population has increased every year, raising concerns about how they’ll interact with humans and livestock on the landscape.

Most of those wolves live in the eastern third of the state.