Despite some environmental gains, the state legislature failed to fully-fund Fish & Wildlife, undermining conservation programs. Send a message to state lawmakers. By Mitch Friedman, Executive Director The Washington State Legislature adjourned this weekend after passing budget bills in its final hours. While there’s much to celebrate, our natural heritage was dealt a funding setback … Continued
New research highlights the importance of using multiple tactics, from range riders to targeted lethal removal, to reduce and resolve conflicts between wolves and livestock. Key takeaways from recent wolf-livestock research: The science does not support general public wolf hunting as a solution for reducing cattle depredations in areas where wolves and livestock overlap. Wolf-livestock … Continued
Efforts are underway to restore pronghorn to Washington’s sagelands, but fences and habitat fragmentation inhibit the recovery of this native species. By Rose Piccinini, Sagelands Contractor Over the last 15 years, I’ve made the drive from Eastern Washington to central Nevada many times with my family. One of the highlights has always been getting a … Continued
By Leigh Ann Gilmer, Development Director After a near 80-year absence, fishers are back in the North Cascades! This week, we released six fishers into North Cascades National Park Service Complex with our partners from the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, National Park Service, and the Calgary Zoo. Elders, youth, and leaders from the Upper Skagit … Continued
In response to a local op-ed, Bob Everitt, former Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife Regional Director for Northern Puget Sound, wrote the following piece supporting restoration of grizzly bears in the North Cascades. By Bob Everett, wildlife biologist and retired WDFW regional director I am writing to address the concerns Snohomish County Councilman Nate … Continued
Mitch Friedman, our Executive Director, shares insights from serving on the Budget and Policy Advisory Group for the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife. MAY 2019 UPDATE: A setback from Olympia for wildlife and ecosystems BY MITCH FRIEDMAN, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR Washington has not been adequately funding its Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) enough for … Continued
Wildlife protections and healthy rural communities can coexist. BY DAVE WERNTZ, SCIENCE AND CONSERVATION DIRECTOR, AND PAULA SWEDEEN, POLICY DIRECTOR Marbled murrelets, small, plump fast-flying seabirds that nest in old forests along coastal areas, are declining rapidly. Unlike other seabirds, they raise their young on the wide, mossy branches of old trees, flying up to … Continued
Our Wolf Program Lead, a biologist with decades of experience working around wolves, shares perspectives on wolf behavior and how understanding can keep people, pets and wildlife safe. By Jay Shepherd, Ph.D., Wolf Program Lead Now that summer is in full swing and many are out enjoying Washington’s wild places, it’s timely to think about … Continued
Our staff and a supporter recently joined the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife on a pygmy rabbit conservation project in Douglas County. By Chase Gunnell, Communications Director In 2001, as few as 16 pygmy rabbits remained in Washington, teetering on the brink of local extinction due to habitat loss and fragmentation. They are still … Continued
By Paula Swedeen, Ph.D., Policy Director Wolves are making an inspiring comeback in Washington, returning to our state on their own paws from populations in British Columbia, Idaho and Montana beginning around the mid-2000’s. In 2008, Conservation Northwest’s Citizen Wildlife Monitoring Project discovered the first wolf pups born in Washington in nearly a century—the Lookout … Continued