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0 of 3 Premium Clicks used this month SUBSCRIBE Print + Online Subscriber Activation | Register x Forgot Password | Need an Account? e-edition | subscribe | newsletter | deals Classifieds Jobs Autos Real Estate FEATURED » NEWS NOW Cleveland Ridge fire burning down to its final embers ... Emergency services, Aug. 27 ... Film director James Ivory says Lake of the Woods cabin 'goes back to my earliest memories' ... Cleveland Ridge fire burning down to its final embers ... Emergency services, Aug. 27 ... Film director James Ivory says Lake of the Woods cabin 'goes back to my earliest memories' ... WOLVES Wolf advocates outraged that state preparing to kill wolves 11 of the state's 90 wolves would be exterminated Comment By NICHOLAS K. GERANIOS Associated Press MailTribune.com By NICHOLAS K. GERANIOS Associated Press Posted Aug. 25, 2016 at 6:52 PM By NICHOLAS K. GERANIOS Associated Press Posted Aug. 25, 2016 at 6:52 PM » Social News SPOKANE, Wash. — Some wolf advocates are outraged that the state is preparing for the second time to exterminate an entire wolf pack for preying on livestock in northeastern Washington state. This is the second time in four years that a pack of endangered wolves has received the death penalty because of the grazing of privately owned cattle on publicly owned lands, the Center for Biological Diversity said. Washington is home to about 90 wolves, and killing the 11 members of the Profanity Peak pack would amount to 12 percent of the population. "By no stretch of the imagination can killing 12 percent of the state's tiny population of 90 wolves be consistent with recovery," said Amaroq Weiss, of the Center for Biological Diversity, on Thursday. "We can't keep placing wolves in harm's way by repeatedly dumping livestock onto public lands with indefensible terrain, then killing the wolves when conflicts arise," she said. Last week, the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife announced it would exterminate the Profanity Peak pack in Ferry County. Since mid-July, the agency has confirmed that wolves have killed or injured six cattle and probably five others, based on staff investigations. Jim Unsworth, director of the agency, authorized the wolf hunts between the towns of Republic and Kettle Falls. Wildlife officials shot two pack members Aug. 5, but temporarily ended wolf-removal efforts after two weeks passed without finding any more evidence of wolf predation on cattle. "At that time, we said we would restart this operation if there was another wolf attack, and now we have three," said Donny Martorello, WDFW wolf policy lead. "The department is committed to wolf recovery, but we also have a shared responsibility to protect livestock from repeated depredation by wolves." Since 2008, the state's wolf population has grown from two wolves in one pack to at least 90 wolves and 19 packs. Wolves were hunted to extinction in Washington at the beginning of the last century. Since the early 2000s, they've moved back into the state from neighboring Idaho and British Columbia. That has set off alarm bells from people in rural areas, especially in northeastern Washington where the animals are concentrated. The Department of Fish and Wildlife has walked a fine line between environmental groups, who support wolf recovery, and ranchers who want to protect their herds. The issue has become a dividing line between urban and rural residents. In 2012, hunters hired by the state killed members of the Wedge pack of wolves, in the same general area, for killing livestock. Conservation groups say the livestock is the problem, not wolves. By NICHOLAS K. GERANIOS Associated Press MailTribune.com By NICHOLAS K. GERANIOS Associated Press Posted Aug. 25, 2016 at 6:52 PM » Comment or view comments Reader Reaction » STAY INFORMED Email NewsLetter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. Southern Oregon Directory Featured Businesses Loading... 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