Washington Gray Wolf Conservation and Management 2023 Annual Report
From Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife:
Each year, the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) submits a report to the federal government for Endangered Species Act (ESA) Section 6 activities. This document details the results of its annual gray wolf (Canis lupus) population survey and summarizes wolf recovery and management activities from the previous year.
Washington’s wolf population was virtually eliminated in the 1930s but has rebounded since 2008, when a resident pack was documented in Okanogan County. Since then, the number of wolves has increased to a minimum of 260 wolves reported in 2023. Packs range across public and private land in Ferry, Stevens, and Pend Oreille counties in the northeast corner of the state and Asotin, Garfield, Columbia, and Walla Walla counties in southeast Washington, and increasing numbers are present in Okanogan, Chelan, and Kittitas counties in the Northern Cascades Recovery area. Although the first pack to recolonize the South Cascades and Northwest Coast recovery region only had one wolf during the year end counts in 2023, we have observed multiple collared wolves cross I-90 in the last year, which likely means it is only a matter of time before new packs begin to establish in that recovery region.
