Wolves are a keystone predator that plays a valuable and important role in the health of our ecosystems. After nearly being eradicated in the early 1900s, the gray wolf (Canis lupus), a native Washington species, has naturally returned to our state. A wolf pack with pups was confirmed in July 2008 in western Okanogan and northern Chelan counties and represented the first fully documented breeding by wolves in the state since the 1930s! Since then, the state’s wolf population has increased at an average rate of around 23% every year – 5% in 2022 – and many other wolf packs have been confirmed.

In the latest annual census of wolves in Washington State, the Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) reports the following good news for wolf recovery:

• Washington has a minimum of 216 wolves in the state at the end of 2022, compared to 209 in 2021,…