Final signature count: 22,129

22,129 signatures toward our 50,000 goal

Cattle rancher Len McIrvin and the Diamond M Ranch are out for blood. McIrvin is grazing cattle on public state land in wolf territory, on purpose - and the wolves that live there are getting a taste for his cattle. This leads to livestock deaths on both state and private lands, which he then demands the wolves be killed for. McIrvin is responsible for the complete culling of two wolf packs in Eastern Washington State¹.

Twenty-nine of the 34 wolves the state killed in 2020 were exterminated because they had attacked livestock owned by the Diamond M Ranch, which owns a herd of about 1,600 cattle. The McIrvin family pays a fee to the U.S. Forest Service to graze their cattle in the 810,000 acres designated for that purpose by the federal government’s management plan for Colville National Forest².

There are programs in place to prevent livestock depredation and to compensate ranchers for all cattle killed by wolves. The state Department of Agriculture compensates ranchers in full for missing livestock if, after wolves appeared in their area, their losses climbed above their documented historical average³.

McIrvin should not be allowed to refuse this compensation, while taking his own brand of revenge on the wolves.

Chris Bachman, the wildlife program director of the Lands Council, said in a news release, “It is evident at this point, grazing in an area of prime wolf habitat is folly. This is an area where livestock will continue to fall prey to wolves. We need to find effective sustainable solutions. Each time wolves have been removed due to conflicts with Diamond M cattle, more wolves move in to occupy the area. It’s time to try moving the cattle instead⁴.”

Non-lethal methods are a well-studied and effective way to deter wolf attacks^5,6. These types of methods need to be followed by all ranchers. Culling entire packs in wolf territory on state land is obviously not a viable or effective long-term solution.

Help put an end to the senseless and vengeful killing of wolves in Washington. Sign today and tell the Washington State Governor and the director of Washington’s Department of Fish and Wildlife that Washington State must stop killing wolves to appease a single rancher.!