Anti-wolf campaign posted on billboards

A billboard campaign against wolves in Washington is sparking a debate about whether the animals belong here.

The billboards by Washington Residents Against Wolves call for the state to decrease the wolf population. With a picture of a snarling wolf, the billboards read, “Endangered? No. Dangerous? Yes. Good for Washington? Absolutely Not!”

Four billboards were installed earlier this month in Spokane on Maple, Trent, Pines and Nevada streets, major thoroughfares in the city.

According to the group spokesperson Jamie Henneman, wolves kill livestock, endanger elk populations and pose a threat to the public. Although she said there is some awareness on the impact to livestock, she said the wolf impact is much greater.

Ecologists say that wolves are scared of people and are crucial to wildlife habitat.

Henneman has said that wolves are not native to the area and compete with other predators.

Wildlife officials maintain that the species of gray wolf is the exact species that once thrived in the Pacific Northwest.

Stevens County Cattlemen’s Association this week issued a report of what was described as a hunter stalking incident involving the Smackout pack of wolves near Smackout Road in the Colville area Oct. 30. The elk huner reportedly took a shoot at the wolves in order to avoid being attacked.

He said he saw a black wolf “skirting” him from about 15 yards away. The hunter yelled and waved his arm at the wolf, but the wolf ran in front of the hunter and didn’t retreat when the hunter shot in the air trying to scare it and three more wolves. As a wolf charged, the hunter shot it, hitting it in the shoulder, and the wolf left.

The hunter also gave a statement to Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW).

According to the WDFW there are a minimum of 52 wolves among 13 packs in the state. In 2010, there were less than 20 wolves in the state.

The group which sponsored the billboards is hoping they will prompt discussions about wolves in Washington.

The WDFW website said that wild wolves generally fear and avoid people and rarely pose a threat to human safety.

WDFW’s website also states there have been two wolf-caused human fatalities in North America in the past 60 years.