Swannack responds to ‘pro-wolf’ labeling

Whitman County Commissioner Art Swannack Monday issued a response to a March 19 posting on Facebook that contended he is “pro wolf.”

The Swannacks late last year sustained losses to their sheep herd near Lamont and the disappearance of one of their Anatolian guard dogs, Chase, right after the sheep loss.

The March 19 posting, by Chandie Morse Bartell, who wrote she was representing the Washington Residents Against Wolves said:

“Warning! Vote him out!

“Local sources have informed me that Whitman County Commissioner Art Swannack is pro-wolf. He is the sheep farmer that lost sheep in December pastured in stubble fields near the Spokane and Lincoln county borders. A local source had a confrontation with him recently in public in Washington, and Art Swannack replied that ‘wolves need to eat too, and there is a place for them in Washington state!’ His fencing is all being paid for by an NGO organization (most likely Conservation Northwest) to participate in the WDFW non-lethal wolf program. He is also on the board on the WDFW wolf oversight committee.”

Monday, Swannack posted his response on the Washington Residents Against Wolves Facebook page. He also asked them to remove the Bartell posting because it doesn’t have “factually correct information.”

Swannack’s reply:

“I’d be real interested to know who this person claiming to confront me is (as nobody has had a confrontation over wolves with me) and where the supposed quote was from.

“It sure wasn’t from a confrontation as you claim. The fencing is being paid for by us with partial reimbursement from the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) through a program to mitigate wolf damage - just as other cattlemen and shepherds have used.

“I am not on the WDFW wolf oversight committee and don’t like wolves being here, but I am dealing with the damage to my flock as best I can within Washington state and federal law.”

Swannack said he didn’t know the woman who wrote the post and knows very little about the Washington Residents Against Wolves group, except what he found on its Facebook page.