From: http://www.projectcoyote.org/

You may have heard the tragic news that a coyote hunter reportedly killed the lone female gray wolf who made international headlines when she showed up just north of the Grand Canyon- the first wolf to appear in that region in decades. This devastating news is all the more reason why we need to redouble our efforts to stop the wanton wide-scale killing of predators like coyotes, foxes, wolves and bobcats. It is simply not justified in this day and age.

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It may be weeks before additional testing reveals whether the wolf killed in Utah is the same one, which was nicknamed Echo…

Echo was the first gray wolf seen in the Grand Canyon since the 1940s, when the last wolf there was killed as part of an extensive eradication campaign, said Chris Cline with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

Meanwhile, from: http://www.capitalpress.com/Washington/20141231/olympia-2015-wolves-water-and-taxes-top-ag-agenda

…While lawmakers are in session, the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife is expected to update its wolf count. The census may spark talk about how to manage the animals when they are no longer listed as endangered under federal or state law, said Moses Lake Republican Judy Warnick, the incoming chairwoman of the Senate Agriculture, Water and Rural Economic Committee.

“The more they spread, the more willing people will be to have these discussions,” she said.

Kretz needled wolf advocates in 2013 with a bill proposing to relocate wolves close to Seattle. The legislation never got a hearing, but it succeeded in getting people talking, Kretz said.

This year, Kretz said he may propose regional delisting, releasing wolf-populated regions of Washington from the state’s wolf recovery plan.

Such a move would ease growing tensions between state wildlife managers and eastside counties, he said.

“I seriously hope I could get it done,” Kretz said.

He would have to find sympathetic westside Democrats. But even sympathy may not translate into votes. House Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee Chairman Brian Blake faulted the state plan for requiring wolves to be spread through the state before being considered “recovered” in any region.

“The folks in north-central Washington are being eaten out of house and home with no potential delisting in sight,” Blake, D-Aberdeen, said.

Still, Blake warned that amending the wolf-recovery plan could invite lawsuits.

“If we legislatively start pulling it apart, that, in my opinion, leaves us open to bigger problems,” he said. “I think you’re going to see potential for active management once the state population is delisted.”

The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife estimates that won’t happen until at least 2021.

More: http://www.capitalpress.com/Washington/20141231/olympia-2015-wolves-water-and-taxes-top-ag-agenda