SPOKANE, Wash. (AP) — A petition that called for new rules to limit when the state can kill endangered wolves that prey on livestock was rejected Friday by the Washington Fish and Wildlife Commission.

The petition was filed in May by four conservation groups who sought to prevent conflicts that have led to the killing of 31 wolves in the state since 2012.

The conservation groups are the Center for Biological Diversity, Cascadia Wildlands, Western Watersheds Project and WildEarth Guardians.

The groups requested rules that would require ranchers to use non-lethal deterrence measures to prevent conflict in an effort to avoid killing wolves.