The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife is moving forward with a plan to kill an entire pack of wolves -- several of which are pups -- after several recent attacks on livestock, officials announced last week.

The Profanity Peak pack roams in Ferry County, in the northeast corner of the state. A dead calf found Friday was confirmed to have been killed by the pack and two others were thought to be victims of the Profanity Peak wolves.

Two members of the pack were killed earlier this month after a spate of attacks, but officials said they would be happy to leave the remaining wolves alone, provided there were no more attacks. With the discovery of several more dead, calves, however, the department said it needed to take action.

"At that time, we said we would restart this operation if there was another wolf attack, and now we have three," Donny Martorello, the lead for the state's wolf policy, said in a statement. "The department is committed to wolf recovery, but we also have a shared responsibility to protect livestock from repeated depredation by wolves."

The wolf population in Washington has made a resounding comeback after once being nearly extinct in the state. In 2008, there was just one pack comprised of two animals, but as of early this year, there were at least 90 wolves in at least 19 distinct groups, officials said.

Ranchers are required to take preventative measures to try to prevent wolf attacks, including hiring riders to watch over their cattle. They're also encouraged to put calves out to pasture when they're older and better able to deter an attack. Measures like this need to be tried before the state will authorize lethal action.

Wolves need to be confirmed responsible for four or more attacks in a given year, or six in two years; one of those events must be fatal; the state must believe that the attacks will continue without any action; and the public must be notified of the pack's activities and apprised of possible management scenarios.

Only then can the state kill the animals

Mortarello said that eliminating the entire pack -- which consisted of at least six adults and five pups earlier this year -- could prove difficult as their natural habitat is made up of rugged and wooded terrain.

With the wolves on the rebound, the state is tasked with the difficult job of maintaining a balance between the natural population of the animals and the cattle ranchers who are forced to share the space they both need to thrive.

"Maintaining public tolerance for wolves sometimes requires lethal measures," Jim Unsworth, director of the state wildlife agency, said in a statement earlier this year.

Still, killing any members of a species that once came so close to extinction does not sit well with everyone. Roger Dobson, a Cowlitz tribal elder with Protect The Wolves, a group that advocates for the animals, sent a cease and desist letter to Mortarello demanding the wolves be spared. In the letter, Dobson alleged that the owner of the livestock had been careless with his animals.

"This particular rancher is a proven repeat offender of placing his livestock in harm's way for the last three years," Dobson write in the letter. "It is not the fault of our sacred animals, they did not ask to have their home range invaded by careless livestock owners."

Mortarello did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the letter and the actions of the livestock owner.

A joint statement issued by Wolf Haven International, the Humane Society of the United States, Defenders of Wildlife and Conservation Northwest called the removal of the wolves "regrettable," but noted that the decision had been made by Washington State's Wolf Advisory Group, which represents stakeholders from both the ranching community and wolf conservation advocates.

"We remain steadfast that our important goals remain the long-term recovery and public acceptance of wolves in our state alongside thriving rural communities," the statement read. "In the meantime, we ask our community and the citizens of Washington State and beyond to engage in respectful and civil dialogue as we work through these challenging events."

-- Kale Williams

kwilliams@oregonian.com

503-294-4048