Forest Service Sued to Force Protections for Gray Wolves

The U.S. Forest Service failed to study how grazing is affecting gray wolves returning to a Washington national forest, and it’s continuing to turn a blind eye to a ranch that refuses to use measures to avoid conflicts with wolves, environmental groups say in a lawsuit filed Wednesday in a Washington federal court.

WildEarth Guardians, Western Watersheds Project, and the Kettle Range Conservation Group describe Colville National Forest as an “epicenter of wolf-livestock conflicts” in the state.

The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife has killed 31 wolves since 2012. Of those killings, 28 were in response to cattle grazing ...