During Tuesday night, a public meeting saw more than 200 Stevens County residents, gathered to voice their concerns on the way the state is adopting to manage wolves in Northeast Washington.

All the people present at the meeting took their turns to the microphone and gave their opinions. Many Washington residents said that they wanted wolves, but majority of them were against it.

The people who voiced against the wolves were the ranchers and other residents of rural northeast Washington. All these people were the ones who had to deal with the impacts of the fast-growing wolf population on daily basis.

The meeting went on for four hours and saw series of arguments. There were some livestock producers telling Department of Fish and Wildlife officials that they couldn't see any way for wolves and livestock to coexist. They said that the wolves were responsible for the killing of their livestock. There were others who said that the department has lost credibility after recent handling of the wolf attacks.

Dave Dashiell, whose sheep sustained repeated attacks in August from the Huckleberry Pack, said the attacks did not stop until he moved his flock of sheep away from the private pasture where they were used to graze.

He said, "There isn't any place in northeast Washington were you can go where there aren't wolves. What about next year? … It's pretty tough to outrun a wolf pack with a band of sheep".

Since 2011, the Washington population of wolves has grown exponentially. Around twelve of the state's 15 wolf packs are clustered in the northeast corner of the state. The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife has referred the whole issue of wolf management as volatile.

This meeting was held to know the public opinion in this context. Theymajority of the residents of Stevens County who attended the meeting were ranchers. They all told the Fish and Wildlife that the wolves threaten their livelihood, and their concerns need to be addressed with seriousness.