Once common across most of Washington state, gray wolves (Canis lupus) declined rapidly between 1850 and 1900 as European-American settlers established farms and ranches throughout the region. By the 1930s, hunting, trapping, and poisoning had driven wolves to local extinction in the state. But early this century, thanks to recovering populations in Montana, Idaho, and British Columbia, wolves began making their way back into Washington. According to the state’s Gray Wolf Conservation and Manage

A century ago, gray wolves roamed much of California, Oregon, and Washington. They played a vital role in these wild landscapes — then urbanization, ranching, and government extermination programs wiped them out. But wolves have been making an epic return on the West Coast. In the last 2025 episode of our Sounds Wild podcast, host Vanessa Barchfield talks with the Center’s Amaroq Weiss about how wolves made their comeback and what the future looks like for this iconic species. Listen to the late