Washington range-rider gets $200,000; Fish and Wildlife wonders how<\/p>\n
Published 11:21 am Friday, November 14, 2025<\/p>\n
The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife was surprised to learn that $200,000 in its budget was reserved for a range-riding entrepreneur known as \u201cThe Wolf Ranger.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Legislature allocated the money last spring for managing wolves in southeast Washington, more specifically for \u201cprojects guarding the respective interests of predators and humans.\u201d<\/p>\n
Fish and Wildlife didn\u2019t request the money and spent months figuring out how to use it. In October, the department learned from the governor\u2019s budget office that it was for Daniel Curry, founder of Project GRIPH.<\/p>\n
GRIPH stands for Guarding the Respective Interests of Predators and Humans \u2014 the same words as in the budget.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey didn\u2019t capitalize the letters of his organization,\u201d Fish and Wildlife North-Central Regional Director Brock Hoenes said. \u201cWe didn\u2019t read it as that organization.\u201d<\/p>\n
It\u2019s unclear who advocated for Curry. \u201cGod knows how it got there,\u201d Fish and Wildlife wolf policy lead Subhadeep Bhattacharjee said.<\/p>\n
Gov. Jay Inslee included funding for Curry in the last budget he submitted to the Legislature before leaving office. It stayed in the budget as lawmakers\u2019 negotiated a final 1,366-page spending plan.<\/p>\n
Curry has been favorably profiled in the media and documentaries. He recently told Cascade PBS he moved to northeast Washington after hearing wolves were shot in 2012 because a ranch \u201clost a bunch of cattle, supposedly.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd nothing was really being done to prevent any of that conflict,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Efforts to reach Curry were unsuccessful. Curry also told Cascade PBS he has been range-riding by himself, but hopes to open a school to train range-riders to patrol in California, Oregon, Washington and Colorado.<\/p>\n
GRIPH offers \u201cactive conservation tours.\u201d For $625, a client can be a range-rider for a day. It\u2019s $1,000 for an overnight trip, according to GRIPH\u2019s website.<\/p>\n
State Sen. Shelly Short, who represents northeast Washington, said Curry, a constituent, contacted her office, saying he heard he had been awarded money.<\/p>\n
Short\u2019s office confirmed with the governor\u2019s budget office that it was true. \u201cI never advocated for that,\u201d Short said. \u201cIt has caught everybody by surprise.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s been super bizarre,\u201d she said. \u201cI think (Curry) is caught in the middle, but I don\u2019t know who got him caught in the middle.<\/p>\n
\u201cI know there are folks in the environmental community who really like his work,\u201d Short said.<\/p>\n
Fish and Wildlife officials told the department\u2019s Wolf Advisory Group on Nov. 13 they don\u2019t know what Curry will do.<\/p>\n
\u201cMaybe one thing to talk about \u2026 is how to make sure it doesn\u2019t turn into a (shoddy) show,\u201d Conservation Northwest policy director Paula Swedeen said. \u201cThat\u2019s a lot of money.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s an odd outcome,\u201d she said.\u00a0\u201cI\u2019m very involved in that kind of stuff, and I have no idea on how that got in there (the budget).\u201d<\/p>\n
The Legislature allocated Fish and Wildlife $780,000 in the two-year budget to manage wolf-livestock conflicts. Project GRIPH will receive more than one-fifth of the total.<\/p>\n
Curry has range-riding experience in northeast Washington, but will receive money for projects in southeast Washington.<\/p>\n
\u201cSending any range-rider into an area where they have absolutely zero knowledge has \u2018zero success\u2019 written all over it,\u201d said Asotin County rancher Samee Charriere.<\/p>\n
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