Cattle ranching couple faces $3.7 million wetlands restoration fight after federal fine

A Washington cattle-ranching couple has spent three years fighting a $267,540 state penalty and restoration orders they say could cost more than $3.7 million.

Wade and Teresa King, who operate King Ranch in Grant and Douglas counties, argue that the sites are longstanding stockwater ponds for their livestock, while the Washington State Department of Ecology says they damaged naturally occurring wetlands, including rare alkali wetlands.The dispute began in February 2023, when Ecology fined the Kings and ordered restoration work near Park Lake in Grant County.

In January 2025, the agency issued a second order involving 11 additional wetlands in neighboring Douglas County, bringing the total number of affected sites to 34.What Ecology says happenedEcology’s investigation found that the Kings excavated, recontoured and placed fill in 6.37 acres of naturally occurring wetlands in Grant County.