ODFW Targets Two More Wolves in NE Oregon

Concerns mount as state agency aims to kill Alpha male and one other member of Imnaha Pack.

This week, the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW) is tracking the Imnaha wolf pack in northeast Oregon, with orders to kill two of the four wolves. The department says the pack has killed seven domestic cows or calves a year for the past two years, so it intends to shoot the alpha male and a sub-adult wolf, leaving one female and one pup.

The news has angered advocates for wolf recovery, who say ODFW is caving to pressure from the cattle industry. Rob Klavins, wildlands and wildlife advocate with the group Oregon Wild, says recovery efforts have already stalled under management he calls "heavy-handed."

"Once they finish executing this order, Oregon will have killed six wolves on purpose in the last two years. The last number we saw was, Oregon's confirmed wolf population was 17. So, the state is doing more than enough to address the concerns of the livestock industry."

Ranchers also get money from a Livestock Compensation Program for cattle killed by wolves.

Northeastern Oregon is at the heart of the controversy. Some ranchers there have been vocal about wanting to eradicate wolves, although the local tourism industry has received a boost from the Imnaha pack. Wolf-watching tours are making money for small businesses, and Klavins says their interests should be just as important as the ranchers'.

"When the Imnaha pack is taken out, that's a lot of folks who may not be going to northeastern Oregon who wanted to go out there, to see wolves and to see the beautiful landscape that is Oregon's wolf country."

The state's wolf management plan allows ODFW to kill wolves after what is termed "chronic livestock depredation." ODFW Director Roy Elicker says the agency is "working hard to conserve wolves in Oregon, yet be sensitive to the losses suffered by livestock owners."

The wolf management plan is at www.dfw.state.or.us.