Suit demands ODFW adhere to wolf plan

A state lawsuit against ODFW, in which Oregon Wild is a litigant, calls for a stricter adherence to wolf conservation plan.

ENTERPRISE — Four environmental groups have filed a lawsuit against the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife seeking to uphold the requirements of the Oregon Wolf Plan. The groups that filed the suit July 12 in Multnomah County Circuit Court are the same plaintiffs involved in the federal lawsuit filed against U.S. Wildlife Services July 1. They are La Grande-based Hells Canyon Preservation Council, Cascadia Wildlands, Oregon Wild and the national Center for Biological Diversity.

“We simply want the state of Oregon to honor the plan to restore gray wolves that was put into place in 2005,’’ said Josh Laughlin of Cascadia Wildlands.

ODFW declined to comment on the lawsuit. But Rod Childers, Oregon Cattlemen’s Association’s wolf committee chairman, said the Oregon Wolf Plan was not created specifically to restore gray wolves.

“The plan is to conserve and manage wolves as they enter Oregon from other states,” Childers said.

Rob Klavins, roadless wildlands advocate for Oregon Wild said, “We went to court because ODFW abandoned the compromised wolf plan in the face of political pressure from special interests who are more interested in seeing dead wolves than maintaining a balanced plan.

“We’re not happy to be in court over this. We would much rather be working constructively with reasonable folks to reduce conflict and ensure healthy wildlife populations. That was the goal of the wolf conservation plan in the first place.”

“This isn’t a case of conservationists being against the plan. Despite our reservations that the plan was weak, we spent the last five years defending it against attacks from folks with no interest in seeing wolves return to the state.”

Oregon’s wolf population is confirmed to total 18 after images of four pups were captured on a trail camera.

“While we’re encouraged to hear the recent news that ODFW has confirmed four new pups from the Imnaha pack, the alpha male is still missing and the loss of two or more adult wolves could significantly disrupt the pack and impair wolf recovery in Oregon,” said Jennifer Schwartz, staff attorney for Hells Canyon Preservation Council. “We are talking about the first successfully breeding pair of wolves in the state in over 60 years. ODFW acted too hastily in authorizing the killing of these endangered wolves and in their haste failed to comply with the requirements of the wolf plan.”

According to the groups, Oregon’s wildlife agency is violating the wolf-management plan by issuing kill permits to Wildlife Services without documentation from the ranchers showing efforts they have taken to avoid livestock depredations through non-lethal means and by authorizing the lethal removal of endangered wolves when circumstances exist that unreasonably attract wolves to the area. This includes allegations that livestock carcass piles were left exposed even after wolves were seen scavenging on carcasses in the area early this spring.

The lawsuit also challenges ODFW for allegedly failing to ensure similar requirements were met prior to issuing lethal take permits to several area landowners.

In a June 16 release from ODFW, Michelle Dennehy, Wildlife Programs communications coordinator, said, “ODFW believes the livestock producers that have a caught-in-the-act permit have been cooperative and reasonable in their nonlethal efforts to deter wolves.’’

Nonlethal steps include burial of carcass piles; radio telemetry monitoring of wolves; use of radio-activated guard boxes; aerial hazing of wolves; the hiring of a wolf technician to haze wolves and monitor wolf activity nightly; and increased human presence around livestock.

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