Welcome home, stranger

The recent discovery of a pair of wolf tracks in Northeastern Oregon has the Oregonian editorial board thinking romance.

Sitting around the campfire, howling at the moon. It's a rite of Oregon backcountry passage, one -- we're delighted to say -- that may no longer be necessary.

The wolves are back.

Here to howl for us.

Lots of people seem to think wolves have been extinct in Oregon for 100 years. Not exactly. The state still was paying a bounty on wolf pelts in 1946. As sheepherding and cattle ranching spread across the West, the slaughter of the predators was encouraged. By 1974, when the federal government finally brought them under the protection of the Endangered Species Act, no wolf had been seen in Oregon for 20 years.

Turns out, we missed their company.

In 1995, when 15 Canadian wolves were reintroduced to Idaho, Oregon launched what might best be called a passive repatriation plan. The key component of that strategy was the Snake River. Folks figured one day an Idaho wolf would swim across. Folks were right.

A female wolf was spied in Oregon in 1999. She's made it as far west as John Day. Three years later, a wolf was killed by a vehicle on Interstate 84. Another was found shot near Pendleton. This week we got word that wildlife officials confirmed finding the tracks of two wolves paired up about 20 miles north of Baker City. It's far from certain they're a breeding pair, but we confess we're holding out hope. Breeding season isn't until spring; that's plenty of time for romance to bloom.

Wolves have done well in Idaho. The population there now numbers almost 800. Early next year, the federal government may delist the species as endangered. Hunting tags may not be far behind. Any such change would have little effect in Oregon, where wolves would immediately fall under the protection of Oregon's Endangered Species Act and the state's wolf management plan. That plan has not yet set any maximum wolf populations for the state, but officials anticipate fewer than 100 wolves in 2017.

That's because wolves, as large, secretive carnivores, have shown little propensity for adapting to human contact. And human culture has impressed such a huge footprint upon Oregon -- far more than in neighboring Idaho -- that wildlife officials expect slow growth for the wolf population here.

We might also mention that, in the manner of such other large carnivores as bears and cougars, wolves self-regulate. That's a polite way of saying that, when the going gets rough, they eat each other.

Scotland, where wolves have been extinct since about 1680, is thinking of reintroducing them as a tourist attraction. That bit about how they eat each other . . . it may not make it into the travel brochure.