FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Lawsuit Filed to Stop Unlawful Killing of Endangered Wolves in Oregon

Conservation groups file a lawsuit to stop the unlawful killing of two of Oregon's 23 confirmed wolves. The kill order was announced by US Fish and Wildlife Services in response to livestock depredations

In 2008, Oregon's wolf population stood at 14. This Oregon wolf and its partner were killed by wildlife managers in an action that appears to have been consistent with Oregon's wolf plan. Though lamented, the move was not opposed by conservationists.

Four conservation groups today moved to stop the killing of two wolves from the Imnaha Pack in eastern Oregon. They filed suit in federal court against the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, which has ordered and plans to carry out the killing of two wolves from the pack in response to a late April wolf kill of a calf. Cascadia Wildlands, Hells Canyon Preservation Council, Center for Biological Diversity and Oregon Wild brought the suit, arguing that the Fish and Wildlife Service has not conducted the necessary environmental review to kill wolves in Oregon and that such killing violates the federal Endangered Species Act which, at least for the time being, still protects Oregon’s wolves.

“Oregon is big enough for people and wolves,” said Greg Dyson with the La Grande-based Hells Canyon Preservation Council. “The Fish and Wildlife Service is acting too hastily in moving to kill these wolves before exhausting other management options. We were left with no choice but to protect wolves in court.”

Wolves have only begun to recover in Oregon with fewer than 25 wolves in two packs. Despite their small numbers, Oregon wolves will be removed from federal Endangered Species Act protection very soon under a congressional rider attached to the budget bill funding the government for the remainder of 2011.

“Oregon’s struggling wolf population cannot sustain these killings,” said Noah Greenwald, endangered species program director at the Center for Biological Diversity. “The killing of these two wolves highlights why Congress should not meddle in complex scientific decisions over the management of our nation’s endangered species. Oregon wolves are nowhere near recovered and continue to need protection.”

The kill order stems from a wolf depredation of a calf last weekend, another in February, and six cattle depredations in May and June 2010 attributed to the Imnaha Pack. Nonlethal measures to keep wolves away from livestock – including fencing, a range rider, hazing and cleanup of livestock carcasses – are being used and appear to have some success. It is also notable that ranchers are compensated for livestock losses to wolves, which is not the case with the far more common occurrence of other predators taking livestock. In 2005, for example, domestic dogs killed 700 sheep and cows in Oregon, according to the National Agricultural Statistics Service. 

“There is no basis for concluding that randomly killing two wolves from the pack will have any effect on the likelihood of further livestock depredations,” said Josh Laughlin of Cascadia Wildlands. “Over Sixty years ago, we completed a sad chapter in our history by killing the last wolf in Oregon.  Today, we’re fighting in court to ensure that we do not repeat that history.”

To further challenge wolves in Oregon, a series of bills have been introduced into the legislature that would weaken protections for the species and make it easier to kill them. Conservation groups have recently testified in opposition to these bills and are working to support a bill that would fairly compensate ranchers for lost livestock attributed to wolves. The bill would also set up a pro-active fund to make available to ranchers non-lethal tools to head off wolf-livestock conflict. 

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Statement of Oregon Wild Wildlands Advocate, Rob Klavins:

"This kill order randomly targets any two wolves of Oregon's Imnaha Pack. That is not wildlife management, it is retribution. It appears that anti-wildlife interests continue to press for killing wolves as the solution to any conflict. The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service seems eager to appease those interests as quickly as possible. The formality of federally delisting wolves is imminent, and it would appear this process is being rushed so the wolves can be killed before authority reverts back to the state - who would have to undertake a more credible, transparent, and thorough process before issuing such kill permits.

 

"In 2008, at a time when Oregon's wolf population stood at 14 confirmed wolves, a pair of wolves was accurately identified as repeatedly attacking livestock. Conservationists, including Oregon Wild, did not oppose the killing of those wolves per the state wolf plan. In today's case, USFWS has not demonstrated to the public that they have any information about what wolves were involved, or other details of these incidents including whether sufficient non-lethal preventative measures were fully implemented in the area where these depredations occurred. 

 

"Wolves were hunted to extinction in Oregon when wildlife managers put politics and fear ahead of good science. Wolves continue to be the subject of a campaign of purposeful misinformation and fear. Killing the wrong wolves is likely to cause many more problems than it solves, and with only 23 confirmed wolves in the state (and perhaps some pups in their dens), the stakes are high. Decisions like this should not be done in a rushed and random fashion. Doing so only repeats the mistakes of the past and continues unnecessary conflict and distrust of the agencies entrusted with ensuring healthy populations of native wildlife."

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