Updates:

January , 2012 - 

As expected, Oregon Cattlemen's Association and anti-wildlife interests team up with political allies to introduce yet another wolf kill bill. On the same day that Oregon Wild announces winners in the kids naming and art contest for the wolf known as Journey, the first known photo of the history-making wolf surface in the Medford Mail Tribune.  (Find past updates here)

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• Click here for all the most current wolf news 

Wolves in Oregon:

Gray wolves (Canis lupus) were once common in Oregon, occupying most of the state. However, a deliberate effort to eradicate the species was successful by the late 1940s.

Trouble for wolves began before Oregon even became a state. In 1843 the first wolf bounty was established and Oregon's first legislative session was called in part to address the "problem of marauding wolves". By 1913, people could collect a $5 state bounty and an Oregon State Game Commission bounty of $20. The last recorded wolf bounty was paid out in 1947.

After an absence of over half a century, wolves began to take their first tentative steps towards recovery. Having dispersed from Idaho, the native species is once again trying to make a home in Oregon. One of the first sightings came in 1999 when a lone wolf was captured near the middle fork of the John Day River, put in a crate and quickly returned to Idaho. In 2000, two wolves were found dead - one killed by a car, the other illegally shot.

In 2006, a flurry of sightings led state wildlife biologists to believe that a number of wild wolves were living in Northeast Oregon near the Wallowa Mountains and the Eagle Cap Wilderness. In May of 2007 a wolf was found shot to death near La Grande, OR.

After that sad chapter, wolves began to establish a fragile foothold in the state.  In July, 2008 pups were confirmed to a wolf named Sophie by the Oregon Wild wolf pack (and B-300) to government biologists. Those pups represented the first in Oregon nearly 60 years!  A second set of six pups were confirmed and videotaped in November, 2009. The following July, a third litter of pups was confirmed.

Unfortunately, the news was tempered with additional poaching and heavy-handed state management. After peaking at 26 confirmed wolves, wolf recovery stalled out in 2011. While some wolves dispersed from the Imnaha Pack, only one pup was confirmed to Oregon's first pack, and two pups were confirmed in one of the states other two packs (the Walla-Walla & Wenaha). Oregons' confirmed wolf population fell to  fell to 17 and then to 14 when the state killed three more wolves (two on purpose) and poachers killed a fourth.

In 2011, wolves in Eastern Oregon lost their federal protections due to an unprecedented congressional budget rider sponsored by Montana Senator John Tester. Hours later,  Oregon used their new authority to kill two wolves and issue dozens of landowner kill permits at the request of the livestock industry. Meanwhile, anti-wildlife interests and their political allies pushed over half a dozen bills in Salem aimed at making it easier to kill wolves and undermine wolf recovery. Most of the bills were defeated, but a compensation fund and new predator killing fund were approved.

Wolf hunts in nearby states - including a quotaless hunting and trapping season in Idaho - also threaten the region's fragile recovery.

The large tracts of pristine and unspoiled Wilderness and roadless areas in Northeast Oregon are vital components to the successful recovery of wolves and other wildlife too. The re-appearance of wolves, wolverines, and other endangered wildlife in Oregon further underscores the importance of protecting those roadless areas that remain on public land.

Anticipating the eventual return of wolves, the State of Oregon completed a wolf conservation and management plan in 2005 aimed at making rational decisions in the light of day that would lead to wolf recovery. Though state polling put support for wolf recovery at over 70%, the plan was weak, allowed the state to kill wolves, and set scientifically indefensible recovery goals.

Even so, the plan was actively opposed by the Oregon Cattleman's Association. They argued in their minority report that "wolves are being used as a biological weapon" and that wolves are a non-native species that citizens should have the right to shoot without permits.

Oregon Wild and other conservationists generally - if reluctantly - agreed to honor the compromise embodied in the plan. Most believed that lethal control would be an option of last resort and conservation would be a priority (our original testimony on the plan is here). After the state shot two young wolves in response to the first livestock depredations in over half a century, it was clear the state was willing to address the concerns of the livestock industry by killing wolves.

In 2010, the plan was reviewed and revised. The public process took the better part of a year and demonstrated that support for wolf recovery had grown. Over 90% of a staggering 20,000 public comments were in favor of stronger protections for Oregon's endangered gray wolves. Oregon Wild joined other conservationists and the Oregon public in defending the plan against continued attacks. Though the plan survived relatively intact, most of the approved changes made it easier to kill wolves. 

For many, wolves are a symbol of freedom, wilderness, and the American West, and Oregon's wolf country contains some of the most spectacular landscapes in the world. Science continues to demonstrate the positive impacts of wolves on the landscape and the critical role played by big predators, and interest in their return is fueling tourism in Oregon's wolf country and elsewhere in the west.

Still, wolves are threatened by a purposeful campaign of misinformation and fear. This webpage that shoots down many of the common myths about wolves. A small number of vocal anti-wolf activists along with industry lobbyists and their political allies continue to work to undermine already weak protections for wolves and other wildlife.

For a state that prides itself on its green reputation, the extermination of wolves is one of our greatest environmental tragedies. Their return represents an opportunity at redemption.

Most Oregonians value native wildlife and believe wolves have a rightful place on the landscape. We are happy to know the silence of a hike in the Eagle Cap might be broken by the lonely howl of a wolf. If that howl is to remain, it's critical that those who value wolves and other native wildlife stand up and speak up on their behalf.

Watch the videos!

Living with wolves

• Watch an OPB special on the story of Oregon's wolves
  
• Learn about a rancher blazing a trail of coexistence
  

More information about wolves

• Common misconceptions about wolves cleared up
• The most recent wolf news
• Follow the historic journey of OR7
  
• USFWS fact sheet on gray wolves
• Background information from the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife
• Gray Wolf and other native Oregon wildlife profiles
  
• A scientific assessment of western wolf delisting
  
• Learn about wolves from the Western Wolf Coalition

Take Action!

• Tell state legislators to oppose the most recent wolf kill bill
  
• Tell Gov. Kitzhaber to oppose the most recent wolf kill bill
  
• Write a letter to the Governor supporting ODFW's wolf recovery efforts.
• Write a letter to the editor supporting wolf recovery
• Stay informed and engaged.  Join the Oregon Wild Wolf Pack.
  

Just for Kids!