Police arrest 2 protesters of plan to kill wolves

JONATHAN J. COOPER, Associated Press

Tuesday, September 27, 2011 SALEM, Ore. (AP) — 

Two environmental activists were arrested Tuesday after using U-shaped bicycle locks to attach their necks to the door of the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife offices.
A spokesman for the activists said they were protesting a decision by the wildlife agency to kill two wolves that have preyed on livestock. They were taken into custody on misdemeanor charges of trespassing, disorderly conduct and obstructing governmental administration, said Lt. Gregg Hastings, an Oregon State Police spokesman.
Police removed the door handles before handcuffing the activists, who did not resist arrest, according to cellphone videos shot by other protesters. Police identified the arrested activists as Stephanie Taylor, 28 and Justin Kay, 22.
The Fish and Wildlife department announced last week that it will kill two of the four remaining members of the Imnaha pack, which has been responsible for 14 confirmed livestock kills over the last two years.
"Unfortunately, the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife is greatly swayed by the interests of cattlemen and ranchers," said Tim Hitchins, a spokesman for the Portland Animal Defense League, one of several organizations involved in the protest. "The voices of wildlife activists have been ignored."
Wildlife department spokeswoman Michelle Dennehy said the decision to kill wolves is not made lightly but the agency is working toward long-term wolf conservation, which sometimes requires wolves be killed when they come into consistent conflict with wildlife. She said the wolf kills are authorized by a management plan developed in conjunction with wildlife activists.
Nonlethal measures have not successfully prevented wolves from killing livestock, Dennehy said.
Two other members of the Imnaha pack, the only one of three packs in Oregon that has been tied to livestock attacks, were shot earlier this year. A third kill order was not carried out, and two members of the pack have left Oregon, one going to Idaho and the other to Washington.
State wolf coordinator Russ Morgan has said leaving just two survivors in the Imnaha pack could mean its demise, but he said the overall dispersal of wolves in Oregon is expanding.

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