Photo courtesy of ODFW
Assistant wolf biologist, Roblyn Brown, monitors the Imnaha pack
alpha male as he wakes up from anesthesia May 19, 2011, when he was
fitted with a new collar. That collar quit working on Jan. 25, 2012. A
previous GPS collar also quite working in May 2010.
Capital Press
The Oregon Cattlemen’s Association, environmentalists and state officials have reached a settlement agreement in a case that has prevented the state from killing two problem wolves for nearly two years.
The agreement will allow the state to execute a kill order on wolves from the Imnaha pack in Northeast Oregon after the state confirms the pack’s involvement in one more livestock depredation.
The pack has been involved in more than two dozen livestock depredations in recent years, including more than a dozen since Oct. 5, 2011, when the Oregon Court of Appeals issued an injunction against the kill order.
The state issued the kill order in September 2011 after the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife confirmed wolves from the pack attacked several cows and calves.
The agreement, which still needs legislative approval, also allows for what is known as permit-less take in certain circumstances if a producer catches a wolf in the act of biting or wounding livestock, and, in some cases, when catching a wolf chasing livestock.
The agreement is codified in House Bill 3452, which is scheduled for a May 29 work session before the House Rules Committee.
The agreement also has to be adopted by the Oregon Fish and Wildlife Commission.
The agreement was developed over several meetings between representatives of Gov. John Kitzhaber, the ODFW, cattle producers, Oregon Wild and Cascadia Wildlands.
Rod Childers, wolf committee chairman for the Oregon Cattlemen’s Association, said discussions at times were heated as both sides fought for provisions they felt were necessary.
“It was back and forth,” he said. “Everybody walked away from the table at different times.”
Rob Klavins of Oregon Wild characterized the agreement as “far from perfect.” But, he said: “It requires more transparency from the state and responsibility from the livestock industry.”
“This agreement gets us back to the wolf plan we thought we had in 2005,” said Nick Cady, legal director for Cascadia Wildlands. “Under this agreement, killing wolves should be an option of last resort.”
Childers said the agreement also is far from perfect for ranchers. “But to support our producers,” he said, “we felt we needed to get this thing settled and get management back into ODFW’s hands.”
Childers said he believes the agreement will help producers limit losses to wolves, particularly after the state’s Wolf Conservation and Management Plan reaches Phase 2.
Also, he said adding the "chasing" language to the permit-less take provisions is a significant improvement. The provision allows producers to kill wolves caught chasing livestock in areas where chronic depredation occurs, or where a wolfpack is involved in more than four depredations, if producers have undertaken nonlethal measures to prevent wolf attacks.
“We’ve been trying to get chasing language since 2007, and we finally got it in there,” he said.
Currently producers are prohibited from killing wolves caught attacking livestock unless they have a state-issued permit. Permits are issued only after producers have suffered livestock depredations and undertaken nonlethal measures to prevent additional wolf attacks.
Given the strict protocols, the permits have yet to result in a wolf kill.
Childers praised cattle producers for their patience in the face of repeated wolf attacks to livestock.
“The unsung heroes of this entire process have been the ranchers who have patiently waited for a resolution to this ongoing wolf depredation problem,” Childers said.
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