Oregon Officials Preparing For Wolves

October 11, 2002
By Rachel Odell
The Bulletin (Bend, Oregon)

PORTLAND - State officials preparing for wolves migrating into Eastern Oregon must seek extensive public involvement in creating a wold management plan or the predators will never survive, several experts said on Thursday.

Speaking to the Oregon Fish and Wildlife Commission, wolf biologists from Minnesota, Montana, Wisconsin and Wyoming said public acceptance can require killing wolves that continually prey on livestock or harass people. Moreover, Oregon could imitate what some states have done and establish specific zones to classify levels of tolerance for wolves. For example, Wisconsin officials have divided the state into four zones, with the most wild and rugged area as zone 1 and the urban, industrialized southern portion of the state as zone 2, said Adrian Wydeven, wolf biologist for the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources.

Although packs of wolves have yet to establish territories in Oregon, officials speculate that migrating animals from Idaho will soon roam into eastern Oregon.

State Fish and Wildlife officials will hold a series of 14 town hall meetings in November and December to solicit public comments about the best way to manage wolves and to educate people about the wild canine. Officials will put those comments into a final report for the Fish and Wildlife Commission, which will eventually be responsible for drafting a wolf management plan. The Bend meeting will take place at 7 p.m. Nov. 20 at the National Guard Armory, 875 SW Simpson Ave.

Since gray wolves from Canada were released into Yellowstone National Park and Idaho in 1995, the animals' presence in the Rocky Mountain states has generated heated controversy, opposition and glee. Wolf populations have grown exponentially, and most available territories in the "reintroduction areas" are full.

Doug Smith, wolf recovery project leader in Yellowstone, told the commission they were in a special, but potentially uncomfortable, situation. "There are few places left where the guild of carnivores can be left to live on the wild prey available," he said. "You're in a unique situation. But it's not going to be easy." Wolves can displace other predators like cougars and also eat sheep and cattle. However, the wolves in the greater Yellowstone area have killed less livestock than officials originally estimated they would, Smith said. Since 1995, wolves have been confirmed to have killed 37 cattle and 202 sheep. By contrast, the management plan under which wolves were released into the park anticipated they would kill 40 cattle alone in 2001.

However, some ranchers in the wolf recovery area complain more cattle have been killed and eaten by wolves before they could get a positive identification on the livestock's cause of death.

David Mech, senior research scientist with the U.S. Geological Survey, said wolf populations increase quickly because females will have about six pups per litter, and the animals tend to breed every year. To manage that growth, Mech agreed that states should establish habitat zones and eventually permit hunting of problem wolves. "It is easy to direct public harvesting when there are problem wolves, but I would not do a general harvest," Mech said. Officials would have to kill 50 percent of the population to curb population growth, he said.

Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife Biologist Mark Henjum said his agency has been bombarded with questions of whether wolves threaten human safety, ranching and hunting.

Aggression from wolves toward humans is rare, Smith said. Sometimes wolf-dog hybrids attack people, but those instances are also rare.

In Minnesota, where wolves have thrived throughout the 20th century, people often recreate in forests where the animals live, Mech said. "A wolf is a wild carnivore, like a bear," he said. "But no one should be afraid to go into a forest where there are wolves."

Wolves in Idaho, Montana and Wyoming are considered "non-essential, experimental," a special classification under the federal Endangered Species Act that allows managers special flexibility to kill and harass problem wolves.

Minnesota wolves are considered threatened. All other wolves are classified as endangered, which affords them special protection. Federal officials plan to downgrade wolves' status to "threatened" this year, but opponents say they may try to block those attempts. Meanwhile, federal officials also want to remove the wolves in the recovery area - Montana, Wyoming and Idaho - from the endangered species list entirely. Once removed from the endangered species list, wolves will fall under state management.

Oregon Fish and Wildlife Commission Chairman John Esler said he is "cautiously optimistic" about public acceptance of wolves in Oregon and the state's commitment to manage them. "I think we will have those who want them, and those who don't," he said. "But for the most part, we will get begrudging acceptance."