Yearling Wolf OR-16, a member of Oregon’s Walla Walla pack , was slain January 19, 2013 in the bloody Idaho wolf hunt
Update: May 5, 2013
While we’re mourning the death of OR-5, remember Oregon’s Walla Walla Pack yearling wolf OR-16, was also slaughtered in Idaho’s wolf hunt in January of this year. That makes three Oregon collared wolves wiped out in Idaho. Anyone think collaring wolves is a good thing? Interesting how collared wolves are targeted so easily. As Bob Dylan famously wrote, “You don’t need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows”!
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January 25, 2013
Here’s the convo from an anti-wolf Facebook page laughing about OR-16′s death. This is what these freaks find funny, the death of a yearling wolf.
Too bad it didn’t get shot. So much for the whole family thing the wolf humpers claim.
Larry O. Hopefully he will stay in Idaho long enough to get angel wings. With that black hide he will make a great rug.
Bill K If us pushing that wolf back over to be shot in idaho works.. we willc ontinue to push many more back for the shooters. hell we will even pay for the ammo. ha ha ha ha.
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January 24, 2013
I might as well be a funeral director, that’s all I seem to be doing is reporting on dead wolves.
OR-16, a beautiful black yearling Oregon wolf, who made the terrible mistake of crossing the Snake River into the killing fields of Idaho, was slaughtered for nothing last Saturday in the deadly Idaho wolf hunt. There was talk he and other collared Oregon wolves were being targeted.
I don’t know about you but I’ve had enough of this insanity. I’m not planning on sitting on my hands this year and watching the carnage continue. Enough is enough. The wolf killers are rubbing our faces in it but their hubris will be their downfall because wolf advocates are more upset than I’ve ever seen them.
The anti wolf crowd thinks they hold all the cards but they forget they are the minority and we are the majority. It’s just a matter of waking up the sleeping masses. The killing of collared wolves, who many people identify with, is mobilizing the troops. The killing of Yellowstone’s Lamar Canyon alpha female O6 and her beta male 754 and many other collared wolves, including OR-9, brother to famous wolf OR-7 and now OR-16, has people hopping mad. Not because these wolves are more important than the almost 1000 wolves who’ve been slaughtered since August 30, 2012 but because they are well-known, have numbers and have been written about. People identify with them and their deaths are sparking outrage. The pro-wolf movement is ready to stand and fight.
Rest in Peace OR-16, beautiful boy. You were just a yearling, never having a chance to live your life. But you will not be forgotten. This is a rallying cry to all who love wolves. The time for lamenting is over. It’s time to take action and work to see wolves relisted. For all who are frustrated with the ineffective actions of the past, several other wolf advocates and myself are plotting a new path, one we hope will change the dynamic of this fight.
For the wolves, For OR-16,
Nabeki
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Oregon Wolf Gunned Down in Idaho
Oregon conservationists lament killing, highlight contrasting approaches to wolf management and wildlife conservation.
Tags: Bloody Idaho wolf hunt, OR !6, Walla Walla pack , Oregon wolves, wolf slaughter, relist wolves, Endangered Species act. wolves need protection, killing out of control, states cannot manage wolves, conflict of interest, trophy hunting sadistic
Sweet girl, OR-5, being collared in February 2010. She was caught in a leg hold trap, in the wolf killing state of Idaho, at the end of March 2013. She’s the second sibling of OR-7 to die in Idaho.
Iconic Oregon wolf, OR-7, made the right decision when he left his natal pack, the Imnaha’s, and headed west, away from Idaho but his two siblings, OR-9 and OR-5 weren’t so lucky. His brother OR-9 was killed by an Idaho hunter with an expired wolf tag, in other words the wolf was poached. It’s always such a big deal when elk are killed out of season or with expired tags but wolves are treated as if their lives are worth nothing.
And so the sad story of OR-7′s family continues with the death of his sister OR-5, pictured above. She originally dispersed to the Blue Mountains in Washington state, I wish she’d stayed there.
“A yearling female wolf from Oregon’s Imnaha Pack trotted into Washington’s Blue Mountains last month.
According to ODFW’s January wolf management update, OR-5, an animal that hadn’t been heard from since late November, “was discovered in the north Blue Mountains of Washington by WDFW personnel on 1/20/11.”
Five days later, “A subsequent flight by ODFW visually confirmed the young female wolf had dispersed and is now in Washington. This is the first evidence of dispersal from this pack,” says ODFW”…..northwest sportsmen
Unfortunately she left the Blue Mountains and ended up in Idaho during wolf trapping season. Another wolf life snuffed out in the cruelest of ways, caught in a leg hold trap. It’s heart breaking she had to suffer and die for nothing. Trapping is torture, banned in 89 countries but in the backward Northern Rockies, it claims the lives of innocent animals, like this little wolf.
“Crossing the border into Idaho was a death sentence for this wolf,” said Amaroq Weiss, the west coast wolf organizer for the Center for Biological Diversity. “What a heartbreaking paradox — one wolf from this pack, OR-7, is world-renowned and beloved, while his sister OR-5 died a lonely, terribly painful death in a steel-jawed leghold trap.”….
The Idaho perpetual wolf hunt has now claimed the lives of two of OR-7′s siblings, who innocently don’t understand boundaries and crossed into that wolf killing state where their lives were taken.
As the USFWS prepares to delist wolves across the lower 48, we have to fight back against the tyranny being perpetrated against them.
OR-5 and OR-9 didn’t deserve what happened to them and neither did the thousands of wolves who’ve lost their lives since the Obama Administration declared war against them.
The three-year-old gray wolf, known as OR-5, left the Imnaha pack in Oregon just like her brother, OR-7, who roamed more than 2,000 miles through California before crossing back into Oregon on March 13. The sister went the other way, crossing into Idaho, where she got caught in a foothold trap March 30 on the next-to-last day of the Idaho trapping season.
This wolf skin was recovered by the Peninsula Humane Society
“Crossing the border into Idaho was a death sentence for this wolf,” said Amaroq Weiss, the west coast wolf organizer for the Center for Biological Diversity. “What a heartbreaking paradox — one wolf from this pack, OR-7, is world-renowned and beloved, while his sister OR-5 died a lonely, terribly painful death in a steel-jawed leghold trap.”
Federal Endangered Species Act protections were rescinded for wolves in the northern Rockies in 2011, prompting what Weiss characterized as a hunting frenzy. More than 800 wolves have been killed in Idaho, Montana and Wyoming since then, reducing the wolf population 7 percent.
The brother of the California wolf, OR-9, was killed last year by an Idaho hunter, one of several radio-collared wolves that, instead of providing valuable research, became hunting trophies.The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service plans to remove protections for gray wolves over the rest of the United States, including Oregon and California, according to a draft rule obtained by the Chronicle last week.
Yearling Wolf OR-16, a member of Oregon’s Walla Walla pack , was slain Saturday, January 19 , 2013 in the bloody Idaho wolf hunt
January 25, 2013
Here’s a convo from an anti-wolf Facebook page laughing about OR-16′s death. This is what they find funny, the death of a yearling wolf.
Too bad it didn’t get shot. So much for the whole family thing the wolf humpers claim.
Larry O. Hopefully he will stay in Idaho long enough to get angel wings. With that black hide he will make a great rug.
Bill K If us pushing that wolf back over to be shot in idaho works.. we willc ontinue to push many more back for the shooters. hell we will even pay for the ammo. ha ha ha ha.
===
I might as well be a funeral director, that’s all I seem to be doing is reporting on dead wolves.
OR-16, a beautiful black yearling Oregon wolf, who made the terrible mistake of crossing the Snake River into the killing fields of Idaho, was slaughtered for nothing last Saturday in the deadly Idaho wolf hunt. There was talk that he and other collared Oregon wolves were being targeted. I remember reading a convo between wolf haters stating the plan was to try and shuttle as many Oregon wolves into Idaho as possible (wish I could find the quote, I’d gladly post it here.) That’s the mind-set we’re dealing with. Shame on the federal government for turning these wolves over to their mortal enemies to be tortured and killed.
I don’t know about you but I’ve had enough of this insanity. I’m not planning on sitting on my hands this year and watching the carnage continue. Enough is enough. The wolf killers are rubbing our faces in it but their hubris will be their downfall because wolf advocates are more upset than I’ve ever seen them.
The anti wolf crowd thinks they hold all the cards but they forget they are the minority and we are the majority. It’s just a matter of waking up the sleeping masses. The killing of collared wolves, who many people identify with, is mobilizing the troops. The killing of Yellowstone’s Lamar Canyon alpha female O6 and her beta male 754 and many other collared wolves, including OR-9, brother to famous wolf OR-7 and now OR-16, has people hopping mad. Not because these wolves are more important than the almost 1000 wolves who’ve been slaughtered since August 30, 2012 but because they are well-known, have numbers and have been written about. People identify with them and their deaths are sparking outrage. The pro-wolf movement is ready to stand and fight.
Rest in Peace OR-16, beautiful boy. You were just a yearling, never having a chance to live your life. But you will not be forgotten. This is a rallying cry to all who love wolves. The time for lamenting is over. It’s time to take action and work to see wolves relisted. For all who are frustrated with the ineffective actions of the past, several other wolf advocates and myself are plotting a new path, one we hope will change the dynamic of this fight.
For the wolves, For OR-16,
Nabeki
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Oregon Wolf Gunned Down in Idaho
Oregon conservationists lament killing, highlight contrasting approaches to wolf management and wildlife conservation.
Tags: Bloody Idaho wolf hunt, OR !6, Walla Walla pack , Oregon wolves, wolf slaughter, relist wolves, Endangered Species act. wolves need protection, killing out of control, states cannot manage wolves, conflict of interest, trophy hunting sadistic
This melted my heart. The wolf pup was howling for its pack and seemed so surprised when they howled back. The pup is a member of Oregon’s Snake River Pack.
Over the last month, thousands of Oregonians have spoken out against hysterical anti-wildlife measures in Salem. Thanks to overwhelming public opposition, the worst of the worst have been defeated. But dirty last-minute tricks by livestock industry lobbyists threaten to put wolves back in the crosshairs.
In just a few minutes, the legislature will vote on yet another tax break for the livestock industry. As bad as that sounds, that’s not enough for the Oregon Cattlemen’s Association. They also want dead wolves.
There’s an old trick used by Salem lobbyists that allows bad bills to go through in the waning hours of the legislative session and avoid public scrutiny. It’s called gut and stuff. Until the session officially ends, it’s a very real threat, and it works like this: find a friendly legislator, get them to take language from an unpopular or otherwise dead bill and stuff it into a more benign bill that’s likely to pass. Done right, by the time anyone notices, it’s too late.
We learned late last night that OCA lobbyists are working furiously to broker a last second deal that would do just that and – stop me if you’ve heard this already – declare a state of emergency, circumvent the Endangered Species Act, and fast track the killing of endangered gray wolves.
It’s the same legislation you helped kill in the Senate earlier this week. I was hoping this morning’s e-mail would be a celebration of that victory, but rather than accept defeat, this dirty trick by the OCA is a credible threat to give life to a bill radically out of step with Oregon values.
PS – Hopefully we’ll be able to send out that victory e-mail soon and get back to talking about the good news about Oregon’s wolves. We’ll be sure to keep you in the loop if the threat grows, butplease take action one more time so that good news will be possible. Non-Oregonians can call the Governor’s office at 503.378.4582.
As we plan our response to the Siddoway “Live Bait, Kill Bill“, I want to share a video of activists standing up for wolves against the livestock industry, protestingHB 4158. The bill died in the Oregon Senate Committee today but it could be back.
On February 10, 2012 the Seattle and Portland Animal Defense Leagues along with Cascadia Earth First took over a Oregon Cattlemen’s Assoc. meeting.
As I discussed in a previous post, Oregon HB 4158, would make it easier to persecute and kill Oregon’s tiny wolf population for supposed livestock depredation.
The Oregon Cattlemen’s Association is pushing hard for this legislation. Unfortunately the bill waspassed by the Oregon House on Friday, February 17, by a vote of 42-15. It now moves to the Senate for a vote. It has a better chance of being voted down in the Senate.
If the bill passes the Oregon Senate the only thing stopping it from becoming law is a veto by Oregon Governor Kitzhaber.
Please continue to call Governor Kitzhaber and let him know America supports Oregon’s fledging wolf population and does not want them slaughtered on the altar of the sacred cow.
As I’ve stated over and over, 51,000 Oregon cattle were lost to non-predation causes in 2010, including disease, weather, calving and theft. Compare those numbers against the 20 cow deaths blamed on the Imnaha pack and you can see the hysteria driving the persecution of Oregon’s wolves. Anyone who possesses the power of reason knows that in a state with a million cows, 20 cattle deaths blamed on wolves would not even register as any kind of threat. Why are Oregon ranchers so silent about the thousands and thousands of cattle losses to non-wolf causes? I’ll tell you why, it doesn’t fit into their wolf demonization campaign.
The Imnaha pack is the iconic Journey’s (OR7) natal pack. They want to kill his father and sibling. This would effectively destroy the Imnaha pack and leave the alpha female, Sophie (B-300) and her offspring, as the only surviving members.
Conservationists believe the bill is a response to the Oregon Court of Appeals stay of the kill order issued against the Imnaha alpha male and sub-adult.
This bill is reminiscent of the infamous wolf delisting rider, attached to a spending bill last year, which ultimately passed the US Senate and was signed into law by President Obama, stripping ESA protections from wolves in the Northern Rockies. Due to that betrayal of wolves by the Democrats, the anti-wolf forces have learned they can circumvent the court system by turning to friendly pro-ranching state legislatures to get what they want. If the courts don’t rule in their favor, as in the case of the Oregon Court of Appeals stay, then they’ll just take their case to politicians to get it done. When wolves were delisted by budget rider last year, I knew it would open the flood gates to do an end-round the court system. Now any endangered species can be delisted if they become inconvenient to special interests.
The Governor of OR: SAVE OREGON’S 29 WOLVES, oppose HB 4158
Petition Letter
Greetings,
We, the undersigned, urge you to oppose HB 4158, a bill proposed by the Oregon Cattlemen’s Association, which allows killing of wolves to address livestock depredation and declares a “state of emergency.” With less than 30 wolves in the entire state, we find this declaration absurd. We, and most Oregonians, highly value our wildlife and strongly support endangered species protection and the return of wolves to Oregon, and their strong recovery.
Oregon has less than 30 confirmed wolves in the entire state and approximately 1.3 million cows. We feel that a Bill establishing a “state of emergency” over the presence of a tentatively recovering endangered wolf population is an attempt to bypass the Oregon Endangered Species Act and would set a dangerous precedent which could be used to circumvent protections of other endangered species at the behest of special interests. Furthermore, we believe it is an effort to short-circuit current litigation which aims to clarify the relationship of the state Endangered Species Act with the Oregon Wolf Plan.
Statements by Oregon Cattlemen’s Association members and officers constantly stress the aim of lethal removal over the use of non-lethal measures and tools, which they routinely disparage. As quoted in the Lewiston Tribune Online, 7/2/11, OCA Wolf committee Chair Rod Childers said, “To be able to move to lethal control we as producers have to show we tried nonlethal actions. I can’t say if it works or not, it is just things we have been told we have to do, and the whole key to me is getting them to move to lethal control,…” With this in mind, we believe HB 4158 to be an attempt to weaken the commitment to non-lethal measures.
With so many critical issues before this short session of the legislature, devoting precious time to this controversial and unnecessary Bill is a mistake.
Alpha male of the Imnaha pack. He was slated for death until the Oregon Court of Appeals stayed the “kill order”. If this bill passes the Senate and is signed into law by Governor Kitzhaber, this wolf will be killed. He is OR7′s father.
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CONTACT
Gov. John Kitzhaber
Governor’s Citizens’ Representative Message Line 503-378-4582
Fax: 503-378-6827
Governor Kitzhaber 160 State Capitol 900 Court Street Salem, Oregon 97301-4047
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Oregon Senate Committee on Environment and Natural Resources
OR9′s mother B-300 (Sophie) and one of OR9′s brothers (ODFW)
Oregon wolf advocate, Taz Alago, had something to say about the way OR9′s death was handled:
“The picture of OR9, bloody and dead, is a punch to the stomach… unless you’re like his killer. Then the ugly picture is something to brag about.
For those following the troubled saga of the Imnaha Pack, the image of this dead wolf was something half-expected ever since he swam the Snake into Idaho, a dread fear come true.
Idaho is one of the worst states for predators, a hell-hole for anything but elk, deer, moose and cows. In Idaho you can kill wolves with huge leghold traps, neck snares, neck-breaking Conibear traps, arrows, guns, even snowmobiles.
You can hunt coyotes and foxes from ultra-light aircraft. A bill is proposed to allow the same for wolves, with the added treat of allowing live bait for wolf trapping (dogs are mentioned).
OR9 was the brother of Journey (OR7), now famous for his long trek to California, first wolf there since 1924. His natal pack has produced some intrepid wolves, although now it’s diminished through dispersal and death, and it’s always under threat from the inexorable pressure of area ranchers to kill wolves for their depredations.
The way he holds OR9′s body shows his contempt for this wolf and I guess he feels the same about all predators – these vermin who challenge his “dominance.” Rifles and traps against flesh and blood.
There’s no way to adequately punish this killer because hunting wolves in Idaho is legal, but make no mistake this person was a poacher: his $11 wolf tag had expired. Idaho Fish & Game let him off with a warning but I think we should hold their feet to the fire and treat him the same as they would an elk poacher.
I think IDF&G shrugs off any action as long as it kills wolves.
So let’s all call Virgil Moore of the IDF&G at 208-334-3771 and tell him to prosecute OR9′s killer.
It’s the least we can do.”
Taz Alago, NE Oregonian
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For my two cents, the excuse this person gave, for killing OR9 with an expired tag, was lame and didn’t hold much water. There is something called “Ignorantia juris non “, which is Latin for ”Ignorance of the law is no excuse”. What if this had been a 7 point bull elk instead of a wolf? Would he have gotten off with a warning?
Idaho’s governor, Butch Otter, is making a joke out of this, so apparently the state isn’t taking Or9′s death seriously.
This is B-300 (Sophie), alpha female of the Imnaha pack. Here she is making history, just like her famous son OR7. “Aerial footage of wolf B-300 in northeastern Oregon. B-300 was the first wolf confirmed to have returned to Oregon from Idaho since 2000. Photo taken January 23, 2008″ (ODFW)
UPDATE:February 9, 2012
Nothing to report so far on todays HB4158 hearing BUT everyone has done such a wonderful job signing the petition. There are over a thousand signatures now!! Thank you so much, you are truly special people!! Please continue to sign and share this petition, it would be amazing to reach the 5000 goal to show Governor Kitzhaber how valued Oregon wolves are. We have to put the brakes on the deadly game the cattle industry is playing with wolves. The persecution continues. Who would have thought a state as progressive as Oregon would be so controlled by ranching interests, that is truly shocking to me.
Another horrific anti-wolf bill was just introduced in Idaho:
Idaho rancher’s bill would OK ultralights, use of live bait for wolf control
BOISE, Idaho — A Senate bill would give ranchers more freedom to kill wolves that attack their sheep and cows, including letting them use ultralight aircraft and live bait such as dogs to help lure the predators.
I’m calling on all wolf advocates who read this blog to please sign the petition urging Governor Kitzhaber to oppose the anti-wolf bill 4158. This is time sensitive!! Do it today, please do it now. Signatures stand at 700, up 100 from yesterday but we can do much, much better. The goal is 5000!!
There is a public hearing tomorrow concerning HB 4158 and wolves’ enemies will be pushing hard for this bill. Let’s gather as many signatures as we can to show Governor Kitzhaber and Oregon legislators that Americans care about Oregon wolves. They are a tiny, fragile, 29 wolf population, targeted by the cattle industry for destruction.
Remember the alpha female of the beleaguered Imnaha pack is the iconic OR7′s mother. We can’t allow them to destroy these wolves and their families. There wouldn’t be a wolf in California, for the first time since 1924, if it wasn’t for the Imnaha Pack and Oregon’s wolf recovery.
Please sign now and share this with everyone you know. Send this far and wide!!
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The Governor of OR: SAVE OREGON’S 29 WOLVES, oppose HB 4158
Petition Letter
SAVE OREGON’S WOLVES, oppose HB 4158
Greetings,
We, the undersigned, urge you to oppose HB 4158, a bill proposed by the Oregon Cattlemen’s Association, which allows killing of wolves to address livestock depredation and declares a “state of emergency.” With less than 30 wolves in the entire state, we find this declaration absurd. We, and most Oregonians, highly value our wildlife and strongly support endangered species protection and the return of wolves to Oregon, and their strong recovery.
Oregon has less than 30 confirmed wolves in the entire state and approximately 1.3 million cows. We feel that a Bill establishing a “state of emergency” over the presence of a tentatively recovering endangered wolf population is an attempt to bypass the Oregon Endangered Species Act and would set a dangerous precedent which could be used to circumvent protections of other endangered species at the behest of special interests. Furthermore, we believe it is an effort to short-circuit current litigation which aims to clarify the relationship of the state Endangered Species Act with the Oregon Wolf Plan.
Statements by Oregon Cattlemen’s Association members and officers constantly stress the aim of lethal removal over the use of non-lethal measures and tools, which they routinely disparage. As quoted in the Lewiston Tribune Online, 7/2/11, OCA Wolf committee Chair Rod Childers said, “To be able to move to lethal control we as producers have to show we tried nonlethal actions. I can’t say if it works or not, it is just things we have been told we have to do, and the whole key to me is getting them to move to lethal control,…” With this in mind, we believe HB 4158 to be an attempt to weaken the commitment to non-lethal measures.
With so many critical issues before this short session of the legislature, devoting precious time to this controversial and unnecessary Bill is a mistake.
Imnaha Pack Alpha Male, OR7′s father. He was slated for death until the Oregon Court of Appeals stayed the “kill order”.
Continue to call Oregon’s Governor as well.
Gov. John Kitzhaber
Governor’s Citizens’ Representative Message Line 503-378-4582
Fax: 503-378-6827
Governor Kitzhaber 160 State Capitol 900 Court Street Salem, Oregon 97301-4047
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Photos: Courtesy ODFW
Posted in: Wolf Wars, Oregon Wolves
Tags: Urgent action needed, sign anti wolf bill petition, HB 4158, Oregon House of Representatives, Oregon Governor Kitzhaber, Imnaha pack, Oregon tiny wolf population, B-300, Oregon Cattlemen’s Assoc.
Oregon’s wolves are under attack AGAIN. The Oregon Cattlemen’s Association is going after the state’s 29 wolves, especially the Imnaha’s, who are the natal pack of OR7, they are his family. Members of the pack have been under constant threat of death over the last several years for a handful of livestock depredations, even though Oregon ranchers lost nearly 60,000 cattle to non–predation in 2010. By my calculations that averages 140 cattle a day that drop dead from one thing or another or are stolen bycattle rustlers. And yet ranchers are screaming bloody murder over 20 cows in two years, supposedly killed by wolves??
No rancher is going to go out of business over 20 cow losses. They seem to be able to absorb thousands and thousands of non-predation losses just fine. This is a smokescreen people, they want to get rid of Oregon’s tiny wolf population. They tried this emergency nonsense in Idaho, which I’m now going to start referring to Eastern Oregon as Western Idaho. They seem to have the same outrageous attitudes toward wolves as Idaho has.
HB 4158 seeks to undermine the Oregon ESA and make it easier for ranchers to kill the state’s tiny wolf population. They also want to declare a State of Emergency over 29 wolves. Talk about dramatics. This is all in response to a kill order placed on the alpha male and sub-adult of the Imnaha pack, which was stayed by the Oregon Court of Appeals. Because ranchers didn’t get their way, it was history repeating itself on a smaller scale. When Judge Molloy relisted wolves in the Northern Rockies, the wolf hating crowd ran to the politicians to remove wolves’ ESA protections. Now the Oregon Cattlemen’s Assoc. wants to weaken the Oregon ESA and allow ODFW to kill the two Imnaha wolves.
What about the 51, 200 cattle Oregon ranchers lost to non-predation in 2010? They are trying to say losing thousands and thousands of cattle to disease, theft, calving, weather, etc. is acceptable but 20 cow losses to wolves in two years is a state of emergency? Uh-huh.
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2012 session
House Bill 4158
Relating to wolves; declaring an emergency.
Allows killing of wolves to address depredation of livestock.
Bill progress
Measure activity House SenateVotes
Feb 1, 2012: First reading. Referred to the desks of the Co-Speakers.
Feb 1, 2012: Referred to Agriculture and Natural Resources.
Feb 9, 2012: Public Hearing and Possible Work Session scheduled. Public hearing on HB 4158 will be held in Room D. starting at 1 pm.
Sponsored by Representative BENTZ; Representatives ESQUIVEL, GARRARD, HUFFMAN, JENSON, SCHAUFLER, SPRENGER, WHISNANT, WITT, Senators BOQUIST, FERRIOLI, JOHNSON, OLSEN, WHITSETT (at the request of Oregon Cattlemen’s Association) (Presession filed.)
SUMMARY
The following summary is not prepared by the sponsors of the
measure and is not a part of the body thereof subject to
consideration by the Legislative Assembly. It is an editor’s
brief statement of the essential features of the measure as
introduced.
Allows killing of wolves to address depredation of livestock. Declares emergency, effective on passage.
A BILL FOR AN ACT
Relating to wolves; and declaring an emergency. Be It Enacted by the People of the State of Oregon:
SECTION 1. { + (1) As used in this section, ‘livestock’ has
the meaning given that term in ORS 610.150.
(2) Notwithstanding ORS 496.171 to 496.182,the conservation of wolves in Oregon may include the killing of wolves to address the depredation of livestock by wolves. + }
SECTION 2. { + This 2012 Act being necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health and safety, an emergency is declared to exist, and this 2012 Act takes effect on its passage. + }
The Governor of OR: SAVE OREGON’S 29 WOLVES, oppose HB 4158
Petition Letter
SAVE OREGON’S WOLVES, oppose HB 4158
Greetings,
We, the undersigned, urge you to oppose HB 4158, a bill proposed by the Oregon Cattlemen’s Association, which allows killing of wolves to address livestock depredation and declares a “state of emergency.” With less than 30 wolves in the entire state, we find this declaration absurd. We, and most Oregonians, highly value our wildlife and strongly support endangered species protection and the return of wolves to Oregon, and their strong recovery.
Oregon has less than 30 confirmed wolves in the entire state and approximately 1.3 million cows. We feel that a Bill establishing a “state of emergency” over the presence of a tentatively recovering endangered wolf population is an attempt to bypass the Oregon Endangered Species Act and would set a dangerous precedent which could be used to circumvent protections of other endangered species at the behest of special interests. Furthermore, we believe it is an effort to short-circuit current litigation which aims to clarify the relationship of the state Endangered Species Act with the Oregon Wolf Plan.
Statements by Oregon Cattlemen’s Association members and officers constantly stress the aim of lethal removal over the use of non-lethal measures and tools, which they routinely disparage. As quoted in the Lewiston Tribune Online, 7/2/11, OCA Wolf committee Chair Rod Childers said, “To be able to move to lethal control we as producers have to show we tried nonlethal actions. I can’t say if it works or not, it is just things we have been told we have to do, and the whole key to me is getting them to move to lethal control,…” With this in mind, we believe HB 4158 to be an attempt to weaken the commitment to non-lethal measures.
With so many critical issues before this short session of the legislature, devoting precious time to this controversial and unnecessary Bill is a mistake.
SALEM — Rep. Brian Clem, D-Salem, says that he believes cattlemen have the votes to get two wolf bills through the Oregon House.
House Bill 4005 would provide livestock owners a tax credit for livestock losses to wolves. A second bill, House Bill 4158, stipulates the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife has the authority to kill problem wolves.
The bills are in the House Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee, which Clem co-chairs.
HB4005 is up for a committee vote Feb. 7. The committee meets in Hearing Room D beginning at 1 p.m. HB4158 is scheduled for a public hearing Feb. 9, also in Hearing Room D, beginning at 1 p.m.
Speaking to county Farm Bureau presidents during Oregon Farm Bureau’s Day at the Capitol on Feb. 6, Clem said he believes the House Agriculture Committee will support both bills unanimously. And, he said, the bills should enjoy continued strong support through the House floor.
Getting the bills to the desk of Gov. John Kitzhaber, however, may be difficult, he said.
Several bills last session cleared the House Agriculture Committee and the House floor, but failed to clear the Senate Environment and Natural Resources Committee, which is chaired by Sen. Jackie Dingfelder, D-Portland.
HB4158 is backed by the Oregon Cattlemen’s Association in response to an injunction issued Oct. 6 by the Oregon Court of Appeals. The injunction prevents the state from killing two wolves that prey on livestock.
The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife in September issued a kill order for the wolves. The wolves are part of the Imnaha Pack in northeast Oregon, one of the state’s four known wolf packs.
The pack is responsible for killing more than 20 head of livestock, according to state wildlife officials.
Please raise your voices for Oregon’s fragile wolf population. Sophie, B-300, the alpha female of the Imnaha Pack, is OR7′s mother. She swam the Snake River in 2008 and established the first wolf pack in Oregon in over 60 years. Do not allow the Cattleman’s Association’s dramatics to overshadow common sense. There is no way on earth 29 wolves could constitute a state of emergency. That is patently ridiculous. This is a witch hunt pure and simple? It will not stop until the American people speak out loud and clear to tell the ranchers, hunters and politicians, STOP KILLING WOLVES!!
OR10 Walla Walla Pack (ODFW)
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In happier times. November 19, 2009
“This video taken by ODFW on Nov. 12, 2009 in the Imnaha Wildlife Management Unit (east of Joseph, Ore. in Wallowa County) shows at least 10 wolves make up a pack that ODFW has been monitoring since June 2008. The video was taken from an adjacent ridge across a canyon and shows a mixture of gray and black individual wolves moving up-slope.”
This blog is dedicated to the memory of Wolf 253, the beloved Yellowstone Druid wolf named Limpy, who was shot and killed in March 08, on the very day ESA protections were lifted for the gray wolf, by the then Bush Administration.
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Boulder White Clouds Council
Exposing The Big Game
Footloose Montana
Friends of the Clearwater
Lockwood Animal Rescue Center
Louise du Toit
LUPUSLAETUS
Mercy For Animals
Northern Idaho Wolf Alliance (NIWA)
Predator Friendly®- Because Wildlife Matters
Project Coyote
Project: Wolf
The Nature Conservancy
The Ravensong Group
WildEarth Guardians
Wisconsin Wildlife Ethic-Vote Our Wildlife
Wolf And Wildlife Studies: Jay Mallonee (Independent Wolf Biologist)
Wolf Song of Alaska
Wolves in english ! Les loups en anglais !
WWP's Gray Wolf Page
Yellowstone To Yukon Conservation Initiative
