OR-7′s Sister Dies Grisly Death…..

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.

Speak Out!

BOYCOTT IDAHO!!

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Sister of famous California wolf trapped, killed

April 30, 2013

The sister of California’s famous wandering wolf was killed by trappers in Idaho.

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

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.

http://blog.sfgate.com/stew/2013/04/30/sister-of-famous-california-wolf-trapped-killed

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Oregon Wolf Dies In Idaho (Sister Of California Wolf)

Pup for Imnaha wolf pack, other members leave for Idaho and Wheeler County

http://www.lifewithwolves.org/home/?p=8291

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Pup for Imnaha wolf pack, other members leave for Idaho and Wheeler County

August 8, 2011

http://www.lifewithwolves.org/home/?p=8291

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Photo: Courtesy ODWF

Posted in: Wolf Wars, Oregon Wolves

Tags: OR-9, OR-5, OR-9, Imnaha Pack, Oregon wolves, Idaho wolf killing fields, leg-hold trap torture

Published in:

on May 4, 2013 at 2:32 am Comments (28)
Tags: Idaho wolf killing fields, Imnaha pack, leg-hold trap torture, OR-5, OR-9, Oregon wolves

Will You?

This post is dedicated to all wolves who’ve suffered and continue to suffer brutal, senseless deaths in the name of blood sport and agribusiness.

The brutal war against America’s wolves wages on?

Will you be silent?

Will you fight for them?

Will you allow this to continue?

Will you organize in your hometown?

Will you hold a protest?

Will you work to end public land grazing?

Will you write letters to the editor?

Will you write to the Infamous 81 US Senators who voted to delist wolves in the Northern Rockies via budget rider?

Will you tell those Senators you WILL NOT VOTE FOR THEM on November 6 because of their betrayal?

Will you boycott all wolf states that hold trophy hunts or kill wolves for agribusiness?

Will you boycott Yellowstone National Park to send Wyoming a message?

Will you spread this message to everyone you know?

Will you be a true Wolf Warrior?

Will you?

Minnesota

Minnesota: Court rejects bid to block wolf hunt

Associated Press

Posted: 10/10/2012 12:01:00 AM CDT

Updated: 10/10/2012 07:26:03 PM CDT

http://www.twincities.com/localnews/ci_21741958/court-rejects-bid-block-minn-wolf-hunt

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Trapped doomed wolf

Wisconsin

Wolf hunt to start Monday

Updated: Thursday, 11 Oct 2012, 5:53 PM CDT
Published : Thursday, 11 Oct 2012, 5:53 PM CDT

http://www.fox11online.com/dpp/news/local/green_bay/wolf-hunt-to-start-monday

Hearing on use of dogs in wolf hunt will be Dec. 20

By Paul A. Smith of the Journal Sentinel

Oct. 6, 2012

http://www.jsonline.com/sports/outdoors/hearing-on-use-of-dogs-in-wolf-hunt-will-be-dec-20-2q74b6b-172979611.html

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Wisconsin and Minnesota

Wisconsin, Minnesota ready for first wolf hunts

By STEVE KARNOWSKI and TODD RICHMOND | Associated Press – Wed, Oct 10, 2012

http://news.yahoo.com/wisconsin-minnesota-ready-first-wolf-hunts-175306321.html

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Stand up for wolves! This photo made the Los Angeles Times! (Mato Woksabe)

Michigan

Michigan State Representative Proposes Wolf Hunt

by Outdoor Hub Reporters on August 21, 2012

submitted by: Agnieszka Spieszny

http://www.outdoorhub.com/news/michigan-state-representative-proposes-wolf-hunt/

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Fox Mountain wolf pups 2008 (Mexican Wolf Inter-agency Field Team)

New Mexico

Wanted Mexican gray wolf on the run in NM captured

By RUSSELL CONTRERAS Associated Press

Updated: 10/10/2012 07:14:31 PM MDT

http://www.alamogordonews.com/ci_21747896/gov-martinez-relocate-mexican-gray-wolf-pack

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Gov. Martinez: Relocate Mexican gray wolf pack

By RUSSELL CONTRERAS Associated Press

Posted: 10/11/2012 03:05:16 AM MDT

http://www.alamogordonews.com/ci_21747896/gov-martinez-relocate-mexican-gray-wolf-pack

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This is the hate wolves face

Montana

On the hunt in wolf country: Expanded Montana season begins Monday

7:13 AM, Oct 11, 2012

http://www.greatfallstribune.com/article/20121011/LIFESTYLE05/310110010/On-hunt-wolf-country-Expanded-Montana-season-begins-Monday

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Wolf trapped waiting to die

Idaho

Idaho’s wolf hunt season now open all year

By Kimberlee Kruesi

The Times-News (Twin Falls, Idaho) staff

Sun, 07/22/2012 – 8:23am

http://www.standard.net/stories/2012/07/22/idaho-s-wolf-hunt-season-now-open-all-year

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Senseless Slaughter

Wyoming

Wolves in Wyoming Go from Endangered to Hunted

http://www.masoncountydailynews.com/news/national-news/38301-wolves-in-wyoming-go-from-endangered-to-hunted

Open Season in Wyoming Threatens Wolf Recovery

08 OCTOBER 2012, 8:56 AM

http://earthjustice.org/blog/2012-october/open-season-in-wyoming-threatens-wolf-recovery

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USFWS

Feds opt not to extend special protection to Mexican gray wolf

Posted Oct 11, 2012, 11:37 pm

Cale OttensCronkite News Service

http://www.tucsonsentinel.com/local/report/101112_mexican_gray_wolf/feds-opt-not-extend-special-protection-mexican-gray-wolf/

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Wedge Pack alpha male being collared, the collar allowed sharpshooters to find and kill his pack . Then they shot and killed him.

Washington

Killing entire wolf pack is in nobody’s best interests

Published: October 12, 2012

http://www.bellinghamherald.com/2012/10/12/2725979/killing-entire-wolf-pack-is-in.html

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Oregon Weneha wolf killed by poacher

Oregon

Court Stays Execution of Two Oregon Wolves

SALEM, ORE Oct 06, 2011

http://www.oregonwild.org/about/press-room/press-releases/court-stays-execution-of-two-oregon-wolves/?searchterm=imnaha

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California

Journey In California, The First Wolf Confirmed In The State Since the 1920′s

And then there’s Journey (OR-7). The One Bright Spot In This Miserable War On America’s Wolves

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Oregon Wild Talks Wolves On AM Northwest

Wildlife and Wildlands Advocate Rob Klavins stopped by KATU-TV’s AM Northwest to talk about Journey and Oregon’s wolves.

http://www.oregonwild.org/about/press-room/press-releases/oregon-wild-talks-wolves-on-am-northwest

Calif. agrees to study protections for gray wolf

JASON DEAREN, Associated Press

Updated 5:35 p.m., Wednesday, October 3, 2012

http://www.seattlepi.com/news/article/Calif-agrees-to-study-protections-for-gray-wolf-3917467.php#ixzz29AmZ5vLU

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Photos: Photobucket, USFWS, ODFW, Wolf Wallpaper, Flickr Commons

Posted in: Wolf Wars, Idaho wolves, Montana wolves, Wyoming wolves, Minnesota wolves, Wisconsin Wolves, Michigan wolves, Oregon wolves, Washington wolves, California wolf

Tags: Wyoming, Montana, Idaho, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Michigan, Washington, Oregon, New Mexico, Mexican gray wolf, Fox Mountain alpha captured, Fox Mountain pack, Wenaha Pack wolf poached, wolf trapping torture, OR-7, retire grazing leases, stop killing wolves, Wedge Pack gone, Wyoming predator zone, boycott wolf killing states, Imnaha Pack

Wild Mexican Gray Wolf Pups (USFWS)

ACTION ALERT: Oregon Wolves Need Your Help! Little Red Riding Hood Syndrome Epidemic!

Little Red Riding Hood Syndrome

Update:February 19, 2012

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 was passed 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.

“HB4158 now goes to the Senate, where Democrats hold a 16-14 advantage.”

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.

“Conservation groups sued the state last year to stop plans to kill the wolves. They say the legislation is an attempt to get around their lawsuit and the state Endangered Species Act. Ranchers say the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife should make decisions about wolves, not judges, based on a wolf management plan already in

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.

Please act now for Oregon wolves.

Contact the Oregon Senate and Governor Kitzhaber.

Continue to sign the petition to the Governor!!

===

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.

Please oppose HB 4158.

Thank you.

[Your name]

Click Here To Sign Petition

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.

===

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

===

Oregon Senate Committee on Environment and Natural Resources

503-986-1751

Chair

Sen. Jackie Dingfelder

Vice-chair

Sen. Alan Olsen

Members

Sen. Mark Hass

Sen. Floyd Prozanski

Sen. Chuck Thomsen

===

Senator Jackie Dingfelder

Party: D District: 23
Capitol Phone: 503-986-1723
District Phone: 503-493-2804
Capitol Address: 900 Court St NE, S-407, Salem, OR, 97301
District Office Address: PO Box 13432, Portland, OR, 97213
Email: sen.jackiedingfelder@state.or.us
Website: http://www.leg.state.or.us/dingfelder

===

Senator Peter Courtney

Party: D District: 11
Capitol Phone: 503-986-1600
Capitol Address: 900 Court St NE, S-201, Salem, OR, 97301
Email: sen.petercourtney@state.or.us
Website: http://www.leg.state.or.us/senate/senpres

===

Oregon State Senate

http://www.leg.state.or.us/senate/

===

State House Votes To Ease Killing Of Ore. Wolves

JONATHAN J. COOPER, Associated Press

POSTED: 11:42 am PST February 17, 2012

http://www.ktvz.com/news/30485212/detail.html

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September 27, 2011

Oregon’s wolves are more important than cattle

http://hinessight.blogs.com/hinessight/2011/09/oregons-wolves-are-more-important-than-cattle.html

===

Top Photo: Wikimedia Commons

Bottom Photo: Courtesy ODFW

Posted in: Wolf Wars, Oregon Wolves

Tags: Urgent action needed, sign petition, HB 4158, Oregon House of Representatives, Oregon Governor Kitzhaber, Imnaha pack, Oregon tiny wolf population, B-300, Oregon Cattlemen’s Assoc., OR-7′s natal pack

Published in:

on February 19, 2012 at 9:02 pm Comments (7)
Tags: B-300, HB 4158, Imnaha pack, little red riding hood syndrome, OR7's natal pack, Oregon Cattlemen's Assoc., Oregon Governor, Oregon Senate, Oregon tiny wolf population, sign petition, Urgent Action needed

No Justice For Journey’s Brother, OR9?

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

===

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.

“Gov. C.L. “Butch” Otter feels so bad about an Oregon gray wolf killed in Idaho that he has offered to repay his neighbors 150-fold.

In a tongue-in-cheek letter this week to Oregon Gov. John Kitzhaber, Mr. Otter “apologized” for the loss of the wolf and said he would happily replace it with 150 wolves from Idaho, just to make things right.

“In an effort to be a good neighbor and help Oregon maintain and increase its wolf population for the preservation of the species in your state, I am offering to send you 150 wolves from Idaho,” said Mr. Otter, a Republican. “Idaho has more than a sufficient number, in fact many more than the federal government originally required we have, and can spare a few.”

Mr. Kitzhaber, a Democrat, hasn’t taken him up on his offer. Asked whether the Oregon governor had a response, spokesman Tim Raphael said, “No, we don’t.”

Idaho gives Oregon ‘apology,’ gets no snarling over wolf

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2012/feb/14/idaho-gives-oregon-apology-gets-no-snarling-over-w/

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Prosecute poacher for illegal killing of Oregon wolf OR-9

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/2/prosecute-poacher-for-illegal-killing-of-oregon-wolf-or-9/

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Male wolf OR-9 from Imnaha pack killed by Idaho hunter with expired tag

Published: Friday, February 10, 2012, 1:22 PM Updated: Saturday, February 11, 2012, 10:40 AM

http://www.oregonlive.com/pacific-northwest-news/index.ssf/2012/02/male_wolf_from_imnaha_pack_kil.html

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Photo: Courtesy ODFW

Posted in: Oregon wolves, Wolf Poaching, Wolf Wars

Tags: OR9, wolf poaching, Taz Alago, Oregon wolves, Imnaha pack , wolf dispersal, IDFG, Virgil Moore

Published in:

on February 15, 2012 at 1:31 am Comments (23)
Tags: IDFG, Imnaha pack, OR9, Oregon wolves, Taz Alago, Virgil Moore, wolf dispersal, wolf poaching

URGENT: Please Sign Petition To Governor Kitzhaber Opposing The Anti Wolf Bill HB 4158….

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.

http://www.therepublic.com/view/story/5b5563875c5945a3b96ba75e85ab0327/ID-XGR–Wolf-Control/

====

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,

With so many critical issues before this short session of the legislature, devoting precious time to this controversial and unnecessary Bill is a mistake.

Please oppose HB 4158.

Thank you.

[Your name]

Click Here To Sign Petition

For Oregon Wolves, For the Wild Ones,

Nabeki

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

===

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.

Published in:

on February 8, 2012 at 5:36 pm Comments (52)
Tags: B-300, HB 4158, Imnaha pack, Oregon Cattlemen's Assoc., Oregon Governor Kitzhaber, Oregon House of Representatives, Oregon tiny wolf population, sign anti wolf bill petition, Urgent Action needed

ACTION ALERT: “SAVE OREGON’S 29 WOLVES, oppose HB 4158″…..

Oregon Walla Walla Pack Pup (ODFW)

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 by cattle 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.

===

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.

VOTES

No votes

===

76th OREGON LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY–2012 Regular Session

House Bill 4158

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. + }

http://www.leg.state.or.us/12reg/measures/hb4100.dir/hb4158.intro.html

Imnaha Pack (ODFW)

===

What can you do?

Please sign the petition to Governor Kitzhaber

The Governor of OR: SAVE OREGON’S 29 WOLVES, oppose HB 4158

Petition Letter

SAVE OREGON’S WOLVES, oppose HB 4158

Greetings,

With so many critical issues before this short session of the legislature, devoting precious time to this controversial and unnecessary Bill is a mistake.

Please oppose HB 4158.

Thank you.

[Your name]

Click Here To Sign Petition

===

CONTACT

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 House of Representatives

House of Representatives Leadership
Co-Speaker of the House Bruce Hanna - (R-Roseburg)
Co-Speaker of the House Arnie Roblan – (D-Coos Bay)

Co-Speaker Pro Tempore Representative Peter Buckley - (D-Ashland)
Co-Speaker Pro Tempore Representative Andy Olson – (R-Albany)

House Republican Leader Representative Kevin Cameron - (R-Salem)
House Democratic Leader Representative Tina Kotek- (D-N/NE Portland)

http://www.leg.state.or.us/house/

===

Oregon State Senate

Senate Leadership:
Senate President Peter Courtney - (D-Salem/Gervais/Woodburn)
Senate President Pro Tempore Senator Ginny Burdick – (D-Portland)
Senate Majority Leader Senator Diane Rosenbaum – (D-Portland)
Senate Republican Leader Senator Ted Ferrioli - (R-John Day)

http://www.leg.state.or.us/senate/

===

This is how confident they are.

Clem expects wolf bills to clear House

By MITCH LIES

Capital Press

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.

http://www.capitalpress.com/oregon/ml-Clem-talk-021012-art

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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.”

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Photos: Courtesy ODFW

Video: Courtesy ODFW

Posted in: Wolf Wars, Oregon Wolves

Tags: HB 4158, Oregon Cattleman’s Assoc., embattled Oregon wolves, Imnaha Pack , OR7, Governor Kitzhaber, Oregon House of Representatives, Oregon Senate

Published in:

on February 8, 2012 at 12:15 am Comments (23)
Tags: embattled Oregon wolves, Governor Kitzhaber, Imnaha pack, OR7, Oregon Cattleman's Assoc, Oregon Court of Appeals, Oregon House of Representatives, Oregon Senate, Tags HB 4158

The Wolf That Could, OR7 Crosses Into California and Walks Into History..

The Imnaha Pack, OR7′s Parents (Alpha Female”Sophie” far left, Alpha Male OR4, black wolf , head lowered) (ODFW)

OR7, the young, dispersing Oregon wolf, who has captured the world’s attention with his epic journey, crossed into California from Oregon Wednesday night, making him the first wolf to officially set a paw in California since 1924. It was in his genes, In 2008, OR7′s mother, wolf B-300, nicknamed “Sophie”, dispersed from Idaho into Oregon by swimming the Snake River to her new home in the “Beaver State”.

Here she is caught on camera scampering along in the snow after her 08 arrival, quite the traveler, just like her famous son.

“A female gray wolf from Idaho’s Timberline Pack has been positively located in Oregon” ”The wolf, a two to three-year-old female identified as B-300″. “Experts have long predicted that wolves from the expanding Idaho population would continue to cross the Snake River and enter Oregon. “

Once in Oregon “Sophie” found a mate, OR4 and became the alpha female of the Imnaha Pack, the first wolf pack to inhabit Oregon in over sixty years. It’s been a rough go for the Imnaha’s, beleaguered for the last several years, under constant death threats because of a handful of livestock depredations blamed on the pack (19 in two years). Oregon ranchers lost 51,200 cows (NASS) to non-predation in 2010 but the focus is always on negligible losses to wolves. The livestock industry gets lots of mileage grandstanding about wolves. I guess they figure if they repeat something often enough people will believe it. Nobody is going out of business over 19 cows.

“Rob Klavins of Oregon Wild said that the number of livestock killed by gray wolves is miniscule compared with the numbers that die being born, in severe weather or from disease. Ranchers also lose cows to thieves.

“Wolves are not a threat to the livestock industry,” Klavins said, emphasizing the need for the state to balance the needs of ranchers with conservation.”

Even with the shadow hanging over his parent’s heads nothing can diminish OR7′s accomplishment, he is his mother’s son, following in her illustrious footsteps.

Wolves are consummate wanderers, they can travel 25 miles a day without breaking a sweat. They have runner’s bodies with their long legs, deep chests, slim bodies and snowshoe feet. Wolves are the marathoners of the animal kingdom and OR-7 has not disappointed.

His travels:

“Tracking OR7′s Journey From His Natal Pack, Before He Crossed Into California Wednesday night”(ODFW)

Just two years old, he’s doing what wolves have done for thousands of years, search for a mate to establish his own pack and claim territory. To add to his mystery, no recent pictures of him exist.

Wearing a GPS collar, OR7′s wanderings have been closely tracked by biologists. He migrated 730 miles across Oregon over two months beginning last September. Over the past month, he’s been in the Siskiyou National Forest, northeast of Medford. This week, he wandered south of the Oregon town of Keno, just 10 miles from the California border.

“He’s doing what young males typically do — they outgrow their pack and go out to find their own mate, to try to make a pack,” said fish and game spokeswoman Jordan Traverso.

He’s not likely to find a mate in California, unless he’s aware of something we aren’t. There could be uncollared wolves in California we know nothing about. Or he might be traveling with a female companion. He’s remained elusive as only wolves can, so no one is quite sure what he’s up to. More then likely he’ll wander around for awhile and return to Oregon or travel into Nevada, or he could head further south, it’s anyone’s guess.

I worry for his safety, so many eyes are on him and not just friendly ones. OR7 is FEDERALLY PROTECTED by the Endangered Species Act, it’s a crime to harm him.

Ranchers are already beating the drums about his presence. But wolves really have little impact on livestock.

“Steve Pedery, Oregon Wild’s conservation director, sees the wolf divide as a culture clash.“

“Folks are really fighting wolf recovery … because they perceive it as the big bad federal government or the terrible people in the Willamette Valley in Oregon bringing back an animal that their grandparents wiped out for good cause,” he said. “It’s really more of a debate over values than it is about wolves and what they actually do.”

On a lighter note. OR7 was to have a new name.

“…The conservation group Oregon Wild, deciding that OR7 needed a more endearing name, launched a contest that drew several hundred suggestions from children as far away as Nigeria and Taiwan. The winner will be announced after New Year’s Day from the five finalists: Arthur, Max, Journey, Lupin and Takota.“

Since he’s now a California wolf has Oregon lost the right to name him? We’ll see. He may be taking a holiday stroll in the Golden State and be back in Oregon before the New Year.

Stay safe OR7, the eyes of the world are upon you.

Britain’s Daily Mail recently said OR-7 “captured the heart of the American public” with his incredible zigzag journey through the state that began Sept. 10 in Wallowa County. A Google search shows he’s on more than 300 websites, and his story has been picked up in Finland, Austria, Taiwan, Sweden, Canada, Australia, the United Kingdom and Argentina.

I hope this will bring the much-needed publicity wolves are due. His wolf kin in Idaho and Montana and being slaughtered in brutal wolf hunts, 316 are dead as of 12/29/2011. The Idaho hunt stretches all the way into June 2012, in the Lolo and Selway zones. Ten long months!!

This young wolves’ journey has boosted the spirits of weary advocates, grateful for any good wolf news. With his light shining so bright, it’s hard not to see the greatness of wolves!

“Alpha Female, B-300 Imnaha Pack (OR7′s mother) and a Two Year Old Male” (ODFW)

===

Lone wolf crosses into California from Oregon

The young animal is the first wolf known to be at large in California since 1924. Wildlife authorities in both states have been monitoring the wolf since it set out from the Crater Lake area in September.

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-wolf-california-20111230,0,6653668.story?track=rss&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+latimes%2Fnews%2Flocal+%28L.A.+Times+-+California+%7C+Local+News%29

===

Wolf’s journey marks strides for its species

By Lisa M. Krieger

lkrieger@mercurynews.com

Posted: 12/29/2011 09:23:35 PM PST

http://www.mercurynews.com/rss/ci_19643820?source=rss

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OR-7 ,Oregon’s wandering wolf ,captures imagination of worldwide audience

Published: Sunday, December 11, 2011, 10:20 PM Updated: Monday, December 12, 2011, 12:06 AM

By Richard Cockle, The Oregonian

http://www.oregonlive.com/pacific-northwest-news/index.ssf/2011/12/or-7_–_oregons_wandering_wolf.html

“OR-11, A Male Pup (born Spring 2011) from Oregon’s Walla Walla Pack” (ODFW)

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Photos: Courtesy ODFW

Posted in: Oregon wolves, California wolves, gray wolf

Tags: OR7, dispersing wolf, Oregon, California, rock star wolf, wolves elusive, Imnaha Pack, ODFW, biodiversity

Published in:

on December 30, 2011 at 5:13 am Comments (36)
Tags: Biodiversity, California, dispersing wolf, Imnaha pack, ODFW, OR7, Oregon, rock star wolf, wolves elusive

51,200 Dead Oregon Cows Not Killed By Wolves! Where’s The Media?

Slated to die. Alpha Male Imnaha Pack 2009

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Ok, 51,200 cows died in Oregon in 2010 from non-predation causes. (NASS 2010) This should be front page news, right? When wolves are involved in miniscule livestock losses they make the front pages of local media. So what about those 51,200 cows that weren’t killed by wolves?

Talk about making a mountain out of a mole-hill or big fish stories, this is the mother of all big fish stories.

ODFW is planning on killing the alpha male (pictured above) and another wolf from the Imnaha Pack, for livestock losses so small, they barely register statistically. Yet incredibly large numbers of cows drop dead in Oregon every year and all we hear are “crickets”.

So here we are, two wolves facing a death sentence. Apparently they are being tracked right now.

“A department hunter is looking first for a member of the pack not collared with a radio transmitter, Morgan said. Then he will go after the alpha male, which goes by the number OR4 and sired the first pups in Oregon since wolves began moving back into the state from Idaho in the 1990s.“

The alpha female and her pup of the year will be left to face the winter alone, with no help to bring down prey.

Here is B-300 better known as ”Sophie”, crossing into Oregon in 2008. She would later become the alpha female of the Imnaha Pack. Look at her scampering along, beautiful and healthy. Little did she know what she was getting into.

In protest of ODFW’s egregious intention to slaughter two perfectly healthy Imnaha wolves, leaving just the alpha female and her pup of the year, two Portland Animal Defense League protesters, Stephanie Taylor and Justin Kay, chained themselves to the ODFW headquarter doors with bike locks.

Two arrested during protest against wolf killings

Posted: Sep 27, 2011 6:31 PM MDTUpdated: Sep 27, 2011 7:31 PM MDT

By Brian MacMillan

SALEM, OR (KPTV) -

For nearly an hour and a half Tuesday morning, protestors took over the front entrance of the Department of Fish and Wildlife in Salem.

“We’ve tried everything from phone calls to the governor, phone calls here, letter writing, protests. Finally today, it ended with an act of civil disobedience,” said Tim Hitchins, with the Portland Animal Defense League.

The sad news is this is probably the end of the Imnaha Pack.

“ODFW has been under really intense pressure from the cattlemen,” Pedery said from Portland, Ore. “This is really a kill order on the pack. It is very unlikely the mother and her pup will survive the winter unless they feed on gut piles (left by deer and elk hunters), which puts them at risk of poachers, or feed on livestock. They really have little hope of bringing down a deer or elk by themselves.”

Oregon had 1,300,000 cattle at the beginning of 2011. Wolves apparently were responsible for 14 cow losses in 1.5 years. But thousands and thousands of cows were keeling over in Oregon from all manner of things, not wolf related.

Digestive problems

Respiratory problems

Metabolic problems

Mastitis

Lameness/injury

Other diseases

Weather related

Calving problems

Poisoning

Theft

(NASS 2010)

Why aren’t ranchers squawking about this? Those losses COULD affect their “bottom line”, not 14 supposed wolf depredations.

Isn’t it time to call this situation what it is. If if looks like a duck, quacks like a duck then it’s a duck. Plain and simple intolerance of wolves is ruling the day in eastern Oregon. Clearly ranchers don’t want them there and that’s what’s driving this train. The wishes of Oregon’s wildlife advocates and others, who would enjoy seeing wild wolves, apparently don’t count. The scapegoating and hysteria that plague the other wolf states has apparently taken hold in Oregon. Shame. This has completely altered my view of the state.

51,200 dead cows not killed by wolves. Where’s the media??

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Wolf kill order could spell end of Oregon pack

http://m.spokesman.com/stories/2011/sep/27/wolf-kill-order-could-spell-end-of-oregon-pack/

Please continue to call Oregon’s Governor Kitzhaber (503-378-4582) to protest the kill order on the two Imnaha wolves. Ask why wolves are being treated like criminals, collared, tracked continually, when obviously these losses are ridiculously miniscule.

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Photo: Courtesy ODFW

Videos: Courtesy YouTube

Posted in: Wolf Wars, Oregon wolves, Howling For Justice

Tags: wolf scapegoating, Imnaha pack, kill order, Oregon wolves, ODFW

Published in:

on September 28, 2011 at 5:09 am Comments (28)
Tags: Imnaha pack, kill order, ODFW, Oregon wolves, wolf scapegoating

TAKE ACTION: More Oregon’s Imnaha Wolves Slated To Die

Alpha Male (father) Imnaha Pack (Ear tagged and collared May 2011)

FROM: NE OREGON ECOSYSTEMS

More wolves to be killed, and extermination of the entire Imnaha pack is on the table.

ODFW announced yesterday that more Imnaha wolves may be killed, and Oregon conservationists share growing alarm that the entire pack may be exterminated. ODFW Regional Manager Craig Ely implied last month in a conversation with NE Oregon Ecosystems that this option might be on the table, and information from sources close to the ODFW have reinforced this conviction. As it is, the pack has been reduced from 16 members to 8 or less, and 3 wolves have been killed by ODFW this year. One has dispersed to Washington, one collared wolf has disappeared, the whereabouts of some others are unknown. The Imnaha pack is in real trouble…

The ODFW is under crushing pressure from Oregon cattlemen to kill wolves, and unless wolf supporters make their opinions known soon, this pack, Oregon’s first and biggest, its best chance of wolf recovery, will be killed. The opinions carrying the greatest weight will be those from NE Oregon residents. Our legislators, the governor, the ODFW, and the press need to hear from us, not just from the Oregon Cattlemen’s Assoc. and their friends.

Some points to consider:

The Imnaha pack represents half of Oregon’s wolves and the best chance for wolves to disperse to safer habitat in Central and Western Oregon, where livestock conflict is less likely.

Oregon wolves are protected by the Oregon Endangered Species Act. The Oregon Wolf Plan, implemented in 2005 and revised in 2010, requires wolves to be managed for recovery until their numbers allow them to be delisted. Treating every depredation as a crisis to be solved by lethal removals is not a satisfactory management plan for recovering a population. Killing wolves should be only a last resort.

There will always be stock losses from wolves, just as there are from coyote, bear, dog, cougar, eagle,and others. The OWP is not designed to eliminate wolf depredation, any more than state policy is to eliminate losses from any other predator. Predators are part of the livestock business in the West, where huge tracts of public land rightfully provide a home for wildlife, and from which the ranchers benefit by grazing allotments. Despite the presence of the Imnaha pack, no rancher has gone out of business or is in danger of doing so from wolves.

Confirmed wolf depredations are compensated at full market value and probables reimbursed at half market value by Defenders of Wildlife. Vet bills for confirmed wolf-caused injuries are fully compensated. A compensation bill is under consideration by the state legislature.

“The state Endangered Species Act prohibits the killing of listed species with very limited exceptions,” points out Jennifer Schwartz of Hells Canyon Preservation Council, “If ODFW is going to lawfully operate within that narrow window of exceptions, it must be able to show that lethally removing wolves in response to conflicts with livestock is somehow necessary to further their conservation in Oregon. With so few wolves in the state, we are very much unconvinced that we need to kill more wolves in order to promote their recovery.”

After a strong start last year, wolf tourism is just starting to take off this season, with eco-tours scheduled for this summer and private operators planning for 2012. Tourists are planning trips specifically to be in wolf country and Wallowa County will benefit. Obviously the slaughter of the county’s most famous and accessible pack will bring this to a halt, and may well give the county a bad odor to those planning a visit to view wildlife.

Oregon Wild, in a statement on Monday, listed these four ODFW shortcomings:

Violating the wolf plan by baiting members of the Imnaha Pack back to the site of reported depredations leading to more losses that may in turn be used to justify lethal control.

Failure to adequately document and publicly share information on claimed non-lethal preventative measures.

Issuing 24 landowner kill permits without adequately documenting and publicly sharing information demonstrating those permits were issued in compliance with the wolf plan.

Treating every conflict between wolves and the livestock industry as a crisis by devoting nearly all of the agency’s wolf-related time and resources on a small fraction of the duties prescribed by the plan at the expense of research, education, and conservation.

A note on incremental lethal removal:

The management policy being applied this spring by ODFW is called incremental removal and is used when stock predation becomes chronic. It should only be employed after all non-lethal tools have been used. It’s intended to spare the pack while removing the depredating wolves. In the case of the Imnaha pack, it may be a valid policy, but it’s not clear that all the stockmen suffering losses have in fact used all the non-lethal methods, especially removing dead calves from pastures. Dead animals left lying around draw predators, and scavenged carcasses can be presented as wolf kills.

The ODFW is following a protocol designed to save the Imnaha pack, but the pack may also be drawn to prey on cattle by carcasses left on the range.

Please contact the following to express your respectful opinion about lethal removal of the Imnaha pack.

Governor John Kitzhaber: gov.kitzhaber@state.or.us – 503-378-4582.

CC the following:

ODFW Director Roy Elicker: roy.elicker@state.or.us – 503-947-6044.

ODFW Commissioners: odfw.commission@state.or.us (Individual Commissioners here).

Please adapt your letter as a Letter to the Editor (300 word max) and send to

The Oregonian: letters@oregonian.com and post to http://www.oregonlive.com/opinion/

The Chieftain: editor@wallowa.com

The La Grande Observer: tkramer@lagrandeobserver.com

The Baker City Herald: kborgen@bakercityherald.com

Thank you all,

NE Oregon Ecosystems

Imnaha Alpha male (father) August 2009

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Photos : Courtesy ODFW

Posted in: Wolf Wars, Oregon wolves

Tags: ODFW, Imnaha Pack, Justice for wolves, Wallowa Country Oregon, Pro-active animal husbandry, non-lethal tools, Oregon Cattlemen’s Association

Published in:

on June 8, 2011 at 12:06 am Comments (59)
Tags: Imnaha pack, Justice for wolves, non-lethal tools, ODFW, Oregon's Cattlemens' Association, pro-active animal husbandry, Wallowa County Oregon

Beautiful Boy! UPDATE: It’s Confirmed, He’s Been Shot Dead!

UPDATE: October 6, 2010

It’s true!! A disgusting poacher killed a federally protected Oregon male wolf. They need to find this person or persons and throw them in the slammer. Aren’t you sick and tired of reading about dead wolves? Enough!!

Wolf Wars is in full swing. While Mt. Rep. Rehberg, Mt. Senators Baucus and Tester, Idaho Senators Mike Crapo and Jim Risch, Utah’s Reps. Jim Matheson, D-Utah, and Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah and Utah Senator Orin Hatch-R are backing legislation to strip gray wolves of their ESA protections, this little wolf is proving why wolves are not even safe while protected by the ESA, let alone without it!!

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Protected wolf in tracked pack killed in Ore.

The Associated Press

POSTED: Tuesday, Oct. 05, 2010

GRANTS PASS, Ore. State authorities confirmed Tuesday that a federally protected wolf has been killed in northeastern Oregon.

Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife wolf coordinator Russ Morgan said the killed wolf was a 2-year-old Wenaha pack male recently fitted with a radio tracking collar. The silver male was captured and fitted in August, Morgan said.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, which has jurisdiction since wolves were restored to the endangered species list in August, is investigating, he said.

Fish and Wildlife spokeswoman Joan Jewett said it had no comment.

The wolf was a subdominant male and the only member of the pack carrying a radio collar, allowing biologists to track the pack’s whereabouts. The pack has four adults and at least two pups.

Wiped out in Oregon by bounty hunters more than 60 years ago, wolves first returned to the state in 1998 from Idaho, where they were introduced in a federal effort to get them off the endangered species list.

Two other wolves have been illegally shot since then. Two from the Imnaha pack were killed by government hunters for attacking livestock.

Ranchers angry over the state management plan’s limitations on killing wolves to protect livestock spoke out last week at an Oregon Fish and Wildlife Commission meeting.

“The more and more these depredations occur, ranchers are going to – I think these guys are going to defend themselves,” Oregon Cattlemen’s Association President Bill Hoyt said in an interview.

Steve Pedery, conservation director for Oregon Wild, a conservation group, said the Wenaha pack has not been tied to any livestock attacks.

“This wasn’t something easily brushed aside, like somebody mistaking it for a coyote,” said Pedery. “This was a silver wolf wearing a big honking radio collar that is hard to miss. Somebody was out to shoot a wolf. It is very important that the agencies get on top of this so it is a deterrent to other yahoos who want to follow suit. That’s what makes us nervous about them being completely silent now.”

http://www.bellinghamherald.com/2010/10/05/1654050/protected-wolf-killed-in-ne-oregon.html#ixzz11YWx1Oyx

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UPDATE: October 5, 2010

There’s an unconfirmed but reliable report, posted in Oregon’s La Grande Observer, that this sweet guy has been shot and killed. Apparently he was found by wildlife officials during a routine telemetry check. Just another sad chapter in Wolf Wars that’s raging across the West, fueled by the blind hatred that caused the first Western extermination. It’s 1910 all over again.

Ironically there are meetings being held today in Hamilton and Dillon, by Montana Rep. Rehberg, to discuss his anti-wolf bill, that would strip gray wolves of their ESA protections. The meeting panels are stacked with the anti-wolf crowd but did we really expect the “listening sessions” to be fair and balanced? Absolutely not!!

The killing of this beautiful wolf is the reason wolves cannot survive in this country without the protection of the ESA. It’s very disturbing this Wenaha pack male had recently been collared. Coincidence that he is now dead? Did someone gain access to his telemetry? I’ll report more on this sad case when the information becomes available.

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August 9, 2010

Isn’t he a beauty? He’s a two-year old male from Oregon’s Wenaha pack. The pack consists of four adults although he looks so much like a puppy. There are unconfirmed reports the pack has puppies. This picture was taken during the collaring process.

I don’t like collaring, someday this collar could get this guy in trouble. Traditionally collaring was used for research but now if wolves are suspected of livestock depredation it’s a way Wildlife (Dis)Services can track down the pack and kill the wolves. They’ve killed entire packs this way in the Northern Rockies.

Oregon has two confirmed wolf packs, the Imnaha and Wenaha packs. The Imnaha pack has been in the news because Wildlife Services was hunting two uncollared gray wolves from the pack. They say the wolves were involved in livestock depredations back in late Spring 2010. Several conservation groups filed a lawsuit to stop the hunts.

From NaturalOregon.org

“Four groups, the Hells Canyon Preservation Council, Oregon Wild, Cascadia Wildlands and the Center for Biological Diversity sued to stop federal agents from killing two members of the Imnaha wolf pack in Wallowa County. The agency carrying out the hunt is USDA’s Wildlife Service.

The lawsuit claims that Wildlife Services should have first conducted an environmental analysis to assess how much damage would be done by the hunt. There are two known packs in the state, with 14 wolves. There’s also a few more lone wolves roaming Oregon, so the total could be closer to 20. Killing two of them means reducing their numbers by ten percent – or more. If that kind of damage is considered “significant”, then the feds may be required to take the additional step of writing an Environmental Impact Statement.“

Wildlife (Dis)Services called off the hunt until they conduct an environmental review, so basically the hunts are over. I can do the review for them. Oregon has approx. twenty wolves, tops, two confirmed wolf packs and a few lone wolves. If they kill two of them for a few calves, that could seriously impact the wolves survival.

What you won’t hear about are the thousands upon thousands of cows ranchers lose every year to weather, disease, reproductive issues and theft. All predator losses are a tiny percentage of the totals. Wolves killed fewer cows than vultures nationally (NASS 2006).

Happily the Imnaha’s are safe for now.

UPDATE: Remote cameras captured images of four Imnaha pups and six adult wolves, including B-300, the alpha female, nick-named Sophie. The alpha male was finally spotted on camera as well after he seemed to disappear for several months. His collar was not functioning and he hadn’t been sighted since May 31. Thankfully he’s alive.

Here are pics of the Imnaha pack with pups taken by the trail cameras.

Imnaha pups frolicking

Imnaha adult

Four Imnaha adult wolves

I’ll continue to follow the progress of Oregon’s Wenaha and Imnaha wolf packs. These wolves are now protected by the ESA, since Judge Molloy relisted wolves on August 5th, 2010.

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