Imnaha Wolf Pack Under Assault In Oregon..TAKE ACTION!!

Imnaha alpha male…August 2009

Does the persecution ever end?  

The Imnaha wolf pack, in Eastern Oregon, is under increasing pressure from…..wait for it….ranchers!!  Isn’t that shocking?  Do they ever stop whining?

Apparently hysteria is building to blame multiple cattle deaths on the pack to get them killed. 

I had hoped Oregon was more forward thinking and tolerant  but apparently not. It’s the usual suspects screaming to get rid of wolves. And surprise of suprises the media coverage has been mostly one sided, very similar to what we get in Montana, Idaho and Wyoming. 

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Wallowa County Ranchers Endanger Oregon’s Wolves

author: Wolf Howl

Constant and escalating hysteria against wolves in NE Oregon has put more than half of Oregon’s wolves in danger of being exterminated.

“A relentless and dishonest media campaign by the Oregon Cattlemens’ Assoc. in Wallowa County is aimed at exterminating the Imnaha pack near Joseph. This pack of 10 accounts for more than half of our known wolf population of 14. Ranchers are claiming many calves killed despite only ONE confirmed case of depredation from a population of 36,500 cattle county-wide.

A recent story (link to www.wallowacountychieftain.info) implying yet another wolf kill was proved wrong when an ODFW investigation showed no bite marks, no signs of struggle, no characteristic wounds. The local media continue to print completely unbalanced stories and editorials misrepresenting wolves while seriously limiting opposing views. Mounting political pressure at state and local levels is aimed at exterminating this pack. The Oregon Wolf Plan is up for review this year and the OCA and its allies are pushing hard for permission to shoot wolves at their own discretion, which means a slaughter.

Many Wallowa County ranchers have taken no proactive non-lethal measures to protect their livestock, such as the use of fladry, range riders, or burying their dead animals deep enough so as not to attract wolves. Money to pay for these measures and others are available from Defenders of Wildlife and the ODFW. Defenders compensates all confirmed losses at market prices.

In Idaho last year, where wolves are most numerous in the West, less than 1% of cattle losses were attributed to wolves. Livestock operators can adapt to the presence of wolves, as has been shown in the West and in northern Minnesota, where 3,000 wolves co-exist with cattle and sheep operations, but in Wallowa County they are opting to go all-out for extermination.

Contact the ODFW at ODFW.Comments@state.or.us and support our wolves:

1) Don’t allow ranchers to kill wolves;

2) Raise the breeding pair limit from the current level of 3 to 12. As it stands now, once there are 3 breeding pairs, Oregon wolves loose their protected status.

Public comment period lasts until June 30.

Without a groundswell of support, these wolves, and their pups, could be killed this year.”

 http://portland.indymedia.org/en/2010/05/399524.shtml?discuss

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Please support Oregon’s Imnaha wolf pack by writing to ODFW!!  ODFW.Comments@state.or.us

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Here are the beautiful Imnaha wolves showing off their pups last November. 

Imnaha Wolf Pack….Eastern Oregon!!

https://howlingforjustice.wordpress.com/2009/11/23/imnaha-wolf-pack-eastern-oregon/

Below is footage of wolf B-300 in northeastern Oregon. She is the alpha female of the Imnaha pack.

B-300 was the first wolf confirmed to have dispersed from Idaho, returning wolves to Oregon. What a great adventurer she is!  She passed her powerful genes to her pups.

Wolves are apex predators, essential for the health of ungulate herds. They play a vital role keeping ecosystems healthy.

Don’t let ranchers dictate their fate!!  You can help save the Imnaha wolf pack by speaking out for them and sending comments to ODFW before June 30.  ODFW.Comments@state.or.us  

Here is a comment sent to ODFW from a  wolf supporter. 

You could reference these talking points in your comments to ODFW!

Dear Commissioners:

The constant and escalating hysteria against wolves in NE Oregon has put more than half of Oregon’s wolves in danger of being exterminated.

This relentless and dishonest media campaign by the Oregon Cattlemens’ Assoc. is aimed at exterminating the Imnaha pack near Joseph. This pack of 10 accounts for more than half of our known wolf population of 14. Ranchers are claiming many calves killed despite only ONE confirmed case of depredation from a population of 36,500 cattle county-wide.

Many NE Oregon ranchers have taken no proactive non-lethal measures to protect their livestock, such as the use of fladry, range riders, or burying their dead animals deep enough so as not to attract wolves. Equipment and help to pay for these measures and others are available from Defenders of Wildlife and the ODFW. Defenders compensates all confirmed losses at market prices.

The OCA was responsible in 2005 and 2007 for blocking passage of the legislation called for in the OR wolf plan that would have, among other things:

1. amended the Ag Damage statute to allow take of wolves by private citizens under certain circumstances

2. established a compensation/proactive non-lethal fund.

The OCA argued then that folks should be allowed to take wolves under extremely broad circumstances and that they would accept nothing less.They succeeded in killing passage of the very legislation that would have helped them.

Allowing the language OCA wants to introduce to the Wolf Plan would not only take management decisions out of the hands of biologists and wildlife managers, but it would make it next to impossible to enforce poaching laws.

In Idaho last year, where wolves are most numerous in the West, less than 1% of cattle losses were attributed to wolves. Livestock operators can adapt to the presence of wolves, as has been shown in the West and in northern Minnesota, where 3,000 wolves co-exist with cattle and sheep operations.

I earnestly urge the ODFW to:

* Keep wolf management in the hands of biologists and wildlife managers. Allowing individuals the license to kill wolves on their own initiative would lead to widespread and indiscriminate slaughter of our wolves, in many cases of wolves not involved in livestock predation.

* Establish a state fund to assist in providing non-lethal deterrents to wolf depredation including both the necessary hardware and subsidies for the employment of range-riders, and to compensate ranchers for confirmed wolf depredations.

* Raise the breeding pair limit from 3 to 12 to ensure the survival of a healthy wolf population in Oregon.

Thank you.

 

 HOWLS for making a difference for wolves!

 

Photo: Courtesy ODFW

Posted in: Oregon wolves, Wolf Wars, Howling For Justice, gray wolf/canis lupis

Tags: Imnaha wolf pack, Oregon wolf pack under fire, persecution of wolves, biodiversity