Delisted wolves safe and sound in Oregon
Friday, February 22, 2008 12:57 PM PST
BAKER CITY (AP) — The federal government’s decision to remove gray wolves in the Northern Rockies from the endangered species list is unlikely to have a noticeable effect in Oregon.
Environmental groups have vowed to file lawsuits to try to prevent the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service from delisting wolves. Even if those lawsuits fail, wolves that migrate here would still be protected under Oregon’s endangered species act.
The state act generally provides even tougher protection than the federal act. It requires ranchers to obtain a permit before killing wolves that go after their livestock.
Sharon Beck, a Union County rancher and past president of the Oregon Cattlemen’s Association, predicts lawsuits will impede — perhaps permanently — plans to delist wolves.
‘‘We’re not going to get any help at all from the state or the feds,’’ she said. ‘‘We’re just at the mercy of the whims of the wolves.’’
Conservation groups, meanwhile, worry that the federal move to downgrade protection for wolves will make it tougher for wolves to recover in Oregon since there will be fewer to move from Idaho.
The Fish and Wildlife Service estimates that 1,500 wolves are distributed among Montana, Idaho and Wyoming. The loss of federal protection allows the three states to move forward with plans allowing hunters to target the animals, possibly as soon as this fall.
Gray wolves were added to the endangered list in 1974. They had been largely exterminated early last century from the continental United States. Since an initial 66 wolves were reintroduced to Yellowstone National Park and central Idaho in the mid-1990s, their population has grown rapidly. However, environmental groups describe the population as still on the brink of collapse if it faces added pressure from hunting.
Russ Morgan, wolf coordinator for the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, said it’s impossible to say how fast a wolf population might grow in Oregon, but he doubts the state will ever harbor as many as Idaho, Montana and Wyoming.
