Counties unite in defending killing of Oregon wolves

CANYON CITY - Grant and Umatilla Counties are joining Wallowa County in defending the killing of Oregon wolves as part of the state wolf management plan.

The Oregon Court of Appeals earlier this month granted a stay sought by three environmental groups that halted an Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife plan to kill two wolves from the Imnaha pack in Wallowa County.

The wolves were blamed for killing cattle in Wallowa County.

Wallowa County officials, taking up the cause of local ranchers, decided to allocate $5,000 to file a brief in the case. They asked other Eastern Oregon counties to support the effort.

The county boards in Grant and Umatilla Counties each met Wednesday, Oct. 19, and agreed to add their counties to the effort. Each county board approved up to $1,000.

ODFW announced the plan to kill the two wolves – the alpha male and a younger male – on Sept. 30, after the pack was linked to a calf killing near Joseph.

Since then state wildlife officials have confirmed another calf kill, bringing the number of confirmed livestock kills this year to eight, all in Wallowa County.

The wildlife groups - Cascadia Wildlands, Center for Biological Diversity and Oregon Wild - in an Oct. 5 filing also challenged the state's authority to exterminate problem wolves, calling that a violation of the state Endangered Species Act.

The groups obtained the stay order a day after an ODFW employee shot at but apparently missed the sub-adult wolf. The state has until Oct. 26 to file its response to the lawsuit.

"The Oregon wolf population is too endangered to sustain killings, and moreover that non-lethal measures are more effective at reducing livestock depredations than lethal measures are," said Noah Greenwald, endangered species director of Center for Biological Diversity, today.

The Oregon Attorney General's Office is defending the wolf management plan and the administrative rule being challenged by environmental groups.

On Oct. 18, Wallowa County Commissioners sent out a request for support from other counties.

"The general feeling of the attorneys is that the more counties that participate, the more impact we will have on the case," wrote Wallowa County Commission Chairman Mike Hayward.

"Our neighbor Wallowa County is at the front lines of the wolf issue," said Umatilla County Commission Chairman Bill Hansel. "Their producers are experiencing the most predation and our livestock growers are very concerned as well. "