The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW) hosted a meeting of wolf plan stakeholder representatives (WPSR) Oct. 9 to discuss a new framework for the state’s Wolf Conservation and Management Plan (WMP). The meeting was mediated by a professional facilitator.
This was the second meeting of the WPSR, and while many of the topics from the Aug. 30 meeting were brought forward for discussion, no firm outcomes were reached, which was expected. In announcing the recent meeting ODFW noted that no formal decisions or rule modifications will be made during the facilitated meeting.
The need to review the WMP has been a topic of concern for some of the stakeholders for some time. When the current plan was implemented in 2005 it called for a review every five years. The plan was updated in 2010 and the wolf population and conflicts with livestock have grown since that time creating at least on some level a sense of urgency for livestock producers.
The WPSR includes representative from the Oregon Cattlemen’s Association (OCA), Oregon Farm Bureau, Oregon Hunters Association, Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, Oregon Wild, Cascadia Wildlands, Defenders of Wildlife and the Center for Biological Diversity.
Todd Nash, treasurer of the OCA and a Wallowa County, OR, commissioner, discussed the meeting with WLJ saying that one of the proposals would provide more clarity in what is expected when taking nonlethal measures to deter livestock depredations by wolves.
Although the current plan allows for nonlethal measures, Nash said the environmental community continues to call for more nonlethal deterrents. He said a plan that was put on the table for consideration from ODFW calls for the department to make agreements with individual ranchers to implement nonlethal measures. Then if chronic depredation occurs there would be no question that enough nonlethal activity had taken place, which would allow ODFW to implement lethal take of wolves.
Nash said the written agreement would need to be in place before depredations occurred, and with that in mind, could be implemented even before wolves were confirmed in an area. He said there have been a number of times when a rancher reported a depredation only to be told he hadn’t implemented enough nonlethal measures to prompt ODFW to take action. “The burden time and time again gets put back on the producer, so this was to help lessen that burden on him,” Nash said.
Nash emphasized that, while this plan was discussed, it was not adopted at this time, and there is no guarantee it will be part of the final framework to update the WMP. He noted, “Within the context of stakeholder meetings in the last four years, it was the first time that we had somewhat of an agreement between all of the stakeholders in the room.”
Paying for the cost of nonlethal measures was also discussed, Nash told WLJ that he mentioned that ODFW or another group—someone other than ranchers—should bear the cost and the response around the room was, “We can’t afford that.” However, the rancher is expected to pay for it, Nash explained. He said no specific details were offered on who would bear the cost.
While wanting to see a viable plan implemented, Nash said, “I certainly don’t want to put the rancher in the spot where are going to be asked to do all of these things and then not only have the burden of losing livestock that we know we are going to lose, but also have the burden of paying for all of these nonlethal deterrents that in many cases are very ineffective.”
OCA has remained steadfast on three areas of the plan: collaring; additional local authority; and management zones. Nash detailed some of the group’s concerns.
Continued collaring
OCA would like to see ODFW continue to place radio collar on wolves to help monitor their location and activity. Nash said OCA has asked that there be at least one collar in every pack with an emphasis on packs that are likely to be in conflict with domestic livestock. He noted this could include all wolf packs in the state.
Local authority
Local control is one of the big asks of OCA. Nash explained that ranchers would like local ODFW biologists to be able to make decisions on the fly to help confirm depredations. He said it is important for local officials to quickly make those determinations so that, when necessary, lethal action can be taken. “At this point, they don’t have the authority to confirm a kill in the field, which is just absurd,” he said.
Under current guidelines local ODFW staff gather material and evidence from the kill or injury site and send it to a district office where a determination is made. In some cases, the evidence is sent to the state attorney general’s office. All of this takes time and Nash said in some cases before a decision is reached the wolves have attacked again or moved onto a different location.
Nash told WLJ that what livestock producers really want is some normalization in determining depredations and then decisions to take lethal action. He said the process should be the same as when dealing with other predators such as coyotes, bears or cougars.
“Similarly, we would like the sheriff’s departments—and our department had been very active in the investigations—to be able to make determinations,” Nash said. “ODFW isn’t always available.”
Management zones
Nash said OCA would also like to see some changes in wolf management zones so that no one place in Oregon is overburdened with high density of wolves, so as to be a detriment to both wildlife and to domestic livestock.
“All we are asking for there is the establishment of wildlife zones and to start to work on that. We understand that will be a work in progress to what is an appropriate number of wolves in any given area, no different than there are management objectives for deer and elk and other species. We think that it is appropriate that it is done for wolves, as well.
“They have minimum numbers for wolves within the plan, but they don’t have any maximums.”
Relocating
Asked if relocating wolves from areas with large populations was discussed or a viable option, Nash said the issue gets brought up frequently. But he noted, “For us as cattle producers, for the most part that means we are dumping wolves on a fellow producer and we don’t think that is fair. As much as we would like to have more people understand what we are going through, there is still an ethical responsibility not to do that.”
ODFW said that, although no decisions were made, information from this and any future facilitated meetings will be incorporated into the wolf plan update for adoption by the Fish and Wildlife Commission at a future date. — Rae Price,WLJeditor
