The Fish and Wildlife Departments of Oregon and Washington released their annual wolf counts earlier this month with both departments showing an increase in wolf populations. Depredation numbers were down from 2018, but doubts are being raised as to whether those numbers are accurate and whether the departments are doing enough to lower the rates of depredation.
Oregon wolf count
The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife released its annual Wolf Report showing an increase of the population to 158 wolves during the biologist’s count this past winter. This represents a 15 percent increase over last year’s count of 137. A total of 22 packs were documented, up from 16 packs in 2018 (a pack is defined as four or more wolves traveling together in winter). Nine other groups of two to three wolves were also identified.
A new breeding pair, the Indigo Pack, was identified in eastern Lane and Douglas counties, bringing the total number of packs in western Oregon to three. Eight new packs were designated with breeding pairs. They are the Bear Creek, Clark Creek, Cornucopia, Desolation, Fivemile, Heppner, Indigo and Keating packs.
“We know that due to the dense plant cover in the western part of the state, wolves are extremely undercounted,” Roger Huffman and Veril Nelson, co-chairs of the Oregon Cattlemen’s Association (OCA) Wolf Task Force, said in a press release. “The acknowledged minimum numbers stated continue to grow at an alarming rate, 15 percent on totals and 27 percent in packs.”
The report also states a confirmation of 16 wolf depredations of livestock, down 43 percent from the confirmed count last year. Confirmed losses in 2019 were one adult cow, 11 calves, six sheep, and one livestock protection dog. The report noted that less than 30 percent of packs depredated on livestock, and five packs depredated one time, and one pack twice. The majority of the wolf depredations was attributed to the Rogue pack, which depredated nine times.
“We know that confirmed losses of livestock are not the actual losses that wolves, directly and indirectly, contribute to,” said Huffman and Nelson. “We do not buy into the argument that more wolves equate to fewer livestock losses. Time will show that increased numbers equate to increased losses, both confirmed and the higher percent unconfirmed and unreported. Because we have seen government regulation and management do little or nothing when there are rare confirmations, we know that producers have quit reporting.”
To compensate for depredation losses, the Oregon Department of Agriculture awarded grants of $178,319 to 11 counties. Funds were used for direct payments to livestock producers for confirmed depredations and missing livestock, but most of the funds were used for non-lethal preventative measures to reduce depredation.
“While there is a wolf non-lethal deterrent fund and compensation program, it is severely underfunded and discourages producer participation due to its complexity and ultimately its small funds to help producers stay in business,” said Huffman and Nelson. “The cost of wolf recovery and conservation should be a shared cost by the public, not only those impacted by [the] loss.”
Washington wolf count
Washington experienced a similar upward trend in their annual wolf count in 2019, with the population reaching their highest levels according to a report released by the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW).
In 2019, one of WDFW’s partners in wolf management, the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation (CTCR), changed their methodology for counting wolves. So for the 2019 annual count, the department is reporting the counts separately.
WDFW counted 108 wolves in 21 packs, and CTCR reported 37 wolves in five packs. The two counts combined represent an 11 percent increase in the wolf population over the previous year. The CTCR changed count methodology because they consider wolves recovered on their lands.
Two new wolf packs were confirmed in 2019, while another may have disbanded. A new Sullivan Creek Pack formed in Okanogan County. Wolves reestablished a territory in the Kettle Mountains in northeast Washington. That new pack is called the Kettle Pack. WDFW surveys indicated a single wolf maintained the Diobsud Creek territory this winter, which had been considered the only western Washington pack, but no longer meets the definition of a pack for 2019.
The majority of packs, 85 percent, were not involved in known livestock or other animal depredations last year. WDFW investigators confirmed 14 cattle killed by wolves in 2019, plus one more probable instance, and another 11 cattle that were injured. It represents a slight decrease over wolf-livestock conflicts that occurred in 2018.
“We had more negative impacts to cattle and lethal removals last year than we’d like to see. It’s been a challenging situation, but ranchers are continuing to play an important role in reducing wolf-livestock conflict,” said WDFW Wolf Policy Lead Donny Martorello. “And we are starting to see local, grass-roots efforts to improve the use and effectiveness of non-lethal deterrents.”
In June 2019, the Stevens County Cattlemen Association counseled “eastern Washington residents that are experiencing problems with predators to call their local sheriff first, before calling the Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife.”
The release was prompted by an incident Memorial Day weekend when a wolf approached a man and his daughter. The man shot and killed the wolf. WDFW Police Captain Dan Rahn pushed back on other aspects of the release. The cattlemen’s news release highlights the skepticism with which some northeast Washington residents view WDFW’s management of wolves and cougars.
WDFW spent a total of $1,518,659 on wolf management activities during 2019, including $134,937 in reimbursement to 33 livestock producers for Damage Prevention Cooperative Agreements-Livestock; non-lethal conflict prevention expenses (range riding, specialized lighting and fencing, etc.); $251,100 for 11 contracted range riders; $8,773 to two producers for livestock losses caused by wolves; $30,103 to one producer for indirect damages; $128,613 for lethal removal operations in response to depredations on livestock; and $965,133 for wolf management and research activities.
Washington Cattlemen’s Association was not available for comment at press time. — Charles Wallace, WLJ correspondent
