Defenders' Experts
General History of Oregon's Wolf Conservation and Management Plan
In late winter-early spring of 1999, a young female wolf from Idaho, known as B-45, was discovered in eastern central Oregon, in the John Day region. Her visit triggered Oregon’s involvement in a series of public meetings, educational efforts and legal review that, in the end, resulted in the development of the Oregon Wolf Conservation and Management Plan.
In response to wolf B-45, several eastern Oregon counties passed anti-wolf resolutions, and anti-wolf legislation began to be introduced in the Oregon state legislature. A federal congressman from Oregon even tried to slip anti-wolf language into a federal appropriations bill.
Defenders of Wildlife (Defenders) and the United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) offered a different response, when they jointly co-sponsored the first "wolf working group" meeting, held in Bend, Oregon in May of 1999, and designed to bring diverse stakeholders together to discuss the natural dispersal of wolves into Oregon.
In 2000, two more confirmed Idaho wolves made their way into Oregon. Wolf B-83 was found dead on the road, killed by a car near Baker City. Several months later, an un-numbered, uncollared wolf from Idaho was found dead near Ukiah, illegally killed by gunshot.
The "wolf working group" meetings continued in response to the now-clear evidence that wolves would continue to make their way from Idaho into Oregon. While the first meeting had attracted over 100 attendees, the numbers of attendees dwindled over the years to a core dozen or so, but the meetings were continued on a quarterly basis for several years, with USFWS taking over their orchestration.
In the spring and summer of 2002, the Oregon Fish and Wildlife Commission (the Commission) held four "wolf workshops," so that they could become educated about wolves and issues related to wolves. The state agency, the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW) prepared the list of individuals who would speak at the workshops, to give the Commission a diverse spectrum of information. Wolf biologists and specialists from state and federal agencies and from tribes spoke, including USFWS, NPS, USDA/APHIS/Wildlife Services, the Nez Perce Tribe and others. Also presenting testimony were representatives of Defenders of Wildlife, the Oregon Cattlemen’s Association, as well as outfitters and guides, legislators, and former state wildlife directors from places such as Idaho, Oregon and elsewhere.
The Commission then directed ODFW to hold public town hall meetings throughout Oregon, to gather input from Oregonians about the concept of wolves dispersing into the state and whether a state wolf conservation and management plan should be drafted. Between November of 2002-January of 2003, 15 wolf town hall meetings were held, plus the public could submit written comments even if they did not attend one of the meetings. A total of 2027 people attended these statewide meetings and over 1300 written comments were submitted.
Based upon the input the Commission received at the four wolf workshops, the 15 wolf town hall meetings, and upon the advice they received from the natural resources division of the state attorney general’s office regarding the Commission’s obligations under Oregon’s own state endangered species act, in March of 2003 the Commission made the decision that they would develop a state wolf conservation and management plan.
In May of 2003, the Commission accepted nominations for people to act as representatives on a wolf advisory committee that would be tasked with assisting ODFW in drafting the wolf plan. In June, the Commission made their final selections of 14 individuals who would represent 14 different stakeholder interests in this process. The 14 categories were: Biologist, economist, educator, livestock producer, hunter, range and forestland conservationist, wolf conservationist, tribal representative, federal agency representative, trapper, eastern Oregon county commissioner, two citizen-at-large positions, and one rural Oregon citizen position.
The 14-member wolf advisory committee met for nearly a year on a monthly basis, from November of 2003 through August 2004. Twelve of the 14 members reached consensus on a draft plan, which they submitted to the Commission in September of 2004. The Commission adopted the draft for public comment, and held a public comment period from October of 2004 through early February of 2005, including several public hearings at which people could provide oral testimony. The wolf advisory committee met one last time, in December of 2004, to review the public comments received by that point and to make any further recommendations to the Commission.
On February 11th, 2005, the Commission adopted the wolf plan in substantially the same form the advisory committee had drafted, making very few changes. Learn about the current status of the Oregon Wolf and Management Plan.
On January 24, 2008, the La Grande Field Office of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service confirmed that a female gray wolf from the Boise, Idaho area is now making her home in northeastern Oregon. This is the first confirmed live wolf in the state. See Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife video footage of the female gray wolf in Oregon.
On March 28th the Fish and Wildlife Service delisted the grey wolf in the northern Rockies, so the Oregon Wolf Management Plan came into effect in the eastern third of Oregon. In the rest of the state the wolf is still listed under the federal Endangered Species Act. Defenders and other conservation organizations are in court to stop this premature delisting of the gray wolf.
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