B-300, the alpha female of the Imnaha wolf pack. Taken in July of 2009 when ODFW replaced her radio collar. Photo from ODFW.
6PM: UPDATED WITH NEW INFO FROM ODFW
The hunt for wolves in Northeast Oregon is – for all practical purposes – on permanent hold as federal officials begin the job of studying how the hunt will impact the state’s small population of gray wolves.
Dan Kruse of Cascadia Wildlands says his group received a letter from USDA Wildlife Services, the agency that was assigned the job of killing two members of the Imnaha pack in Wallowa County.
He says Wildlife Services has agreed to voluntarily hold off hunting until it completes an Environmental Assessment, one of the steps called for under the National Environmental Policy Act.
This is exactly what environmental groups wanted.
About a month ago, Hells Canyon Preservation Council, Oregon Wild, Cascadia Wildlands and the Center for Biological Diversity sued to stop the hunt. They said Wildlife Services was required by law to complete an Environmental Assessment before the hunt could begin.
The feds responded by calling off the hunt for the month of July, then extended that until August 12th when oral arguments are scheduled before a federal judge.
Kruse is pleased with the indefinite delay. He says an Environmental Assessment will take several months and could continue into early next year. That buys more time for the wolves.
Meanwhile the feds and the environmental groups are negotiating a formal agreement. If that happens, the August 12th hearing will be cancelled.
The orders to kill two wolves came from ODFW, and don’t expire until the end of August. Today, ODFW’s Michelle Dennehy says it’s unlikely the agency will ask anyone else to carry out the order. She also says the shoot to kill permits that were issued to ranchers in the area expire tomorrow, and probably won’t be extended.
It’s been almost two months since the last wolf attack. But that doesn’t mean it won’t happen again. Dennehy says both cattle, and wolves, have moved into higher pasture on public lands. ODFW received a $15,000 grant to hire a range rider to patrol the area and haze wolves away from cattle. The patrols began July 7. ODFW also has a staff person watching over cattle most evenings.
And finally, still no word on the fate of the alpha male of the Imnaha pack. His tracking collar stopped transmitting May 31 and he’s not been seen or heard from since.
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PHOTOS: Four New Wolf Pups Born In Oregon
UPDATE: Oregon Wolves Get Four Week Break From Hunting
Lawsuit Filed To Stop Oregon Wolf Hunt
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So a rancher killed two wolves that were maybe killing cattle, and we’re subsidizing open range land cattle grazing more instead of less. WTF?
As far as we know, none of the ranchers have killed wolves.
Dennis
Natural Oregon
Not that my intent is create friction between the different user groups and land owners, but is it normal for two radio collars on wolves to just go dark? Or is there just too much effort and expense involved in tracking down “live” radio collars because of the endless locations a wolf could get to and die? I personally believe that ranchers and wolves should be able to co-exist with each other. Wolves and their radio collars going missing seems questionable.
Jeff,
Only one collar has stopped transmitting, the one on the alpha male.
ODFW says it’s not that unusual for a collar to stop working, and for the wolf to be “missing” for long periods of time. The previous collar on the alpha female also stopped working and it was several months before she was found and re-collared.
Dennis
Natural Oregon
Good news, the alpha male is alive!
http://www.katu.com/news/local/101559148.html
First reported here on NaturalOregon.org.
http://www.naturaloregon.org/2010/08/23/two-new-wolf-pups-in-eastern-oregon/
Sorry for bragging just a bit.
Dennis
Natural Oregon