This male wolf from Wenaha pack was fitted with a radio collar on Aug. 4, 2010. ODFW photo.

On Thursday, the Oregon Fish and Wildlife Commission takes a look at a new Wolf Management Plan.

For those who care about the future of wolves in our state, this is the moment we’ve been waiting for. The agenda includes time for comments from the public. Wolf supporters – and detractors – are hoping for a good turnout so the Commission can finally hear what Oregonians think about this very controversial issue.

For the most part, this new plan was put together behind the scenes. It’s true that ODFW staff talked with interest groups, such as environmentalists and ranchers. It’s also true that they asked for the public to send in comments. At last word, more than 22,000 Oregonians took the time to put their thoughts down on paper or email. But there were never any public hearings. And the release of the new plan was not well publicized or explained.

From what I know, there are no major changes in the new plan. As far as environmentalists are concerned, that’s mostly good news. They’re generally supportive of it, though they think ODFW makes it too easy to kill wolves that are suspected of attacking livestock.

Oregon Wild sent out this list of bullet points to supporters earlier this week.

• Most Oregonians value native wildlife and welcome wolves back. The wolf plan is already a major compromise and should be strengthened. We must not make it any easier to kill wolves.
• The wolf plan must be fully funded and prioritize non-lethal methods over killing wolves in all phases of the plan.
• Wolves on public land should not be killed.
• Wildlife Services has demonstrated their incompetence and uncomfortably close ties to those who wish to kill wolves. Their role in confirming depredations must be limited or eliminated.

-Oregon Wild email

Ranchers have never been happy with Oregon’s wolf plan and see it as something that’s been forced upon them. They want to make it easier to kill wolves that are caught attacking livestock, and to be able to hunt them in nearby areas. They also want to make it easier to delist wolves under state law. As they see it, wolves are “terrorizing” Eastern Oregon.

The updated wolf plan gives ranchers a little of what they want.

Details:

Fish and Wildlife Commission Meeting
Washington County Fair Complex
Cloverleaf Building
873 N.E. 34th Avenue
Hillsboro, Oregon 97124

The day long meeting starts at 8:00am, but the Commission isn’t expected to look at the Wolf Plan until after lunch.

Reading Material:

What Oregonians Really Think About Their Wolves

Oregon Wild: Bringing Wolves Back Home to Oregon

Oregon Cattlemen’s Association: Wolves In Oregon

(FYI: The Cattlemen’s page has a what appears to be a major factual error. It says nothing was done after wolves killed 25 head of livestock in Oregon. Those attacks took place last year in the Keating Valley near Baker City and the two wolves that were responsible were hunted down and killed. See Oregon Wolves Killed By Wildlife Officials. It also says that wolves in Wallowa County are killing livestock “every few days.” While that’s true for the month of May, the last reported attack was on June 4. Despite the factual errors, I respect the group’s point of view on the issue and included the link for that reason.)

A view of Mt. Hood from Timothy Lake. Photo by K. Carpenter/U.S.G.S.

Off roaders are going to start seeing a lot of “closed” signs in the Mt. Hood National Forest.

A new Forest Service plan dramatically cuts back where off road vehicles are allowed. Environmental groups couldn’t be much happier.

Just how much of a reduction are we talking about? Currently, off road vehicles are allowed on more 2,300 miles of roads and trails. Under the new rule, they’re allowed on 146 miles in four distinct areas around the forest.

Here’s another big change. The current rules allow off roaders into areas where they are no roads or trails. It’s officially called “cross country” travel. Right now 395,000 acres are open to cross country travel. Under the new plan, it’s zero.

Bark, the environmental watchdog group for the Mt. Hood National Forest calls the new travel plan, “A huge victory.” The group is especially pleased because the travel plan moves off roading away from Wilderness Areas.

From the environmental point of view, here’s the problem. Off roading is a lot more popular than it was 20 years ago. More users mean more stress on the system. Plus, the vehicles are bigger and more powerful. They can do a lot more damage to environmentally sensitive areas. In 2004, the U.S. Forest Service named unregulated off roading as one of the four top threats to National Forests and Grasslands.

They are also conflicts with other users of the forests. When hikers and off roaders share trails, it can be a safety problem. That’s a big reason why Mt. Hood officials say they’re closing off so much of the forest. Besides, if you’re going on a hike to get away from it all, who wants to hear a noisy OHV?

Off roaders will be understandably upset by the new travel plan. They’re losing a huge chunk of the forest. But compared to what’s happening elsewhere in Oregon, Mt. Hood is the exception. All of the national forests have issued new travel plans, or are working on them. Most of them provide lots of miles for off roaders to roam.

Just across the river in Clark County, Washington DNR is planning a major expansion of the the off road trail system in the Yacolt Burn State Forest.

For more information:

Mt. Hood National Forest Travel Management Plan

Earlier Stories:

New Hiking, Off-Road Trails Coming To Clark County

Mt Hood: Putting The Brakes On OHVs In The Forest

Quiet Forests: It’s Decision Time On Mt. Hood

The three photos, released late Wednesday afternoon, show the two pups born this year to the Wenaha wolf pack in Northeast Oregon.

ODFW captured, weighed and measured, then released the pups last Friday.

As far as anyone knows, these are the first two pups born in the Wenaha pack. ODFW says they appeared healthy. They were too young to be collared, but an adult in the pack was outfitted with a radio collar earlier this month.

There are three photos to show you.

In this image, wildlife officials are weighing one of the Wenaha pups. ODFW photo.

One of the two Wenaha pack wolf pups. ODFW photo.

A Wenaha wolf pup being released. ODFW photo.

Combined with the four new pups in the Imnaha pack, Oregon’s small population of wolves has at least 20 members, up from 14 last year.

Related Stories:

New Photo of Oregon’s “Lost” Wolf

Two New Wolf Pups In Eastern Oregon

What Oregonians Really Think About Their Wolves

The alpha male of the Imnaha wolf pack is in the foreground, still wearing his radio collar. The alpha female is in the background. The image was recorded by a trail camera on August 11, 2010. ODFW photo.

ODFW just released this photo showing the alpha male of the Imnaha pack in Wallowa County. The photo was taken a couple of weeks ago as he and the alpha female stepped  in front of a trail camera.

If you’ve been following the wolf news this summer, you’ll remember that his radio collar stopped transmitting in late May. He went missing just as the controversy over wolf attacks on livestock was reaching the boiling point. So there was some concern he’d been killed by a poacher. ODFW was saying all along that a broken collar was a far more likely explanation. Turns out they appear to be correct. You can see him wearing the collar in the photo.

Still waiting for photos of the two new wolf pups in the Wenaha pack.

The alpha female of the Imnaha pack, also known as OR 200. ODFW photo.

On the same night, the camera snapped a new photo of OR 200, the alpha female of the Imnaha pack.

So far this year, we’ve seen photos of the alpha pair, plus four adults and four pups of the Imnaha pack. Hopefully that’s a sign they’re doing well.

It was a victory for environmental groups and the Yakama Nation. They said the federal government didn’t do a good enough job evaluating the risks of invasive species that might be hidden in the piles of trash.

Too bad for Hawaii that they didn’t have a back up plan. The garbage pile is growing to monster size. They’re trying to find other ways to get rid of it.

See the full story on Yahoo News.

And there’s some good news to report on Oregon’s other wolf pack. After being missing for almost three months, the alpha male of the Imnaha pack has been located.

This adult male from Wenaha pack was fitted with a radio collar on Aug. 4, 2010. ODFW photo.

The Wenaha Pups

ODFW says Wolf Coordinator Russ Morgan captured the pups on Friday. They were weighed and measured, appeared to be in good health, and then released. Although Morgan trapped two pups, it’s possible there are more. ODFW believes the Wenaha pack has three or four adults.

The uncertainty over the numbers shows how little we know about the Wenaha pack. That’s why ODFW was so excited a few weeks ago when one of the adults was captured and wildlife officials were able to outfit him with a tracking collar. The collar makes it much easier to monitor the pack. It may have been a big reason why ODFW was able to locate the pups.

ODFW says it will release the photos of the two Wenaha pups later today. I’ll post them as soon as I get them.

The alpha male of the Imnaha pack before receiving a collar. Photo from ODFW.

The Imnaha Alpha Male

As for the alpha male of the Imnaha pack, he’s finally been recorded on a trail camera. The image is the first we’ve seen or heard of him since May 31st. ODFW says the photo shows him wearing his tracking collar. So it’s a safe bet that the collar is broken and wasn’t able to transmit information about his location. ODFW also plans to release that photo later today.

Oregon’s Growing Wolf Population

Today’s news means that Oregon’s wolf packs have produced at least six pups this season. That brings the total number of wolves in the state from about 14 to about 20, almost a 50% increase.

There are probably a few lone wolves roaming the state, too. There were some very credible wolf sightings in the Cascades this winter near the Santiam Pass.

It’s been an incredible year for Oregon wolves.

Back in March, ODFW kicked off a six month review of the state’s Wolf Management Plan. It’s been taking comments from the public and interest groups since then. Agency staff will present proposed changes to the Fish and Wildlife Commission when it meets on September 2.

Later in the spring, wolves killed at least six calves near ranches in Wallowa County. That sparked a huge controversy over what to do when wolves kill livestock. To prevent further losses, ODFW eventually hired USDA Wildlife Services to hunt and kill two wolves in the Imnaha pack. ODFW kept extending the hunt, long after the attacks stopped. So four of the state’s environmental groups went to court and Wildlife Services agreed to stop the hunt.

Early this month, Oregon wolves were put back on the federal endangered species list. A federal judge in Montana ruled that the Obama Administration was wrong to delist wolves in Eastern Oregon, Eastern Washington, Montana and Idaho – but to keep them listed in Wyoming.

Related Stories:

What Oregonians Really Think About Their Wolves

Catch And Release. ODFW Captures Another Wolf In Northeast Oregon.

Oregon Wolves Back On The Federal Endangered Species List

PHOTOS: Four New Wolf Pups Born In Oregon

This post was written by Nick Engelfried, a volunteer for Sierra Club and one of the organizers of the Paint Past Coal event.

On Tuesday students and supporters involved in the Beyond Coal campaign used art to put our vision of Oregon’s clean energy future on canvas as part of an event titled Paint Past Coal.

In the morning a group of tending-toward-young activists set up a seven-foot canvas in Portland’s Waterfront Park and invited passersby to join us painting a depiction of the transition to clean energy in Oregon. At noon we walked to Portland General Electric’s customer service station, where we asked PGE to replace the Boardman Coal Plant with cleaner energy sources by 2015, the shortest timescale recommended by the Department of Environmental Quality.

Everyone from small children to grandparents took time to pick up a paint brush and add some color to a wind turbine being erected, or a community garden in the foreground. It took four hours to finish the painting, and then we walked to PGE’s nearby Portland offices. During a sidewalk rally outside we showed off the completed painting, while from the building people emerged to see what was going on. This was an important lesson from the day’s work: while just a crowd of people with signs might have turned onlookers away, a colorful painting on a giant piece of canvas made them want to stop, look, and learn more.

Students at the sidewalk rally spoke about the importance of this moment for Oregon’s clean energy future, the impressive degree to which student groups have already weighed in on the Boardman Coal Plant issue, and the value of art for envisioning the future. Security personnel from the building kindly accepted a petition urging the Boardman Coal Plant’s speedy retirement, and promised to deliver it to PGE president and CEO Jim Piro. The take home message from the day was that we will keep pushing clean energy solutions for as long as it takes. If PGE needs a picture to make the image hit home, we’re more than happy to oblige.

Related Story:

Game Changer: DEQ Takes A Fresh Look At Shutting Down Boardman

On Tuesday, they’re holding a Paint Past Coal event in downtown Portland. What’s it all about? Here’s a quote from their latest email.

8am – 11:45am: We’ll be at Waterfront Park, filling in a painting that depicts the transition to clean energy in Oregon. We will meet at 8:00 at SW Salmon and Naito Parkway, but will still be in the park nearby if you arrive after that time.

Shortly before noon we will head over to PGE’s Portland offices for a sidewalk rally and press conference. Student speakers will explain why this event is so important in the fight for clean energy.

You can get some more information from the event’s Facebook Page. When I last checked, 35 people said they were going to show up and another 100 were on the “Maybe” list. If you trust the National Weather Service, it’ll be a lovely 65 degrees when the event starts but will rise to 80 degrees just in time for the Noon press conference.

Coal Free Oregon is just one of the groups trying make sure state regulators close the coal-fired Boardman power plant well ahead of the current 2040 deadline. Along with the Sierra Club and other environmental groups, they support a plan by Oregon DEQ to close the plant in either late 2015 or early 2016. In return, PGE would avoid paying about $465 million in new pollution controls.

On the other hand, PGE is still aiming for a 2020 closure, but only if it can skip about $500 million worth of pollution controls.

Whatever happens, any plan need the approval of both DEQ and the state’s Public Utility Commission.

For More Information:

DEQ: Proposal For Early Shutdown of Boardman

Portland General Electric: Boardman Plant Air Emissions

Related Story:

Game Changer: DEQ Takes A Fresh Look At Shutting Down Boardman

The new plans covers about 40,000 acres, nearly all of them in Clark County.

The details include:

• Adding 78-miles of new trails. The hiking system will expand from 35 to 55 miles, and the official motorized system will grow from 14 to 73 miles.
• Removing about 170-miles of unauthorized off-road trails.
• Creating two zones in the forest. One for “quiet” users like hikers, and the other for the noisier off-roaders. DNR says this will reduce conflicts between the two user groups and improve safety. It’s used a similar approach at other forests in Washington and likes the results. In Oregon, the Mt. Hood National Forest is also working on a plan to separate quiet and motorized users.
• Improving some of the current campsites and trailheads and building new ones.

DNR estimates that two million people live within 45-minutes of the Yacolt Burn State Forest, and says it needed a better plan to handle the growing use of the area.

By the way, the Yacolt Burn is named for a huge wildfire that swept through the area in September, 1902. In just 36-hours, more than 238,000 acres went up in flames and 38-people in Clark, Skamania and Cowlitz counties were killed. Another fire in 1929 torched an additional 153,000 acres.

For More Information:

Yacolt Burn State Forest Recreation Plan

But as one of our tour guides reminded me, “It’s what you can’t see that will hurt you.”

The Portland Harbor may be the city’s least understood environmental problem. No one sees the river sediments that are contaminated with PCBs, heavy metals and pesticides. Nor can we spot the toxic groundwater that leaches into the river, carrying pollutants like DDT and dioxin.

This week, I was part of a group that toured the Superfund area on a boat trip sponsored by the Portland Harbor Community Advisory Group. I’m just beginning to understand the issue and I’m no expert by any stretch of the imagination.

So with that in mind, here are some impressions from the trip.

The former Arkema site, described as "ground zero" of the lower Willamette River. In the 1940s and 1950s, the company manufactured pesticides. The groundwater is contaminated with DDT, hexavalent chromium and benzene. A hidden plume leaches the pollutants into the river.

This Is Taking A Long Time

The lower Willamette River was declared a Superfund site in 2000. Ten years later and we’re still waiting for the clean up to start. About $75 million has been spent just studying the problem. Judy Smith with EPA says that’s because – even by Superfund standards – this is an unusually complex mess.

First, it’s a big site, more than 11-miles long from downtown Portland to Sauvie Island.

There’s also a lot of blame to go around. The EPA has identified more than 100 parties it says are responsible for the pollution and need to pay for the clean up.  Getting them to work together isn’t simple, but Smith says the level of cooperation in Portland is pretty good.

The clean up won’t be simple either. It helps to think of this as a collection of toxic hot spots, each requiring a different kind of clean up plan. What works in one spot may not work at another. Some toxins, such as PCBs, are widespread through the lower river. Other chemicals, like DDT, are in one or two isolated locations.

Smith says a clean up plan should be completed in the next year or two. That will be followed by a period of public comment and then EPA makes a final decision. So we’re still a few years away until the work begins. But early clean up is underway at a few locations.

There’s Lots Of Room For Improvement

This trip changed my mind about what we can do to improve wildlife habitat along the lower Willamette.

Beforehand, it seemed to me this was a hopeless cause, that there was little habitat left worth trying to save or restore.

That’s still true along the river near downtown. But as you go further downstream, I saw lots of riverbank that hadn’t been developed. In some spots there was only 50 or 100 feet between docks. Elsewhere there were long stretches of empty waterfront.

Some of the bigger empty areas could be restored as marshes and wetlands – safe havens for salmon, otters, beaver, herons and other wildlife. In the smaller sections, we could replant the riverbank with native trees and bushes. Even a strip ten feet wide along the river can help. Sand and gravel can be placed along the water’s edge, providing salmon friendly habitat. That’s already happening in some places.

At the federal level, a group of agencies and tribes will lead efforts to restore the lower Willamette once the clean up work is completed. Portland has its North River Reach plan, which would require companies that develop the riverfront, to also pay for habitat restoration. But businesses are fighting it in court.

It’s naive to think that the lower Willamette River can return to the way it was 100-years ago. No one expects that. But I’m now convinced there are plenty of opportunities for improvement, and that this working section of the river can support both industry and more wildlife.

For More Information:

EPA Portland Harbor Superfund

Portland Harbor Community Advisory Group

Portland Harbor Natural Resource Damage Assessment