Grey wolf to be delisted within two years, biologist thinks

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service biologist John Stephenson told a crowd of more than 50 Wallowa County ranchers that he thinks the grey wolf will be removed from the federal list of endangered species within a year or two. He and service field supervisor Gary Miller from the La Grande field office drew a roomful of Wallowa County ranchers, and other than Stephenson’s opinion about the delisting of the wolf, had little new information to impart at a recent meeting to discuss interactions between livestock and the growing 16 member Imnaha wolf pack. Agency officials planned the meeting to communicate and prepare for spring calving, the season when ranchers saw a high loss of calves to wolves last year in the east county areas. Several east county ranchers told the agency officials that their cattle businesses are suffering because of the added cost of constant welfare checks on the herds. “I’m spending two to three times for fuel to check on my cattle, and I feel I should double or triple that effort. Financially, I don’t know how long I can afford to do that,” one rancher said. “We’re expecting to have some problems this spring and that’s why we’re here,” Stephenson said...more