Bill would make it easier to kill Oregon wolves

Frustrated that a judge has blocked a state kill order against two members of Oregon's first wolf pack, the Oregon Cattlemen's Association is pushing legislation to boost the state's authority over the predators. Conservation groups that sued the state to stop the kill order say the rancher bill is an effort to circumvent their lawsuit and the state Endangered Species Act, which association's legislative chairman denies. Bill Hoyt, of the Cattlemen Association, said the group would rather the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, not judges, make decisions about wolves. "It is intended to make clear what ODFW has the power to do under what has been agreed upon in the Oregon wolf plan," said Hoyt, a Cottage Grove cattle rancher and past president of the association. He added that the association wants to get some conservation groups on board, because without them the bill is unlikely to pass. Noah Greenwald of the Center for Biological Diversity said by providing a loophole for killing wolves, the bill would create a precedent for getting around state protection for any species that gets in the way of logging, ranching, or development...more