Ranchers fight back against wolves

For decades, ranchers in Central Oregon didn't have to worry about wolves going after their chief investments: cattle out to pasture or on the range. But as wolves continue to spread through the state, they're once again bracing for the loss of lifestock to the predators. “If the wolves take our livestock, then we lose that money,” said Galen Wunsch, whose family lives on the C Lazy K Ranch between Madras and Prineville. Raised to be breeding stock and not for meat or milk, cattle on the ranch fetch $3,000 to $20,000 per head, he said. The family wants to protect that investment. In Eastern Oregon, wolves have killed livestock ; given the growing spread of the species, the first wolf kill in Central Oregon will likely be in the next year or two, said Jon Belozer, a trapper for the U.S. Department of Agriculture who covers Jefferson and Crook counties. “We are going to deal with this here,” he told a room of about 20 ranchers in mid-January at the annual Jefferson County Livestock Association meeting in Madras. Along with the tax credit bill, House Bill 4005, lawmakers are considering HB 4158, which would affirm the ability of state wildlife managers to kill wolves if they've attacked livestock. Following its wolf plan — which was created in 2005 and revised in 2010 — the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife set out to kill two wolves in an Eastern Oregon pack last fall. The Oregon Court of Appeals has indefinitely stopped the hunt while considering whether the killing of wolves is warranted under the state Endangered Species Act. A trio of conservation groups filed a lawsuit prompting the court's review...more