Wolf 'caught-in-the-act' permits ineffective, ranchers say

The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife has issued 31 permits for ranchers to kill wolves caught attacking livestock over the past two years. Not once have the permits resulted in a kill. "Not one rancher has had an opportunity to kill a wolf, being that they are nocturnal and (the attacks have) happened at night," said Rod Childers, Oregon Cattlemen Association's wolf committee chairman. According to Oregon's Wolf Compensation and Management Plan, ranchers must try extensive nonlethal control measures and meet other criteria before they are eligible for a permit. Finally, a permitted rancher must catch a wolf in the act of attacking livestock. "It is a tool, and we want to provide this tool to ranchers," said Michelle Dennehy, a spokeswoman for ODFW. "But the opportunity to use the permit is rare because wolves avoid people and attack at night." Speaking to the House Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee Feb. 9, Childers said ranchers have done all they can do to minimize losses to wolves, including installing fladry, which are flags on ropes meant to scare wolves, cleaning bone piles and supporting a range rider. But, he said, losses continue to mount from wolf depredation. One pack alone, the Imnaha pack in Eastern Oregon, is responsible for 22 losses, according to state wildlife officials. Wallowa County ranchers also report more than 50 head of livestock missing over the past year, Childers said. Capital Press