Enviros withdraw from Oregon wolf plan

Environmental groups in Oregon announced Monday they have withdrawn from talks on how to manage the state’s rebounding wolf population because of what they called a “broken” process, and concerns that state wildlife officials want to make it easier to kill wolves that prey on livestock without trying other alternatives. The announcement came after months of negotiations to update rules on how and when wolves can be killed as their numbers increase and they spread farther west and south after re-entering northeastern Oregon from Idaho more than a decade ago. It wasn’t immediately clear what would happen to the talks, although the environmental groups said they would “collectively and actively” oppose the wolf management plan proposed by the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife. Ranchers reacted to the news with surprise and disappointment. Rodger Huffman, a small-scale rancher in rural northeastern Oregon, said wolf numbers have risen so dramatically in recent years that it’s no longer useful to focus on conservation. The population now needs to be managed to minimize damage to livestock, he said. “I don’t think anybody can expect to get everything you want, and so to pick up your marbles and say, ‘I’m going home because I’m not getting my way’ is a little bit unprofessional,” he said...MORE