Wednesday, April 6, 2016 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
Slick’s Que Depredations lead to lethal control for wolves
Co. earns
“best of
the best”
status
Slick’s Que Co. of Sisters
has been named to the
National Barbecue News’
“Best of the Best Barbecue
Restaurants in America.”
The National Barbecue
News released its updated
guide of “Best of the Best
Barbecue Restaurants in
America” for the month of
October. Slick’s Que Co. is
one of 29 on the 2016 list and
the only restaurant named
for the state of Oregon. The
“Best of the Best” guide has
currently awarded this honor
to only 32 barbecue restau-
rants across America in the
past year.
To be eligible for the list,
a restaurant must be taste-
tasted, without notice or
announcement, by an affili-
ate of the National Barbecue
News. The honor is awarded
for a one-year period, at
which time the restaurant is
re-tested in the same man-
ner to see if they make the
grade for the following
year.
Kell Phelps, publisher of
the National Barbecue News
said: “The Best of the Best
Barbecue Restaurant Guide
was set up to give recogni-
tion to the true barbecue
‘joints’ or places. The very
first step in this process is
to pass unscheduled taste
and service tests. Not every
place will make it past this
first step. We actually turn
down way more places then
[sic] we accept into this elite
barbecue group. Without a
doubt, they’ve captured what
real traditional barbecue is all
about.”
Old-School-Style
The Oregon Department
of Fish and Wildlife has con-
firmed five livestock depre-
dation incidents on private
land in recent weeks by some
wolves in the Imnaha pack.
This came despite continued
efforts by ODFW, Wallowa
County officials, and area
livestock producers to deter
wolf-livestock conflict with
non-lethal measures.
With the pack now
involved in chronic livestock
depredation and as part of
implementation of Oregon
Wolf Conservation and
Management Plan provisions,
ODFW will lethally remove
depredating wolves to reduce
the likelihood of further
losses.
Information from two col-
lared wolves — OR4, the
alpha male and OR39, the
alpha female — indicate that
they and another two younger
wolves have regularly used
an area of private land on the
westernmost portion of their
known home range.
While infrequent visits
were historically made to the
area by this pack, the near-
continual use of the area at
this time of year is a marked
departure from the pack’s nor-
mal pattern. Coinciding with
this changed pattern, ODFW
documented livestock depre-
dation by the pack in inves-
tigations on March 9, March
25, two more on March 28
and one more on March 30.
ODFW received a lethal
order request after the March
9 depredation, but did not
authorize it. At that time, the
Imnaha Pack had not been
involved in depredation since
the previous October and
ODFW didn’t characterize
the situation as chronic. That
changed when the pack killed
or injured livestock in four
additional incidents, bring-
ing the total to six separate
incidents within five months.
ODFW received another
lethal order request after the
March 25 depredation.
“Unfortunately members
of the Imnaha wolf pack
are once again involved in
chronic livestock depreda-
tion, and ODFW is adhering
to the plan and protecting the
interests of area livestock pro-
ducers,” said Russ Morgan,
ODFW wolf coordinator.
“Spring is typically the time
when depredation increases.
Even more cattle and sheep
will be on these private lands
soon as calving and lambing
season continues, increasing
the risk for even more losses
from this group of depredat-
ing wolves.”
Under the rules associated
with the Wolf Plan in Phase
II, ODFW can authorize
lethal control of wolves at a
property owner or permittee’s
request if a) the agency con-
firms at least two depreda-
tions on livestock in the area;
b) the requester has docu-
mented unsuccessful attempts
to solve the situation through
non-lethal means; c) no iden-
tified circumstance exists
that attracts wolf-livestock
conflict; and d) the requester
has complied with applicable
laws and the conditions of
any permit.
In the current Wallowa
County situation, non-
lethal measures were being
used when the depredations
FINE
FURNITURE
By Commission
Dining Tables, Desks,
Beds, Chests, Etc.
Adam Bronstein, Craftsman
541-410-1309
SpringCreekWoodworking.com
occurred and there were no
bone piles or other attractants
present. The preventive mea-
sures for the sheep producer
included midnight spotlight-
ing, three livestock protection
dogs with the sheep 24 hours
a day, three-per-day checks
of livestock and a range rider
patrolling the area and hazing
the wolves when found. For
cattle, delayed pasture rota-
tion to keep animals closer
to a public road, pasturing
yearlings with cows, frequent
checks on calving cattle, and
patrolling/hazing by a range
rider were used.
While ODFW documented
eight wolves in the Imnaha
Pack at the end of 2015, the
department believes the pack
has grown and that four of
the wolves (the alpha male
and female and two younger
wolves) have separated from
the rest of the pack. These
four have been traveling
together in this area and are
associated with the four recent
depredations on private land.
Meanwhile, other mem-
bers of the pack have been
spending time in an area
separated from the four dep-
redating wolves. They are not
known to be involved in the
chronic depredation patterns
and are not subject to the
lethal control order. ODFW
will focus lethal control
efforts on the wolves linked
to the depredations.
Morgan believes the
Imnaha group of wolves
could be splitting up and that
age and physical condition
may be playing a role in the
depredation. The alpha male
is nearly 10 years old and the
alpha female has been known
to limp.
“As wolves grow old, or
if they are injured, they are
unable to hunt traditional wild
prey as they have in the past,”
said Morgan. “This could be
playing a role in the pack’s
recent behavior.”
This will be the third time
ODFW has used lethal control
for wolves since they returned
to the state in the early 2000s.
Two wolves were killed after
a number of losses in Baker
County in 2009, and two
wolves from the Imnaha Pack
were removed in 2011 due to
chronic livestock depredation.
Oregon’s wolf popula-
tion as a whole is growing.
ODFW documented 110
known wolves at the end of
2015, a 36 percent increase
over 2014.
“This is the tough part of
the job, but we believe lethal
control is the right deci-
sion in this situation,” said
Morgan. “Wildlife managers
must strike a balance between
conserving wolves and mini-
mizing impacts on livestock.
This action in response to this
situation will not affect the
continued positive wolf popu-
lation growth we are seeing
across Oregon.”
Let us show you
how much you can
save this year!
Call 541-588-6245,
for a free quote!
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