outdoors
ODFW Commission Hears Wolf Report
Draft revised Wolf Plan
available for review,
Commission to consider at
June 7 meeting in Salem
The Oregon Department of Fish
and Wildlife (ODFW) heard the Wolf
Conservation and Management Program
Annual Report at their Commission
meeting in St. Helens on April 19, 2019.
The report was presented by Roblyn
Brown, ODFW’s Wolf Program Field
Coordinator.
Brown reported that the mini-
mum known count of wolves in Oregon
at the end of 2018 was 137, a 10% in-
crease from 2017. Brown said 16 packs
were documented, with 15 of those con-
taining breeding pairs, a 36% increase
from 2017. A pack is defined as four or
more wolves traveling together in win-
ter. In addition eight groups of two or
three wolves were identified. Wolves
were discovered in the central Oregon
Cascade Mountains in Douglas and Lane
counties in late 2018. Wolves in Oregon
have increased from less than 20 in 2009
to the current number of 137.
ODFW monitored 27 radio-col-
lared wolves, including 14 that were cap-
tured and collared in 2018. Seven wolf
mortalities were documented in 2018,
including six that were human caused.
ODFW received 71 requests
from livestock producers to investigate
dead or injured livestock suspected to
be wolf depredation. Of those investiga-
tions, 28 were confirmed as wolf caused,
compared to 17 in 2017. The Oregon De-
partment of Agriculture’s compensation
program awarded grants of $160,890 to
10 counties in 2018. Funds were used
for non-lethal preventive measures and
for direct payment for confirmed depre-
dations to livestock producers.
Wolves living west of Oregon
Highways 395/78/95 (Phase 1) continue
to be listed as Endangered under the fed-
eral Endangered Species Act. In Oregon
the Fish and Wildlife Commission re-
moved wolves from the Endangered list.
A lawsuit was filed by three environmen-
tal groups challenging the delisting deci-
sion and the case is still pending. Wolves
are protected statewide as a special sta-
tus game mammal and managed under
the Wolf Plan. Wolves in central Oregon
(Phase 2) and eastern Oregon (Phase 3)
are managed with a continuing emphasis
on non-lethal deterrents to reduce live-
stock depredation, the use of controlled
take in certain situations, and the permit-
ting of additional agencies to investigate
wolf depredations of livestock.
ODFW has released its draft
proposed update to the Wolf Conserva-
tion and Management Plan, available for
review at www.odfw.com/wolves.
The Commission is ex-
pected to vote on the Plan at its
June 7 meeting in Salem.
Once adopted, the Plan
will be the third edition of the
Wolf Plan, which was first ad-
opted in 2005 after an extensive
public process and revised in
2010.
The proposed Draft Plan
was written by staff but involved
extensive meetings with stake-
holders and public comment at
several prior Commission meet-
ings. In 2018, the Commission
also directed ODFW staff to host facili-
tated meetings with stakeholders to seek
consensus on unresolved issues.
The Draft Plan incorporates
ideas where consensus was reached, but
agreement was not possible on all topics.
See a report on the facilitated meetings’
outcomes at https://www.dfw.state.or.us/
Wolves/WPSR.asp.
“Wolf management is a polar-
izing topic with strong views on all
sides, so it’s tough to find consensus,”
says Derek Broman, ODFW carnivore
and furbearer program coordinator. “But
regardless of people’s views on wolves,
the wolf population in Oregon is grow-
ing in size, number of packs, and packs
reproducing, while expanding its range.”
Defining chronic depreda-
tion that might lead to lethal control of
wolves and hunting of wolves are some
of the most contentious issues. Staff
previously proposed the definition of
chronic depredation be three confirmed
depredations in a 12-month period in
Phase 2 and 3, a change from the cur-
rent definition (two confirmed depreda-
tions in an unlimited time frame). Due
to feedback from stakeholders at the
facilitated meetings, the Draft Plan now
proposes two confirmed depredations in
nine months in Phases 2 and 3 (so the
only change from the current definition
is a 9-month time restriction).
Like the original Plan, the Draft
Plan would allow controlled take only
in Phase 3 (currently eastern Oregon) in
instances of recurring depredations or
when wolves are a major cause of ungu-
late populations not meeting established
management objectives or herd manage-
ment goals.
ODFW is not proposing any
controlled take of wolves at this time,
but believes regulated hunting and trap-
ping needs to remain a tool available
for wolf management. Any proposal for
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controlled take of wolves would require
Commission approval through a separate
planning and hunt development process.
Other major topics addressed in
the Draft Plan include:
• Wolf-livestock conflict, in-
cluding an expanded section on
the latest non-lethal tools and
techniques for reducing con-
flict.
• Wolf interactions with native
ungulate populations, includ-
ing annual ungulate population
estimates before and after wolf
establishment. Elk, wolves’ pri-
mary prey, have increased in
some units with wolves, and
decreased in others. However,
interpretation of the impact of
wolf predation on elk is con-
founded by management efforts to re-
duce elk numbers in units where they are
over management objective or to mini-
mize conflicts with elk on private land.
Mule deer have been below desired lev-
els for more than two decades, before
wolves’ return to Oregon, with changing
land management strategies, invasive
weeds, and recent severe weather among
the main reasons for their decline.
• Wolf population monitoring and poten-
tial conservation threats.
• Strategies to address wolf-human inter-
actions.
Public testimony on the Draft
Plan will be taken during the June 7 meet-
ing and can also be sent to odfw.commis-
sion@state.or.us. Emails sent by May
23 will be included with staff proposal as
part of the review materials shared with
Commissioners prior to the meeting.
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