The department in a press release said radio collar evidence shows wolves from the pack were present at the site of both attacks.

The incidents are the third and fourth confirmed wolf depredations by the Imnaha pack in 2013.

The northeast Oregon pack has been involved in more than two dozen depredations in recent years.

A court injunction is currently blocking a state order to kill two wolves from the pack.

The pack is one of six known packs in Oregon, and one of only two Oregon packs known to be involved in depredations.

–Mitch Lies

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SKURUP–The three llamas who attempts to guard sheep in Näsbyholm outside Skåne Skurup against wolves – and dogs – are in place. The idea is that the 130-pound, spitting and kicking camel animals to scare away the four-legged invaders.

In the U.S., llamas are used successfully to protect the free range herds of domestic animals against both cougars and coyotes. In collaboration with the sheep owner in two places in Skåne the county government is to test if the method also works here.

“We hope that Lamas should stand between the sheep and the attacking wolf or dog,” said County Administrative predators Officer Bertil Nilsson.

Both Näsbyholm and on the second test site Ravlunda have been ravaged by wolves last fall, leaving nearly a hundred wounded and killed sheep.

Skåne was the county with the highest domestic animals attacked by wolves in 2012. Yet, attacking dogs are an even bigger problem for sheep owners.

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CHEYENNE — Lawyers for the federal government and several pro-hunting organizations have joined the state of Wyoming in urging a federal judge not to allow a coalition of environmental groups to drop a lawsuit challenging recent federal action turning wolf management over to Wyoming.

The coalition, led by WildEarth Guardians, last week moved to dismiss its lawsuit pending before U.S. District Judge Alan B. Johnson of Cheyenne. A lawyer for the coalition said recently it’s putting its support behind a similar lawsuit that other environmental groups are pushing in Washington, D.C. Wyoming officials accused the environmentalists of forum shopping.

Environmental groups in both the Wyoming and Washington lawsuits have challenged the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s move last year to turn over Wyoming wolf management to the state government. The groups say the state’s management plan, which classifies wolves as unprotected predators that can be shot on sight in most of the state, fails to afford them adequate protection.

Hunters have killed scores of wolves in Wyoming since the state took over management in October. State officials now say they intend to reduce regulated trophy hunting quotas for wolves this fall to prevent populations from possibly falling low enough to trigger a return to federal management.

Colorado lawyer Jay Tutchton represents WildEarth Guardians and other environmental groups in the Wyoming suit. He said last week the groups were dismissing their case because they decided it wasn’t an efficient use of resources to have two lawsuits over the same thing going on in two different places. An attempt to reach him for comment Thursday wasn’t successful.

The Wyoming Attorney General’s Office on Monday asked Johnson not to allow WildEarth Guardians and the others to drop their lawsuit, accusing them of forum-shopping.

Cheyenne lawyer Harriet Hageman represents the Wyoming Wolf Coalition, which includes several Wyoming county governments along with agricultural and sportsmen groups. She filed papers on Tuesday also asking Johnson not to dismiss the case.

“This court’s involvement in this matter is simply too important to allow for the type of shenanigans that are evident in the petitioners’ efforts to ‘dismiss’ this action,” Hageman wrote.

Safari Club International, a pro-hunting group, and the National Rifle Association both have intervened in both the Wyoming and Washington, D.C., wolf lawsuits to support Wyoming’s continued wolf management. The groups this week also asked Johnson not to dismiss the Wyoming lawsuit.

Lawyer Jay Jerde with the Wyoming AG’s Office wrote to Johnson this week noting that WildEarth Guardians had originally filed its lawsuit in Colorado after the Washington lawsuit was filed. He said WildEarth Guardians apparently were not worried then about any inefficiency in having two parallel lawsuits running on the same issue until a federal judge in Colorado transferred the case to Johnson’s court early this year.

Johnson ruled in 2010 in an earlier lawsuit that the federal government had been wrong to insist that the state rewrite an earlier version of its wolf management plan to give wolves more protection.

U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson, who’s presiding over the Washington D.C. case, last month declined a request from Wyoming and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to transfer it to Wyoming. She stated that the issue of ending federal protections for wolves in the state is one of great national significance.

On Thursday, Hageman said it’s apparent to her that WildEarth Guardians and the other groups don’t want Johnson to hear the case. “It is important,” she said. “Judge Johnson previously upheld the Wyoming plan, and we believe he should be given an opportunity to evaluate it again.”

Anna Seidman is director of litigation for Safari Club International in Washington, D.C. She said Thursday that her group believes WildEarth Guardians and the other groups should be required to continue the lawsuit they started.

“The district court in D.C. called this an issue of national concern, but it’s also an issue of Wyoming concern,” Seidman said. “So we would like to see that the case remains open to be litigated in a Wyoming court.”

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LANSING, MI (MPRN) — Voters will decide the fate of a state law that allows wildlife officials to set wolf hunting seasons in the Upper Peninsula.

As Michigan Public Radio’s Rick Pluta reports the referendum has been approved for the November 2014 ballot:

A state elections board agreed the “Keep Michigan Wolves Protected” campaign gathered more than enough petition signatures to get the challenge on the ballot. That also suspends the law until voters decide.

But the Legislature and Governor Rick Snyder also approved a second law. It circumvents the referendum and still allows the state to establish wolf seasons.

Jill Fritz of “Keep Michigan Wolves Protected” says the campaign could attempt another referendum, or go to court.

“There could be some legal issues involved,” she says. “We’re still looking at all of the options.”

Michigan’s first wolf season is slated for this coming November. Supporters of the hunt say it’s needed to help control wolf attacks on pets and livestock in the Upper Peninsula.

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A petition opposing the 2013 Michigan wolf hunt has gained enough signatures to temporarily suspend the hunt

MARQUETTE — The 2013 wolf hunt is officially suspended, but some say it is only temporary. A petition from the Keep Michigan Wolves Protected campaign has gained more than 255,000 signatures from Michigan, enough to fight and suspend the law declaring the wolf as a game species.

The Keep Michigan Wolves Protected petition signatures were validated Wednesday, meaning that Public Act 520 is suspended. They only needed about 161,000 signatures to succeed. Governor Rick Snyder signed the act in December declaring the wolf as a game species. The petition removes the wolf from the game species list, therefore suspending the hunt, until the public can vote on it in November 2014.

“I think the campaign, no matter what, is moving forward through public outreach and an educational campaign with the goal of obtaining votes in 2014 that would repeal Public Act 520,” said Adam Robarge of Wild Land Guardians. Robarge led the search for signatures in the U.P. for the campaign.

It may not matter, however. Earlier in May, Governor Snyder signed Public Act 21, giving the Natural Resources Commission the power to add to the game species list, not just the state, and the petition is only good against the state legislature. The NRC has the authority to completely bypass the petition if they choose.

“The petition drive, while valid, is really not going to have an impact. We’re far enough out from the established wolf hunt that the new legislation will kick in and we will have a wolf hunt regardless of this petition drive,” said Terry Minzey, U.P. Regional Wildlife Supervisor with the Michigan Department of Natural Resources.

Minzey and the DNR support the limited wolf hunt.

“It helps us to at least attempt to address some of those chronic problems where we have dogs being attacked by wolves, we have wolves coming into town and people are worried about the safety of their children, and we have livestock being killed,” Minzey said.

In May, during the NRC’s monthly meeting and prior to the validated petition, the NRC voted six to one to establish the wolf hunt under their new authority from Public Act 21. The May meeting was the first monthly meeting with the new authority.

On June 13 during the next monthly meeting for the NRC, they will vote on whether to re-name the wolf as a game species, something Minzey expects to be a guaranteed vote to restore the wolf hunt based on their previous vote. Minzey describes the June vote to restore the hunt more as a formality and that ultimately the hunt will not be affected.

Many fighting the hunt are not discouraged.

“Certainly it’s disappointing, but no matter the outcome, I think that what’s happening now, remaining steadfast with the goals of the campaign is completely positive,” Robarge said.

The Department of Natural Resources has more details on the wolf hunt.

LA GRANDE – Domestic sheep and cattle have been taking hits from gray wolves this month in northeastern Oregon, and at least one young wolf has died, according to the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife.

Four sheep were confirmed killed, another was injured and still another is missing north of Pendleton, the department confirmed this week. Wolf tracks were found at the scene, and radio-collar data showed at least one wolf from the Umatilla River pack was in that area the night of the attacks, said biologists.

Meanwhile, a rancher’s yearling cow was killed by Imnaha Pack wolves in Wallowa County on May 15, the department reported. Evidence of at least two wolves was discovered at the scene, according to biologists.

Five days earlier, ODFW biologists confirmed a rancher’s calf was bitten on a hind leg by a wolf, but was expected to survive.

Biologists found a radio-collared Wenaha pack wolf known as OR19 dead of unknown causes in the Sled Springs game management unit of Wallowa County May 19, the department reported. Foul play was not suspected.

The wolf, a 55-pound yearling female, had been trapped by ODFW biologists eight days earlier in the Sled Springs area and released with a GPS radio collar, the department said. The capture went well and the wolf appeared healthy and unharmed, said biologists.

However, on May 17, the collar emitted a “mortality message,” indicating it had been stationary for an extended period. When biologists investigated, they found the wolf had died.

OR-19′s carcass is being examined to deterine the cause of death.

Biologists found a new pair of wolves last month in the Mount Emily area of Union County. The wolves, probably a male and female, trotted onto private land near the Grande Ronde Valley, but may have since moved into higher-elevation forests away from the valley, said biologists.

Biologists also trapped and GPS-collared an adult breeding female belonging to the Minam pack in Wallowa County, reported the department. That pack frequents the 560-square mile Eagle Cap Wilderness and was discovered last year, the biologist said. This 81-pound animal is the first wolf from the pack to be radio-collared.

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According to DNR wildlife biologists, a dog was killed in a wolf attack while it was chained up in a fenced yard in Atlantic Mine. This is the same location that another dog was killed last week.

“Wolf attacks on dogs around residences are usually uncommon,” said DNR wildlife biologist Brian Roell. “The landowner was working to provide fencing and better boundaries, but unfortunately another dog was killed on this property in a short amount of time.”

The DNR says that it has provided 30-day permits to kill wolves on the property of both landowners involved in the three wolf attacks on dogs in the area. Roell added that in addition to the permits, the DNR will now take a more active role in attempting lethal control of the wolves in the area.

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The 26-member panel is expected to recommend a quota for the state’s second wolf hunt that’s due to begin in October. Last year, the quota was 201 wolves, or about a quarter of the state’s total population – but the final figure was reduced to 117, because Chippewa Indians refused to let hunters kill the animals to which the tribes were entitled. Recently, the DNR said the wolf population grew only slightly over the past year to between 809-834. The DNR’s David McFarland says planning for the next wolf hunt will continue despite a legal challenge from animal rights’ groups who seek to put wolves back under federal protections. McFarland said if there’s judicial action quote, “We’ll change course at that time.” Also, he said the advisory panel will not touch the question of eliminating wolf hunting at night – a provision that’s in the proposed state budget. McFarland says that issue is in the hands of legislators now. Today’s recommendations will go to a DNR policy team and agency officials, and then to the Natural Resources Board.

….

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A proposal to liberalize the state’s wolf hunting season is generating both hurrahs and howls in the Bitterroot Valley.

State wildlife officials are taking public comment on a proposal to lengthen the wolf-hunting season and increase the bag limit from one to five.

The proposal would add more than two months to the wolf rifle season, which would run from Sept. 15 to March 31. The new rules would increase the bag limit from one wolf to five in a season.

Ravalli County Fish and Wildlife Association’s Tony Jones said the proposed season structure is similar to what that group asked for in 2010 when it was seeking a special exemption to protect elk herds in the West Fork of the Bitterroot before wolves were delisted.

“This is the type of season that we’ve been looking for since then,” Jones said. “It should get some more wolves harvested. FWP and the Legislature stepped up to the plate and are working to make the season more conducive for hunters wanting to bag a wolf.”

Last year, hunters and trappers killed 14 wolves in Ravalli County. The year before, 13 wolves were taken by sportsmen.

On Wednesday, Wolves of the Rockies’ Mark Cook said the proposed season goes too far.

“There needs to be balance,” Cook said. “What they are proposing is just way too extreme. It will allow the hunting of pregnant wolves. We don’t hunt any other animal like that.”

The Stevensville man said his organization rejected the wolf season proposal outright and asked FWP officials to sit down and discuss alternatives.

“We extended our hand to FWP,” Cook said. “To date, they haven’t reached out to us.”

Cook said his organization believes that senior FWP officials are taking advantage of changes occurring on the state wildlife commission to ramrod this proposal through.

“There is no one restraining the senior leadership of the FWP right now,” Cook said. “They’re off to the races.”

Cook advocates non-lethal measures to control wolf predation on livestock, including better animal husbandry, flaggery and better communication between community members impacted by wolves.

In the Bitterroot, Cook said that forage is beginning to recover following large wildfires in the area and the elk population appears to be making a comeback as a result.

“The Bitterroot elk study shows that wolves aren’t the main predators of elk calves,” Cook said. “Why are they hammering them like they are?”

Jones has different explanations for the recent jump in elk numbers in the southern end of the Bitterroot. He points to liberalized seasons for bears and mountain lions, as well as a large reduction in elk hunting opportunity in the area.

“It’s not like we’re picking on wolves,” Jones said. “Hunters have given up plenty of opportunity over the past few years. Across the board, hunters have probably given more than their fair share.”

Jones urged sportsmen to comment on the proposed wolf season, as well as attend the FWP commission meeting in July.

“That is going to be really important,” he said. “There will be plenty of opposition. The pro-wolf people will be there. We need to make sure that hunters are there in force.”

“If you want to see elk recover in the Bitterroot to the point where we can get our general season back, we need to make a bigger impact on predation,” Jones said. “We need to see more calves and more bulls survive to get back where we were.”

To find out more about the proposed change or to comment, people can visit FWP’s website at fwp.mt.gov and click on “Hunting.” Comments are due by 5 p.m. June 24. People can also mail comments to FWP – Wildlife Bureau, Attn: Public Comment, P.O. Box 200701, Helena, MT 59620-0701.

Montana’s wolf population is estimated to be at least 625 wolves, in 147 verified packs. There were 37 breeding pairs in the state at the end of 2012.

There were 13 documented wolf packs in the Bitterroot Valley in 2012, which was up one pack from the year before. A state wolf biologist put the total number of wolves in the Bitterroot in 2012 at 59.

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Voters will decide the fate of a state law that allows wildlife officials to set wolf hunting seasons in the Upper Peninsula.

As The Michigan Public Radio Network’s Rick Pluta reports the referendum has been approved for the November 20-14 ballot.

A state elections board agreed the “Keep Michigan Wolves Protected” campaign gathered more than enough petition signatures to get the challenge on the ballot. That also suspends the law until voters decide.

But the Legislature and Governor Rick Snyder also approved a second law. It circumvents the referendum and still allows the state to establish wolf seasons.

Jill Fritz of “Keep Michigan Wolves Protected” says the campaign could attempt another referendum, or go to court.

“There could be some legal issues involved,” she says. “We’re still looking at all of the options.”

Michigan’s first wolf season is slated for this coming November. Supporters of the hunt say it’s needed to help control wolf attacks on pets and livestock in the Upper Peninsula.

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