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Email: timberwolfinfonetwork@gmail.com

CA: Tehama County wolf presentation sparks debate

Agencies give OR-7 update

By Janet O’Neill

RED BLUFF — A talk on wolves drew some heat in Tehama County on Tuesday, with some audience members at a Board of Supervisors meeting venting outrage.

Karen Kovacs, wildlife program manager for the state Department of Fish and Game’s northern region, appeared with others as part of attention focused on OR-7, the gray wolf who arrived in California from Oregon Dec. 28.

“You just mention the word ‘wolf’ and you just get heightened interest,” Kovacs told the board. The DFG and federal officials have been “proactive” in meeting with sportsmen, agricultural interests and conservation groups to share information about wolves, she said.

A state wolf management plan depends on DFG funding priorities, Kovacs said.

Board Chairman Bob Williams bristled when Susan Moore, a Sacramento-based field supervisor for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, advised that killing the federally endangered gray wolf can bring a $100,000 fine and a year in jail.

“Excuse me, if a wolf is killing livestock …” Williams responded, and

later pressed speakers on whether payment is available for ranchers who lose their animals to wolves.

“We don’t have that process in California,” Kovacs said, noting the biggest losses are probably to coyotes, not wolves.

Describing himself as “an old sheep rancher,” Williams urged consideration of his and others’ concerns.

“They’re providing a smorgasbord out there with no compensation,” he said.

Also addressing the board was Richard Callas, a senior environmental scientist for the DFG, who said “so far, OR-7, to our knowledge,” has killed no livestock. The wolf, who’s been tracked via GPS collar, has fed on two deer, he said, but whether he killed them is unknown.

Pamela Flick, speaking on behalf of the nonprofit Defenders of Wildlife, also downplayed the threat to livestock, noting the animals are more likely to fall prey to coyotes, cattle rustlers, disease and weather.

Not everyone was convinced.

“I think the rancher has the right to kill it, whether it’s a dog, coyote or wolf,” Roger Marsh told the board, claiming that the issue is whether DFG can be “trusted” to provide accurate information. Resident Gene Shea agreed, saying the agency “cares more about trees, fish, birds, animals and ants” than it does about people.

“People are tired of this crap and are going to show it to them come November at election time,” he said.

Williams asked that groups continue to work with ranchers to ease their livestock concerns.

“I don’t want to see any of my friends go to jail because they pulled the trigger,” he said.

For his part, Supervisor George Russell said it’s hard to understand “the balance of nature” and the various points of view.

“I wish it were more clear-cut, but it isn’t,” he said.

The Center for Biological Diversity, meanwhile, petitioned the state Fish and Game Commission on Monday to place the gray wolf on California’s endangered species list, The Associated Press reported. And OR-7 had made his way back as far as northeastern Siskiyou County after passing through Shasta and Lassen in a mate-hunting excursion spanning hundreds of miles.

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