By MITCH LIES
Capital Press
SALEM — An Oregon House committee has scheduled an April 29 work session on a bill allowing ranchers in zones of chronic depredation to kill — or “take” — a wolf without a permit if they catch it in the act of attacking livestock.
If passed, House Bill 3452 would authorize the first permit-less take of wolves in Oregon since wolves re-inhabited the state earlier this century.
Wolves were hunted to extinction in Oregon under a state-sponsored bounty that was withdrawn in the 1940s.
The House Rules Committee has scheduled the work session at 3 p.m. in Hearing Room 50 of the Capitol.
Earlier, the House Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee gave the bill a do-pass recommendation, with only Rep. Jeff Reardon, D-Portland, voting against it.
In addition to the permit-less take, the bill clarifies in statute that the state can lethally take wolves to address chronic depredation of livestock. The provision is expected to remove a court stay on a current state order to kill two problem wolves from the Imnaha pack, one of six known packs in the state.
The Oregon Court of Appeals issued the stay in October 2011 after three environmental groups appealed. Cascadia Wildlands, Center for Biological Diversity and Oregon Wild argued that the Oregon Wolf Conservation and Management Plan, which authorizes take of problem wolves, is inconsistent with the Oregon Endangered Species Act.
The court heard oral arguments in the case in January. A decision is pending, according to Lora Keenan, media contact for the court.
Wolves from the Imnaha pack have killed more than two dozen head of livestock in Wallowa County, including several after Appellate Commissioner James Nass issued the stay.
The Umatilla River pack is the only other Oregon wolf pack known to have killed livestock, according to Michelle Dennehy, wildlife communications coordinator for the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife.
As of the end of 2012, eight wolves were in the Imnaha pack and four in the Umatilla River pack. They are among 46 wolves known to be in Oregon, according to the ODFW.
“There could be more, but that is all that we can confirm through scientific evidence,” Dennehy said.
If passed, the bill will go to the House floor.