By MARK FREEMAN
Mail Tribune
Opponents of a draft plan for managing wolves that wander into Oregon are posting an 11th-hour attempt to scuttle it, claiming a recent federal court decision re-listing wolves as “endangered” renders the plan toothless and useless.
Under Tuesdayýs ruling by U.S. District Court Judge Robert Jones, wolves lost their 21-month stay on the threatened species rolls and were returned to the more stringent status as endangered under the Endangered Species Act.
The ruling means only federal agents can kill wolves that attack livestock. Oregonýs plan includes protocols for allowing ranchers to shoot offending wolves, which can be legal under threatened status.
The Oregon Fish and Wildlife Commission is scheduled to finish an almost two-year-long discussion on wolf management Friday by adopting its wolf-management plan.
However, Sharon Beck, who represents ranchers on a committee that drafted Oregonýs wolf plan, said she believes Tuesdayýs decision renders Oregonýs planning process moot because it negates any need for a plan.
“Legally, we have to stand and watch it kill our livestock, leaving us impotent to do anything,” Beck said. “Why pass a plan?”
Beck instead would prefer the commission wait until wolves are taken off the threatened or endangered species rolls and their management shifted from federal agencies to the states.
“I donýt think it will in our lifetime,” Beck said. “We canýt even get it down-listed, let alone de-listed.”
Commission Chairwoman Marla Rae said Saturday that the court decision does not change a need to craft a strategy to manage wolves, which biologists expect to cross into Oregon naturally from Idaho within the next five years.
“The court didnýt order the wolf to stay in Idaho,” said Rae, of Salem. “Theyýre still going to come to Oregon and we need a plan in place to deal with them.”
Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife officials also are resisting efforts by Beck and others who created a spurt of last-minute public comments to the agency Thursday and Friday.
Anne Pressentin Young, the ODFWýs spokeswoman on wolf issues, said Tuesdayýs ruling does alter the draft plans for laying out under what circumstances problem wolves could be killed by residents.
But she stressed that other aspects of the plan ý educational efforts, creation of criteria for how many breeding pairs would make viable populations here and identification of areas where new research is crucial ý make it relevant.
“Just because we donýt have everything in place doesnýt mean we should stop what weýre doing now,” Pressentin Young said Friday. “Why not pass it now and be ready?”
The commission, which sets Oregon fish and wildlife policies, is set to hear its last round of public comments during a hearing Thursday in Troutdale. The seven-member commission is scheduled to discuss and vote on a final version Friday in Troutdale.
Amaroq Weiss, the western director of species conservation for the Defenders of Wildlife and a member of the wolf advisory committee, said delaying the planýs adoption could keep the Oregon Legislature from passing new legislation to enact the plan during the current session.
Weiss, whose organization filed the suit that led to Tuesdayýs decision, said halting the planýs passage would create unneeded “public angst” in an already emotional debate.
“We need an action to take place and we need to move forward from there,” said Weiss, of Jacksonville.
The draft plan promotes social tolerance for wolves that were hunted to extinction in Oregon in the early 1900s to protect livestock.
Although there are no known wolves in Oregon, they are classified as a threatened species on state lists. Three have been found in Eastern Oregon since 1999, having migrated from Idaho. Two were found dead and the third returned to Idaho.
The multifaceted plan would establish population and breeding objectives, create a program to compensate for livestock losses and permit wolves to inhabit unused but suitable habitat within the state.
The plan must first be adopted by the agency, then requires state legislation to fully implement it.