The Imnaha Pack is one of only two reproducing wolf packs in Oregon. Killing two surviving members, including the alpha male, will make life even harder for the two wolves in the pack who are left -- and make them more likely to resort to preying on livestock.
Such heavy-handed reaction to occasional wolf depredations will squelch wolf recovery in Oregon. Far more effective would be to insist on better livestock husbandry practices to reduce the vulnerability of stock and the likelihood of conflict.
Government wolf killing has not built tolerance for wolves in Idaho, Montana and Wyoming, where more than 1,000 wolves have been killed in response to depredations; yet now calls for killing wolves are growing. To build true coexistence, and perhaps a measure of tolerance, Oregon's state government must first tolerate the wolves.
Please contact Oregon Governor John Kitzhaber today. Enter your zip/postal code below and we will help you submit your comments. You can also send comments through the governor's site at http://www.oregon.gov/Gov/contact.shtml or contact his office by phone at (503) 378-4582 or fax at (503) 378-6827.
You can also contact the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife:
Roy Elicker, Director: roy.elicker@state.or.us, (503) 947-6044
Russ Morgan, Wolf Coordinator: russ.l.morgan@state.or.us, (541) 963-2138 Ex.231
Please revoke the kill order for two wolves of the Imnaha Pack of wolves in eastern Oregon. Give these wolves an executive pardon, and rethink a failed orthodoxy of wolf "control" that is unlikely to build tolerance for wolves and will hurt wolf recovery in Oregon.
Wolves in Oregon are biologically endangered, even though Congress stripped them of their endangered status through an unprecedented, backdoor rider on a must-pass budget bill this spring.
The Imnaha Pack is the first reproducing pack in Oregon. Killing two of them, including the alpha male, on top of the losses this wolf family already suffered earlier this year may doom the pack or force them to resort to cattle. Thus far, they have only rarely fed on livestock and primarily on natural prey. With wolves under the gun in Idaho, fewer may make it to Oregon in coming years.
Wolf "control" typically leads to sloppier husbandry practices and increasing depredations as the incentives shift for those who are ideologically opposed to wolves and see that their losses are not only reimbursed but also lead to removal of animals they abhor. Please stop Oregon from going down this fruitless and primitive path. Show true courage and pardon our Imnaha wolves.
