DORRIS — Members of Protect Our
Property, a group that opposes listing gray wolves
for protection under the California Endangered
Species Act, will meet Tuesday in Dorris to discuss
efforts to prevent listing efforts.
The meeting will be at 6 p.m. Tuesday at the Dorris City Hall, according to Bert Holzhauser, one of the POP leaders.
Earlier this year, the Center for
Biological Diversity petitioned the California
Department of Fish and Game to protect gray
wolves under the state ESA. Various groups
oppose the listing, including POP and some
California counties.
The Dorris City Council recently
passed a resolution asking Siskiyou County
officials to request California Fish and Game to
do studies on the environmental, health, social,
customs, cultural and economic impacts, and to
consult with affected counties, before
considering the request to list gray wolves. The
resolution says wolves have had negative impacts
on game populations and livestock “at the cost
of tens of millions of dollars each year to
economies.”
Holzhauser and Shirl Woodson, a
Butte Valley rancher and POP member, said
concerns about expanding wolf populations have
been expressed by ranchers and others in several
states and British Columbia.
Local sightings
A lone wolf known as OR-7,
traveled through Southern Oregon, including
Klamath County, until moving into Siskiyou and
two other far Northern California counties in
late 2011.
“We want to keep the wolves out
of California,” Holzhauser said. “We don’t want
them (the California Department of Fish and
Game) to put wolves on the endangered species
list.”
The POP group wants people to
write letters opposing the listing of gray
wolves through the California ESA to: California
Fish and Game Commission, attention Executive
Director Sonke Mastrup, PO Box 944209,
Sacramento, CA 94244-2090, or by email to
fgc@fgc.ca.gov,
by Sept. 30.
“Let the commission know how the
introduction of wolves could adversely affect
your livelihood, livestock operations, hunting,
hiking or way of life in rural California,”
Holzhauser said.