Klamath County Commissioners delist gray wolf in oregon 050715

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Klamath officials - Delist gray wolf in Oregon: Commissioner Tom Mallams taking endorsement to Salem

by SAMANTHA TIPLER, Herald and News 5/7/15

The Klamath County Commissioners want to take the gray wolf off the Oregon endangered species list.

All three commissioners voted in favor of a resolution urging the Oregon Fish and Wildlife Commission to begin the steps to delist the wolf throughout Oregon during their work session Wednesday.

Last month the state commission started the public process to decide if the wolf population is robust enough to take off the state list, according to an Oregon Public Broadcasting report on the issue.

Breeding pairs

The Oregon Wolf Conservation Management Plan requires a minimum of four breeding pairs of wolves for three consecutive years in Eastern Oregon for the animals to be considered for state delisting. In 2014 there were eight breeding pairs in nine packs, and 77 known wolves in Oregon, according to a report from the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife.

“The state has a habit of letting things get way out of hand before they act,” said Klamath County Commission Chairman Tom Mallams. “We’re already past the minimum, well past the minimum. So I think it’s very prudent to get them onto the road to get them delisted like they said they would do according to their own management plan.”

The Klamath County declaration mirrors one made by Union County.

Wolves, livestock

“Once the wolf is delisted, more options are available to address wolf-livestock conflict,” the Klamath County declaration reads. “Delisting the gray wolves sends a message to the rural communities, livestock producers and sportsmen, that the Oregon Fish and Wildlife Commission intends for the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife to manage gray wolves by the adopted plan and control populations and limit effects on livestock and game populations.”

The Oregon Wolf Conservation Management Plan was adopted in 2005 and updated in 2010.

Wolves were listed under the federal Endangered Species Act in the lower 48 states in 1974, according to the ODFW report. The Oregon endangered species act put wolves on its list in 1987.

2008: First wolf

Wolves were brought into Yellowstone National Park and Idaho in 1995 and the first Oregon-born wolf was documented in 2008, in Northeast Oregon.

The wolf population has grown steadily since, mostly concentrated in the eastern third of the state.

Klamath County has its own pack, the Rogue Pack, headed by the notorious OR7, Oregon’s wandering wolf. The Rogue Pack has been documented in Klamath and Jackson counties.

2011 delisting

In 2011 the wolves were federally delisted in the eastern third of Oregon, but remain listed in the western two thirds of the state.

Though the fish and wildlife commission started its wolf population evaluation in April, the OPB article said a decision won’t come until late summer.

Mallams will take the Klamath County commissioners’ unanimous decision to endorse delisting to state legislators early next week.

“I want to take this to Salem on Monday and have it there to encourage others to do likewise,” Mallams said.

stipler@heraldandnews . com; @TiplerHN

USFWS PHOTO

Klamath County has its own pack, the Rogue Pack, headed by the notorious OR7, Oregon’s wandering wolf. The Rogue Pack has been documented in Klamath and Jackson counties.

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