Cowardly Wolf Management
Rogue Pundit, June 04, 2010 [here]
ODFW is still doing nothing more than pretending [here] it’s dealing with the problem wolves in Wallowa County.
Wolves still savoring WC beef — Breeding pair to be protected
By Kathleen Ellyn, Wallowa County Chieftain, 6/3/2010
Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife will kill two wolves from the Imnaha pack after confirming that members of the pack have killed five calves and wounded a sixth during 24 days in May. Two other calves killed on other nearby ranches were identified as wolf kills by USDA Wildlife Services wolf hunter Marlyn Riggs but not confirmed by ODFW.
The alpha male and female of the pack are exempt from the “take.”
Seven “caught in the act” permits to kill wolves have been issued to ranchers in Wallowa County. Ranchers have named each other as co-agents on the permits with approximately 31 individuals now registered as agents capable of killing a wolf caught in the act of harassing or biting cattle.
Ranchers, however, say the permits are “not worth the paper they’re written on,” said Rod Childers, wolf committee chairman for the Oregon Cattlemen’s Association. “The likelihood that we’ll just happen upon them when they’re killing a calf is slim to none,” he said.
It’s obviously difficult to strike a balance between doing all one reasonably can to prevent wolf problems and essentially admitting failure by culling some of them. But, it’s a fact of life that there will always be wolves which can’t live in harmony with man… and vice versa. ODFW knows that caught in the act permits are a sham designed to deceive the public into thinking that something is being done. Allowing the wolves to continue causing problems is cruel to the ranchers and their livestock. Why has our leadership in Salem purposefully made victims of these hardworking folks?
Wolves are in no danger of extinction. The same isn’t true for the livelihoods of the ranchers bearing the brunt of this reintroduction effort. … [more]