ODFW Releases 2022 Annual Wolf Report

By on Wednesday, April 19th, 2023 in More Top Stories Northeastern Oregon News

OREGON – (Information from ODFW) The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife have released the 2022 Annual Wolf Report. ODFW summarized the current status and trends of Oregon’s wolf population, issuing the following statement alongside the primary report:

“The minimum known count of wolves in Oregon at the end of 2022 was 178 wolves, an increase of three wolves over the 2021 minimum known number of 175, according to the Oregon Wolf Conservation and Management annual report released Tuesday.

A record 24 packs were documented (up from 21 last year) and 17 of those packs met the criteria as breeding pairs, with another 14 groups of two or three wolves also identified. Last year also marked the first year that four breeding pairs of wolves were documented in Western Oregon (west of Hwys 97-395).

This annual count is based on verified wolf evidence (like visual observations, tracks, and remote camera photographs). The actual number of wolves in Oregon is higher, as not all individuals present in the state are located during the winter count.

‘The population increase in Northeastern Oregon has slowed in some areas as available habitat is filled up and with the turnover of breeding adults in some packs. But wolves are growing in numbers and expanding in distribution in Western Oregon,’ said Roblyn Brown, ODFW wolf coordinator. ‘We are confident in the continued health of the state’s wolf population as they expand in distribution across the state and continue to show an upward population trend.’

At year-end there were six resident groups of wolves in the Cascades, compared to four groups last year. The number of wolves increased 39 percent in the West Wolf Management Zone (WMZ). Three new packs in the West Zone were successful breeding pairs (Gearhart Mtn in Klamath County, Upper Deschutes in Deschutes County, and Warm Springs in Jefferson County), meaning they produced at least two pups last spring that survived through the end of 2022. This was the first year that wolves in the West WMZ reached the conservation objective of four breeding pairs. If four breeding pairs are documented at the end of 2023 and 2024, the West WMZ will move into Phase II of the Wolf Plan.

Wolf activity (tracks) was documented in Curry County in the Coast Range after public reports during the fall (though no wolves were documented during the winter count). In addition, an intact radio-collar was found by an ODFW survey crew in a stream in Curry County. The collar had been placed on a Chesnimnus wolf in 2016 that later dispersed to California and last provided information in 2018. The collar was found 45 miles from where wolf tracks were documented last year, and the tracks and collar are likely from different individual wolves.

ODFW confirmed 76 incidents of wolf-livestock depredation after 121 investigations, documenting the death of 71 livestock animals and three working dogs. The majority (85 percent) occurred on private land. Consistent with the Wolf Plan, livestock producers implemented non-lethal measures to minimize depredation prior to any department approval of wolf lethal removal.  Six wolves were lethally removed in response to chronic depredation in 2022.

The level of illegal wolf take in Oregon remains unacceptably high with seven wolves illegally killed in 2022. Six cases are still under investigation but USFWS Office of Law Enforcement and OSP closed the case on the shooting death of a yearling radio-collared wolf in Wheeler County in July. The gray-colored wolf was shot by a man who turned himself in and reported that he misidentified the animal as a coyote. The Wheeler County resident paid a civil fine for unlawfully taking a federally-endangered gray wolf.

For more information see the 2022 Annual Wolf Report online at odfw.com/wolves. For photos of wolves from the Metolius and Gearhart Mtn packs, visit ODFW’s flickr page.”

Pulling from the full wolf report, some details relate specifically to the Eastern Region. Note that the border of the “East Wolf Management Zone” and “West Wolf Management Zone,” as defined by ODFW, ranges from the city of Bend at its western most point to the Junction of US 20 and highway 395 at Riley at its Eastern most point. A map is available in the full report.

On page 6 of the report, ODFW states that four new wolf packs were confirmed within the Eastern Management zone, these being the Black Pines, Finley Ridge, Frazier Mountain and Tower Mountain packs. All Eastern packs, by name and their total size, are:

  • Balloon Tree Pack: 6
  •  Frazier Mtn Pack: 5
  •  South Snake Pack: 5
  •  Bear Creek Pack: 5
  •  Horseshoe Wolves: 3
  •  Tower Mtn Pack: 4
  •  Black Pines Pack: 6
  •  Keating Wolves: 2
  •  Ukiah Pack: 8
  •  Chesnimnus Pack: 4 
  • Logan Valley Wolves: 2 
  • Walla Walla Wolves: 3 
  • Clark Creek Wolves: 3 
  • Lookout Mtn Pack: 5 
  • Wenaha Pack: 8 
  • Cornucopia Wolves: 2
  •  Middle Fork Pack: 8 
  • Wildcat Pack: 5 
  • Desolation Pack: 8 
  • Murderers Crk Wolves: 2 
  • WA123 Wolves: 2 
  • Finley Ridge Pack: 4 
  • Noregaard Pack: 11
  • Five Points Pack: 12 
  • North Emily Pack: 5 
  • Fivemile Wolves: 2
  • Ruckel Ridge Wolves: 3
  • Other wolves: 13  

The 13 wolves listed under “Other” were, as stated by ODFW, “were documented alone or in small groups in Baker, Union, and Wallowa counties; these may be the start of new packs or dispersers travelling through the area.” Note that number of wolves listed is from December 31, 2022. Lethal removals, natural deaths and migrations may have changed these figures. 

On page 10 of the report, ODFW states that, of the 76 confirmed depredations in Oregon, 49 were within the Eastern Management zone. Finally for Eastern Oregon, on page 11, ODFW distributed varying amounts in wolf compensation funds. Funds were distributed for confirmed/probable death/injury, missing, prevention and admin categories:

Baker County: $72,900

Grant: $42,000

Umatilla: $11,000

Union: $14,615

Wallowa: $6,750

(The counties listed above were for the geographical Eastern Oregon and not the full East Management Zone.)

For additional details on the ODFW statement and summarized Eastern Oregon Information, read the full report at 2022_Annual_Wolf_Report_Final.pdf (state.or.us)  

Elkhorn Media Group