Specific Wolf Conflict Deterrence Plan
By Paul Hall on Wednesday, May 19th, 2021 in More Top Stories Northeastern Oregon News
The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife has updated their Deterrence Plan on how to reduce the risk of wolf/livestock conflict, which can be found on a link at the bottom of this story. Also, some history on OR7.
WALLOWA COUNTY – (Information provided by Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife) OR7 dispersed from the Imnaha Pack in northeast Oregon in September 2011 and he became resident in eastern Jackson and western Klamath Counties in 2013. He found a mate the next year and they established the Rogue Pack in 2014. The Rogue Pack wolves have been intensively monitored with remote cameras and radio-collars from 2013 – 2021. Between 2014 and 2019, the year-end counts reflected a total of four to seven wolves in the pack. The pack counted as a successful breeding pair in 2014, 2017 and 2018, meaning at least two pups and two adults survived to the end of the year.
After the disappearance of OR7 in late 2019, an uncollared gray male assumed the breeding male position. During the summer of 2020, the pack spent more time on the Klamath County side of their territory than past years. The breeding female, OR94, was radio-collared in September 2020. At the end of 2020, only three wolves remained in the pack territory. During the winter and spring of 2021, OR94 mostly traveled alone, while the other two traveled as a pair.
The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW) confirmed four incidents of cattle depredation by Rogue Pack wolves in October 2016 in Klamath County. These events triggered the designation of an Area of Depredating Wolves (ADW) and the preparation of an Area-Specific Wolf Conflict Deterrence Plan (Deterrence Plan) to assist producers and landowners manage potential conflict with wolves. The ADW is intended to inform livestock owners where wolf-livestock conflicts are most likely to occur. The ADW and Deterrence Plan were designated for only a portion of the Wood River Valley area where the wolves traveled and the depredations had occurred.
The first incident of depredation by the Rogue Pack in Jackson County was confirmed by ODFW on January 4, 2018, followed closely by two subsequent depredations on the same ranch. Those confirmed depredations triggered a modification in the Rogue Pack ADW and the preparation of a revised Deterrence Plan. The ADW was modified to include all lands and livestock within the Rogue Pack Area of Known Wolf Activity (AKWA) (dated 1/22/2018) since there was depredation east and west of the Cascades, with acknowledgement that there is little risk of conflict between wolves and livestock in the wilderness areas of the Cascade Crest.
Since 2016, ODFW has confirmed that members of the Rogue Pack have been responsible for 40 confirmed depredation events resulting in the death or injury of 38 cattle and two working dogs at multiple ranches in Jackson and Klamath Counties. During 2020, the Rogue Pack was responsible for 16 confirmed depredations on five ranches. The AKWA and ADW were expanded to the southwest to include telemetry locations from OR94 on 4/7/2021 and 5/17/2021. OR94 has continued to visit historical Rogue Pack core areas in Jackson and Klamath Counties, so at this time 2 she is still considered a member of the group. The AKWA and ADW may be modified again based on depredation and pack movements.
Wolves in this area were removed from the Federal Endangered Species List on January 4, 2021. Before that all management related to harassment and take of wolves was regulated by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), not ODFW. Currently, all management is implemented according to the Oregon Wolf Conservation and Management Plan (Oregon Wolf Plan) and associated Oregon statute and rule. If wolves are relisted as federally endangered, a notice will be posted on the ODFW website and the USFWS will take over decisions about take and harassment, but the Deterrence Plan will not need to be updated. The pack’s current depredation information, AKWA and ADW maps, and Deterrence Plan will be updated as necessary and posted on the ODFW website at http://www.odfw.com/wolves/.
More on the deterrence plan can be located at Rogue Pack CDP 210517.pdf (state.or.us).
