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Posted on 02/22/2025 7:11:18 AM PST by george76
The Lake County (Oregon) Board of Commissioners has declared a public safety and livestock emergency in the wake of livestock depredations by wolf OR158. It is, according to Commissioner Barry Shullanberger, one of the first times such a declaration has been made.
According to the declaration, OR158 is responsible for five confirmed calf kills and three probable kills in Lake County in less than 10 days. Efforts by the U.S. Department of Agriculture Animal Plant Health Inspection Service to haze the wolf with a drone, which was ineffective. The declaration requests immediate assistance from Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek for intervention in removing the wolf and requests that the state direct the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife to pursue a permit for the take of endangered species, as allowed under Title 50, Section 17 of federal code.
Lake County ranchers Tom and Elise Flynn run cattle with Tom’s father, and Elise operates a veterinary clinic on the ranch.
...
“We’ve heard of people having wolf issues, and you feel bad for them,” Elise said. “But until that happens to you, you don’t realize. It’s just insane, it’s uncomprehensible how our hands are tied over this and they’re taking away our basic human rights by not allowing us to take care of it and protect what’s ours.”
Flynn said she watched Colorado ranchers struggle with wolves released on the landscape, wolves she knew came from her state, before she had any experience ranching alongside the predators. Now, she said, she feels guilty that they’re just beginning to experience what has plagued other producers.
“This has been a nightmare for way too long,” she said.
...
STARTED IN JANUARY..
On Jan. 30, she said her husband spotted wolf tracks on the road to the cattle feeding grounds and observed wolf OR158 near a freshly killed calf with the cow bawling nearby. As he neared the wolf, coming within 50 yards, the wolf never spooked or ran off. Identifying the wolf as collared, he called ODFW for permission to shoot him.
He did not have a gun with him that day, something that turned out to be a blessing, she said.
ODFW, despite the evidence of the wolf kill, told him the wolf could not be shot, even if he observed him attacking another calf. Days later, Tom caught the same wolf attempting to kill another calf. The cow, frantic and tired, managed to fight off the wolf until Tom arrived and scared the wolf off.
“That’s his favorite cow now,” she said.
....
Flynn said the ODFW officials she has spoken to admit that the wolf is a problem and should be removed, but their hands are tied as wolves are federally protected and protected via state statute. ODFW also admitted they knew the wolf was in the area but didn’t alert producers. Officials confirmed wolf tracks within 100 yards of the Flynn’s home and veterinary clinic.
The Flynns ranch is on deeded and public lands, utilizing summer and spring grazing permits and calving close to home.
“They talk about compensation for those kills, but it’s more than the kills,” she said. “There are animals injured that aren’t documented as wolf damage, it’s the ones that get sick from stress, it’s the pasture that doesn’t get utilized because the cows won’t go to that corner because that’s where the wolves are, it’s secondary things like poor breed up.”
Flynn said she has veterinary clients who have experienced lower conception rates and lower weaning weights and higher percentages of dry cows who have struggled to pinpoint the source of the stress. It’s apparent, now, that wolf pressure is a possibility.
Another young ranching couple a few hours away in Brothers, Ore., have also struggled with OR158. The husband was actually a groomsman in the Flynn’s wedding, and they are good friends.
...
The Brothers-area ranchers utilized a number of non-lethal deterrents — playing a.m. radio at night, fladry and fox lights. Despite these efforts, that ranch lost cattle.
“You can’t say people haven’t tried non-lethal methods,” she said. “This wolf is an exception to their idea of natural wolf behavior.”
The Flynns, who have small children, were told the wolf could only be shot in self-defense.
“They’ve also drilled into us that it better be in the head or chest, we have to be able to really prove it was self-defense and it better be close range,” she said. “They’re made it clear they’re willing to investigate whether it was self-defense, and it makes me so mad when they’re agreeing this isn’t right.”
After killing two calves on Flynn’s operation, the ODFW reported the wolf left the area, but was reported by another rancher about an hour away after he ran OR158 out of his own cowherd. OR158 was also confirmed as responsible for an injured calf in Crook County on Jan. 14, ruled probable in the Nov. 21, 2024, depredation of a calf.
“Just because we don’t have him here, somebody does because he’s a problem,” she said. “It’s what he does — he kills livestock. It’s not his fault, he’s smart.”
MEETING COUNTY AND STATE OFFICIALS..
The Flynns met with ODFW department heads and representatives from Congressman Cliff Bentz’s, R-Ore., office. She said little was gained.
Lake County officials, however, have been more proactive, issuing the declaration and requesting state and federal assistance.
Commissioner Barry Shullanberger said he, too, watched the release of Oregon wolves in Colorado.
“I imagine Colorado has quite a bit of red, it’s just not in the right places,” he said.
He said he spoke to Tom Flynn about the wolf attacks on the ranch.
“I asked him how long the wolf stuck around once he pulled up to the cow and killed the tractor, and he said 40 minutes,” he said. “He told me it sat on its butt and wasn’t even looking at him, he was looking out at other things, where it was going to go next.”
The next place the wolf went, with Tom following in the tractor, was where he had just fed a line of hay and pairs were eating, walking right through the cattle, never even looking back at the tractor.
Not unlike Colorado, he said Oregon’s politics are dominated by the Democratic-dominated urban strongholds like Portland, Salem, Eugene and other major population centers. Three hours from a freeway, Lake County is home to some of Oregon’s largest cattle operations. Shullanberger said Lake County is about 8,300 square miles with about the same population, of one per square mile, give or take. The county was once home to a thriving timber industry and five sawmills, where only one now remains after spotted owl regulations came about during the Bill Clinton administration. Without the timber business, agriculture remains the major economic driver — cattle and alfalfa hay — are boons for the county and wildfire has become a threat. After using hounds to hunt mountain lions was outlawed along with disallowing the baiting of bears, he said mountain lion and bear populations have exploded in the area. And now, wolves.
Wolves, he said, were originally located in three counties in northeast Oregon, and wolves are now prominent in 19 counties. A lack of funding for depredation compensation and for non-lethal deterrents is a constant struggle, he said.
Shullanberger said OR158 originated in Baker County in northeast Oregon and came south by himself seeking territory. That took him to Modoc County, California, with a stop in Brothers where he killed calves and was not afraid of multiple non-lethal deterrents, including drones. He returned to Lake County, where he killed calves on Flynn’s ranch and then traveled west to Klamath County where he reportedly killed a calf.
“Drones don’t have a real long battery life,” he said. “Apparently, they found the wolf, but they had already been flying the drone for a while. They hazed him away from the cows about a mile, but the battery was going down, so they had to return the drone. Well, he just turned around and came right back and killed a calf. Pretty frustrating.”
Shullanberger said the declaration was issued as an attempt to protect both generational ranches and the young kids being raised on those ranches. The boldness of OR158 and his habituation to people paired with prints near the Flynn home and corrals raises alarms.
“Even though it’s rare for a wolf to attack humans, or so I’m told, we don’t want to take that chance,” he said. “The other thing we experience is U.S. Fish and Wildlife and Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife aren’t in the PR business, letting people know where these wolves are.”
He said the commissioners are seeing the tension, stress, and exhaustion being experienced by area ranchers and they want to bring the situation to the attention of the state and federal agencies. That, he said, doesn’t come without its challenges. Kessina Lee, a Biden-era appointment, is the Oregon state supervisor for USFWS.
“It would be up to her to help remove this wolf, but we issued the declaration to get the governor’s office involved so they can more quickly work with federal partners to see if we can get a resolution” he said. “In my call yesterday to the governor’s office, they assured me they are working with federal partners. We have to give them that space and let them do their job.”
Our answer to everything, isn’t to kill it.
However, from a historical perspective, the way to protect a herd is to kill off the predators preying on the herd.
This problem will be easily solved with the .30-06 & 7MM.
Haze with a Drone?
WTF?
How about haze with a 308?
Coming soon to Colorado.
Well..thats too bad.
Its happening.
The worst kept secret on earth up there.
Oh BTW. Neighbor up there in Wis helped do genetic research on Wolves. NOT ONE, they captured and tested was pure wolf. NOT ONE.
Isle Royals king maker was caught taking vaccine over to the island to vaccinate the wolf population since some kind of disease had got into the population.
Years and years ago.
“This problem will be easily solved with the .30-06 & 7MM.”
How about protecting the cattle with good fencing and patrol rather than just killing the wolves. Wolves have their purpose, also.
Indigenous people have lived in Oregon for at least 12,000 years, and possibly as long as 18,000 years. Some Native American communities have historically held a deep spiritual and cultural connection to wolves. Wolves are revered as powerful and sacred animals in many indigenous cultures, symbolizing strength, wisdom, and unity with nature. For these communities, the return of wolves is seen as a positive development, as it represents the restoration of balance and harmony in the ecosystem.
Some Native American communities have concerns and conflicts related to the reintroduction of wolves. These concerns may stem from potential impacts on livestock, as well as the challenges of coexisting with large predators in areas where human activities have significantly altered the landscape. But the area was altered by the humans coming in. The American indians overall learned to live with the wolves and respect their right to be there. The only problem was having enough game around to satisfy both. But they prospered side by side.
wy69
I think it was parvo that inflicted the IR wolves.
Follow the money.
Pre dug graves, and SSS. Make sure you have the tag.
Dead animal, access to GPS.
Darts to put the animal to sleep, then drag it to the river... Pull out the dart.
It is long past the time to tell the “Natives” to choose between the casinos and sales of cigarettes without taxation, or Fishing and Hunting rights. CHOOSE, because we can put up gates and charge for residents to enter tribal land. Being you are sovereign and all. We can also set up DUI checkpoints and harrass suckers 24/7... CHOOSE.
If you would like more information about what’s happening in Oregon, please FReepmail me. Please send me your name by FReepmail if you want to be on this list.
“It is long past the time to tell the “Natives” to choose between the casinos and sales of cigarettes without taxation, or Fishing and Hunting rights.”
And that mistake was done long before you and I were drawing air. The indians should have been treated like everyone else. But what you are saying is that an animal that was poached into almost non-existance because of the inconvenience of people that are poaching it are being made a problem, as there were no cattle until 1824, and the wolves had been there for at least 12K years, that the wolves are the cause and they should be slaughtered again? If man is going to change the circumstances, then why should another animal that never bothered them before they brought the cattle into the area and opened the buffet, not expect it to happen then they should do a better job protecting their investment.
Maybe since we have so many aircraft accidents, ground them. Same said for auto accidents. Maybe since we don’t like the dog our next door neighbor has we just kill it. Bears are dangerous many times in the wild. Moutain lions will chase and attack people on the trail. So should we just shoot every one of them on sight since they are a greater threat to humans than wolves? If the only way to correct the problem is this, then eradicate them. But also go after the sharks, dogs, cougars, and any other animal that might hit a person even if the animal moved as far away from man as it could and man encroached on it. Same with polar bears and most jungle cats. I guess you can run, but you can’t hide.
wy69
Hopefully it gets run over on the highway.
Over the years I have seen several dead wolves along the highways
Over the years I have seen several dead wolves along the highways
IMO, wolves should be exterminated. It’s fairly simple, they are extinct in the lower 48, and what remains is the result of dogs and wolves.
You are missing the point. This is a single solitary wolf that is causing all the damage, not the pack. This is a wolf that kills just because he can. This is one wolf that needs to be hunted down and eliminated to stop the carnage.
“You are missing the point. This is a single solitary wolf...”
Then why did they kill 33 wolves last year? Do you kill every criminal in the state to get that one criminal that actually perpetrated the crime because they are of the same background? It isn’t being treated that way. Some want all wolves killed. And that is my point.
wy69
“...they are extinct in the lower 48...
Following a February 10, 2022, court order, gray wolves in the contiguous 48 states and Mexico – with the exception of the Northern Rocky Mountain population – are now protected under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) as threatened in Minnesota and endangered in the remaining states. There must be some around or they wouldn’t have made this order about three years ago.
wy69
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