Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife Releases Overdue Wolf Conservation and Management Plan Proposals

The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW) released its proposed edits to the Wolf Conservation and Management Plan (Wolf Plan).

Dr. Sristi Kamal, Oregon senior representative for Defenders of Wildlife, issued this statement:

“As one of the stakeholders engaged in the revision process, Defenders is disheartened to see that proposed revisions to the Oregon Wolf Conservation and Management Plan do not reflect consensus or even compromise, and certainly do not reflect the values of the majority of Oregonians who support wolf recovery. It’s been over three years since the Wolf Plan was due for an update, and each iteration has gotten worse for wolves. The latest updates to the plan – which make it easier to kill wolves in response to livestock predations and declines in ungulate populations – are the predetermined outcome of a process that only furthers the agency’s agenda.

“Defenders of Wildlife remains committed to ensuring that wolves recover and disperse throughout their historic range in Oregon. As they do so, Defenders of Wildlife will continue to provide non-lethal tools and resources to help communities share the landscape with wolves.”

Background:

• Every five years, the state of Oregon is required to update the Wolf Conservation and Management Plan (Wolf Plan). The last update was due in 2015, more than three years ago.
• Instead of updating the Wolf Plan, the Fish and Wildlife Commission prematurely removed wolves from the list of state endangered species in 2015.
• Defenders of Wildlife and three other conservation groups withdrew from a stakeholder process to update the Wolf Plan in January. The groups cited a number of concerns, including a rushed timeline and improper agency influence on a process that was supposed to be administered by a neutral third-party facilitator.
• The stakeholder group was convened at the governor’s urging after ODFW repeatedly proposed revisions to the state wolf plan that lacked support from the environmental and scientific communities, as well as ranchers and hunters.
• The plan has weakened protections for wolves with each iteration. The current proposed update makes it easier to kill wolves in response to livestock depredations and declines in ungulate populations. It also opens the door to hunting as a “management tool.”