KUER Local News
(2003-03-06)
SALEM, OR
(OPB) -
(Oregon Considered) - The Oregon Legislature has begun hearing arguments for taking the Gray Wolf off the state's endangered species list. The animal has been extinct in Oregon since the 1960s after ranchers and the government spent decades killing off the canines. Now wolves are coming back into the state from Idaho. That has ranchers worried about their livestock. Oregonians have reported dozens of wolf sightings in recent years. It's difficult for wildlife managers to confirm them all. But they do know that at least three wolves have crossed the Snake River and come into Oregon. One was taken back to Idaho, another was run over by a car and the third was shot that case is still under investigation.
The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife has determined that since the gray wolf is on the state's endangered species list, killing the animal without a permit is against the law. So is transporting it back to where it came from. In response, ranchers are pushing a bill in the legislature that would take the wolf off the endangered list and reclassify it as a predator.
Most of those who showed up in Salem for a first hearing on the legislation are ranchers some drove all the way from Eastern Oregon and all want the wolf to stay extinct in Oregon. But several wolf supporters also drove a long way to express their opinions.
Laura Jones from Southern Oregon said scientists and not politicians should decide when to de-list the gray wolf. Nancy Weiss with Defenders of Wildlife in Ashland agreed.
Nancy Weiss: We believe that wildlife management should be in the hands of wildlife professionals, taking into account the best science, as well as public input.
Wolf supporters say the animals are needed to bring the region's ecosystem back into balance. But the ranchers aren't buying any of it. Mack Birkmaier of Wallowa County said ranchers cannot co-exist with wolves. He said that if wolves were allowed to return, his business and his way of life would be ruined.
Mack Birkmaier: What's my ranch gonna be worth four generations of work and family involvement there when we it's fully stocked with wolves and we can't make a go of it anymore?
The fear of financial ruin was a common theme running through most ranchers' testimony. The Defenders of Wildlife has a program to pay ranchers who lose livestock to predators. But Mack Birkmaier told lawmakers money isn't the only issue.
Mack Birkmaier: As shepherds and keepers of the animals and husbands of the land, our animals are not for sale to anyone to be chased into exhaustion and eaten alive.
An attorney representing the Oregon Cattleman's Association, Elizabeth Howard, said keeping gray wolves on the endangered list and allowing them back into Oregon would force the state to develop costly management plans.
Elizabeth Howard: At a time that we're looking at an every-increasing budget deficit, I guess the question is, Should we even be considering opening ourselves up to having more expenses as a state?
The committee that held the public hearing did not vote on the bill but some members expressed hope that some form of legislation regarding wolves would emerge during the session. © Copyright 2012, OPB
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