Wallowa County Stockgrowers Association

The following link is one where you can comment on upcoming legislation.  Bill 249 amends the Endangered Species Act and provides that the Act should not apply to any gray wolf.  Check it out and the comments.

http://www.popvox.com/bills/us/112/s249



 2010

1.  In January of 2010, producers started reporting that the Imnaha wolf pack had again set up home just east of Joseph; they had done the same thing for the winter of 2009. In February a rag box was installed (makes noise and sets off lights when activated by the frequencies from the wolf collars). ODFW also gave a producer a radio receiver to help him monitor the 4 wolves that had collars. On March 26^th a producer, approximately 8 miles east of Enterprise, reported wolves in his cows 150 yards from his home. The Sheriff, Wildlife Services and ODFW responded and confirmed that a wolf had been there. From this point forward to the 1st calf kill, landowners along the east edge of the upper valley implemented different non-lethal activities to try to keep the wolves out of their cattle.
2.  On May 5^th there was a calf killed approximately 20 miles northwest of Enterprise on the Zumwalt Prairie.  ODFW and Wildlife Services responded to the scene and both confirmed it as a wolf kill. The next day the owner and I requested that since the producers had been practicing non lethal actions that the 4 wolves that had been identified in the area be killed before they returned to the rest of the pack. We were told that the landowners had been practicing preventative actions not non-lethal actions and according to the Oregon Management Wolf Plan non-lethal measures had to be tried first. I asked what they considered non-lethal actions and ODFW repeated the same actions that producers had already been implementing for the last 2 months.
3.  May 13^th a calf was killed in Upper Prairie Creek, inside the valley in a grass hay field approximately 7miles from Joseph.  I called Wildlife Services and they responded. I then called ODFW (Russ) and we agreed he would wait until Wildlife Services looked at the kill.  When Wildlife Services (Marlin) said he thought it was a wolf kill, I called Russ and he requested the carcass be taken to the Enterprise ODFW office and he would look at it there. I asked him to come to the kill scene and he wanted to know the attitude of the owner.   I said there would not be a problem if he wanted to come out to the field and do his investigation and again he said to take the carcass to the ODFW office.  We met him in Enterprise.  He looked at the pictures Marlin and I took and then he proceeded to cut on the carcass, washed it with water and after 2 hours of this he said it was not a wolf kill.  The carcass was then put it in a freezer.  I asked Russ what we do now since Wildlife Services calls it is a kill and ODFW doesn’t.  He told me it was ODFW’s responsibility to make these calls in Oregon.   I disagreed, but I felt he wasn’t the policy person to discuss this with so I contacted Bruce Eddy, ODFW, and he explained that since wolves were no longer federally listed in this area it was their call.  I pointed out page 32 of the Oregon Management Wolf Plan that I believed gave Wildlife Services the authority.  I also brought up the (2007) Federal /State Coordination Strategy for implementation of Oregon Management Wolf Plan that also clearly gives the authority to Wildlife Services.  I have had many conservations with people in the ODFW agency from here to Salem and still today there is no agreement on this issue. So from here on out we started recommending that the producers call our local sheriff and have him go to the field to oversee the investigations and take control of the carcass at the site.
4.  On May16^th, there was a calf killed approximately 40 miles northwest of Enterprise. The local Sheriff and Wildlife Services responded to the kill site, but there was no ODFW person available at this time. Wildlife Services called it a wolf kill and ODFW was notified from the field and they requested the carcass be taken to the Enterprise ODFW office. The next day Russ (ODFW) looked at the pictures taken at the kill site and examined the carcass.  He said it was not a wolf kill because the trauma in 2 places on bone, time of death and the tracks he said were not made by a wolf. He disagreed 100% with all of Wildlife Services reasons for calling it a wolf kill. The Sheriff, Wildlife Services and I were present.   I said I was taking the carcass to our local vets to have them examine it. The sheriff followed me and the 2 vets identified the same trauma as Wildlife Services had.  The local vets suggested that we send the carcass to Washington State University’s (WSU) lab and have them examine it. That was done and the final report agreed with all of Wildlife Services findings.
5.  May 20^th there was a calf killed approximately 18 miles from Joseph.  The Sheriff, Wildlife Services and ODFW (Vic Coggins) responded to the site.  Wildlife Services confirmed that this was a wolf kill. The next day, three ODFW personnel looked at the carcass again and later that day confirmed it as a wolf kill. The producer and I requested that since we had 2 kills confirmed by ODFW and 4 by Wildlife Service, action be taken to eliminate at least some of the wolves. ODFW said that the plan required that 2 kills had to be on adjacent lands before a kill could be requested. On May 23^rd ODFW said they would issue “caught in the act” permits to producers that had confirmed kills or to producers that had verified wolf activity on their property. These permits only allowed the permit holder or their agents to shoot a wolf that they saw biting an animal, not chasing, only biting or wounding the livestock.  A person could get struck by lightning first. ODFW issued 5 of these permits. 
6.  On May 27^th, there was a calf killed approximately 10 miles east of Enterprise. The Sheriff, Wildlife Services and ODFW responded to the site.   The carcass was examined and Wildlife Services confirmed it as a wolf kill.  The carcass was brought to town and put in a cooler until the next day when 2 vets preformed a necropsy on it.  ODFW then confirmed it as a wolf kill and again we requested that action be taken on the wolf pack. We were again informed that since any of the kills were not on adjacent landowners, by the plan they could not take action.
7.  May 29^th a calf was killed approximately 7miles East of Enterprise. The Sheriff, Wildlife Services and ODFW responded to the site where Wildlife Services confirmed it as a wolf kill. ODFW did not confirm the kill at this time.
8.  Again on May 29^th there was a second calf killed S.E. of Joseph.  The Sheriff, Wildlife Services and ODFW responded and Wildlife Service confirmed the kill as a wolf kill.  The two carcasses were taken to town. ODFW confirmed both of the May 29^th kills after a conference call. ODFW issued caught-in-the-act lethal take permits to 2 more landowners. One of the kills on this day was on adjacent land to a prior confirmed kill.
9.  On May 31^st the Wildlife Services was authorized to kill 2 collarless wolves in the Imnaha pack.
10.  10.  On June 2^nd a calf was killed approximately 35 miles north of Enterprise.  The Sheriff, Wildlife Services and ODFW responded to the site.  Wildlife Services confirmed it as a wolf kill.  The carcass was taken to town and put into a cooler.  On June 3^rd the remains were taken to the local vets and a necropsy was performed.  It was concluded there was trauma.  ODFW would not confirm this kill as a wolf kill. 
11.   On June 3^rd there was a calf killed approximately forty miles N.E. of Enterprise.  The Sheriff, Wildlife Service and ODFW responded to the call.  The Wildlife Services confirmed it as a wolf kill.  ODFW confirmed it a wolf kill the following day, June 4^th. 
12. On September 22^nd, Bob Lathrop reported calf killed in Zumwalt approximately 20 miles north of Enterprise. Wildlife Service and the Sheriff responded to the call.  Wildlife Service confirmed it as a wolf kill.  USFWS agent John Stevenson responded the next day and concurred with Wildlife Service.
13.   September 30^th, the range rider (Dan Warnock) reported a dead calf, belonging to Denny Johnson approximately 15 miles east of Joseph. The Sheriff and Wildlife Service responded and Wildlife Service confirmed it as a wolf kill. USFWS responded the next day and concurred with Wildlife Service

 2011

 14.  On February 15^th, Karl Patton contacted Wildlife Service reporting 2 dead cows approximately 10 miles east of Joseph. Wildlife Service, the Sheriff and I responded to the scene. Wildlife Service confirmed as wolf kills. Wildlife Service contacted USFWS John Stevenson, who was in Bend at the time.  John met with Wildlife Service the next morning and reviewed the evidence. John then met with Karl and examined the cows and concurred with Wildlife Service. I met John and requested lethal control on the Imnaha wolf pack. Gary Miller (USFWS) called the night of the 17^th and said that after reviewing the evidence and consulting with ODFW,  they (USFWS) denied our request and that landowners had to implement more preventive measures before USFWS could move to lethal control.

15.  On April 23^rd, a calf was killed of Jim Bird’s on Crow Creek approximately 10 miles from Enterprise. The Sheriff and Wildlife Service responded. The representative from U.S. Fish & Wildlife Services (USFWS) finally arrived on Monday afternoon and on Wednesday, after consulting with ODFW, called it a probable wolf kill.  Wildlife Services had confirmed it as a wolf kill. 

16.   On Saturday, April 30^th a calf of Todd Nash’s was killed approximately 13 miles east of Joseph.  The Wallowa County Sheriff and Wildlife Services were notified and Wildlife Service responded.  Again USFWS was notified and Monday morning I took them to the kill site. That afternoon at 3:30 p.m. USFWS called and told me this was a confirmed kill and they were moving to lethal control on 2 wolves. They will set traps in the area however they will not kill any of the collared wolves. Todd Nash and I both ask why not just use the GPS Telemetry and hunt them with a rifle. The wolves could be found, stalked and the shooter could identify the ones without collars and eliminate those in a more efficient manner rather than wasting time with traps. We were told USFWS wanted to be more selective than that.   The USFWS issued a press release last night.    Since May 5^th, 2010, in Wallowa County, Wildlife Services have confirmed15 kills and have investigated over 35 predations.      

 17.  On Wednesday, May 4^th, Karl Patton found a dead calf on his property east of Joseph.  Wallowa County Sheriff, Wildlife Services and U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service responded to the site and after investigating all agreed that the calf was killed by a wolf.  Craig Ely, ODFW, called Roblynn Brown and asked her to look at the calf since a federal delisting of wolves was in the works.  Brown looked at the calf and after consulting with Russ Morgan, ODFW, she also confirmed the calf as a wolf kill. 

 18.  Tuesday, May17^th,  Denny Johnson called the Wallowa County Sheriff who called Wildlife Services who contacted ODFW that he found a dead calf on his property in the Divide area, located east of Joseph.  All parties responded  to the site and it was confirmed by all that the calf was  killed by a wolf.

 19.  May 27th, Todd Nash was checking his cows on his pasture located on the Divide and came across body parts of a calf.  Todd took the parts he found to town and the Wallowa County Sheriff, ODFW (Russ Morgan) and Wildlife Services looked at parts.  Wildlife Services confirmed that it was a wolf kill.  The Sheriff took the carcass parts to a local vet who said the bites found on the calf parts were those of a canine.  Two day later Russ Morgan, ODFW, went out with Nash to the site the carcass pieces were found.   On May 30^th ODFW called the kill a possible/unknown.  Todd then asked for a meeting with Bruce Eddy, ODFW, to discuss the decision made on his finding and the others.  The local District Attorney also attended this meeting.  Todd presented the facts and agency reports and Bruce Eddy said he would review the documentation.  One month later he stated he concurred with the possible/unknown call that Russ Morgan made. 

 20.  On May 31^st, Scott Shear contacted the range rider Will Voss telling him there were wolves near Tucker Down Road, which is approximately 6 miles east of Joseph.  Voss responded and hazed the wolves away.  The wolves had chased 100 head of heifers through a fence, down a road and had them cornered at a cattle guard.  No depredation occurred in the instance.

 21.   Tom Butterfield called the Sherriff’s office on June 4^th reporting a dead calf in his pasture located NE of Joseph, west of the Sheep Creek Highway.  The Sherriff and Wildlife Services responded to the site.  Wildlife Services confirmed the kill was caused by a wolf.  The next day ODFW responded and concurred with Wildlife Services and the Sherriff that it was a wolf kill.  They then issued a kill order on one uncollared wolf, but only if it could be found in the vicinity of Butterfield’s property, a condition set forth after a conversation with Bruce Eddy. 

 22.  On June 12^th, Mark Dawson reported various injuries on several cows in a pasture located NE of Joseph and west of the Sheep Creek Highway.  The Sheriff, Wildlife Services and ODFW (R. Brown and Kirsch) responded.  A total of 5 cows were examined.  Three of these were confirmed by Wildlife Services and the Sheriff of having wolf bites on them.  ODFW did not make a statement until the next day in which they ruled the marks on the cows as caused by an unknown.  This pasture was across the road from Butterfield’s pasture in which a dead calf was found 8 days earlier.  

 23.  Dwayne Voss contacted the Sheriff on June 14^th about a cow with a broken leg in a pasture located NE of Joseph and west of the Sheep Creek Highway.  The Sheriff and Wildlife Services responded that day.  ODFW could not make it.  Wildlife Services confirmed that the bite marks on the cow were made by a wolf and in observing the ground there had been a struggle.  The cow was put down that day.  The next day ODFW visited the site along with Wildlife Services and the Sheriff and a necropsy was preformed.  ODFW called this an unknown cause.  This site was within 4 miles of Butterfield’s and Dawson’s pastures. 

 24.  On June 15^th, Will Locke contacted the Sheriff about a dead calf in his pasture approximately 10 miles NE of Enterprise.  Wildlife Services and ODFW responded to this site when they were done at Voss’s.  Wildlife Services confirmed this as a wolf kill.  ODFW called it a possible/unknown claiming the bite marks were not bite marks. 

 25.  On July 5^th Denny Johnson contacted the sheriff’s office to report an inured bull in his pasture on the Divide (East of Joseph and of the Sheep Creek Highway).  He also contacted a local vet, Dave Shafer, to come and examine the bull. Wildlife Services, the Sheriff and ODFW Roblynn Brown responded to the site.  Wildlife Services confirmed there were wolf bites on the bull and Dr. Dave Shafer also concurred with this finding.  He told Roblynn that the damage to the bull’s front leg were consistent with bites he had seen on small dogs bitten by larger dogs.  The type of injury he saw on the bull could not have been caused by the bull falling in hole or punctured by a tree or brush.  The following day the bull was almost dead and was put down.  A necropsy was done by the Sheriff, ODFW and Wildlife Services.  From this, Wildlife Services and the Sheriff concurred that the injury was caused by a wolf, but ODFW disagreed and called it a possible/unknown.  Roblynn did state that since an uncollared wolf had not yet been killed, the area that one could be killed within now included the divide area.

 26.  On July 30^th,  Denny Johnson contacted the Sheriff about a dead cow he found in his Divide pasture.  Wildlife Services and ODFW (Brown and Morgan) responded.  Wildlife Services confirmed it as a wolf kill based on the bite marks and the signs of struggle.  ODFW called it a possible/unknown.

 27.   August 15^th Denny Johnson contacted the Sheriff about finding a dead cow in his Divide pasture.  The Sheriff, Wildlife Services and ODFW responded to the site.  The cow had been dead for 3 to 4 days.  Wildlife Services called this a probable wolf cause; however ODFW called it a possible/unknown.  Rod Childers took part of the hide, with marks on it, to a local vet Dave Shafer.  He in turn took it to the lab at University of Idaho and they agreed that there was trauma from bite marks, but since it was older than a couple of days, they could not do any testing on it and obtain accurate information. 

 28.  On August 16^th, Don Wentz found a cow on Coon Ridge, 12 miles north of Enterprise, with a badly torn udder.  He contacted the Sheriff and brought the cow to a set of corrals near Enterprise that had a chute.  The Sheriff and Wildlife Services responded and concluded from the bite marks on the udder, legs and sides that this was wolf caused.   ODFW personnel Roblynn Brown was in La Grande and so Pat Mathews came out and took pictures of the cow and the damage.  The following day ODFW called it a possible/unknown stating that there have been no confirmed wolf-cause depredations in the area north of Enterprise.  According to Bruce Eddy, there have been wolf sightings in this area for over a year, but ODFW has not investigated these sightings.