The following is a copy of a newsletter that I receive from Pacific West Wolves. Enjoy!
Hello Wolf Supporters, there’s a lot of wolf news lately:
1. Imnaha Pack Alpha Male Alive and Well!
2. Wenaha Pack Pups Confirmed!
3. Testify for Oregon ’s Wolves on September 2nd!
4. Write Comments to Protect Idaho ’s Lolo Pack by August 30th!
5. Wildlife Services proposes to gas wolf pups in Idaho , comments needed by August 31st!
1. Imnaha Pack Alpha Male Alive and Well!
The Imnaha Pack’s Alpha Male had been missing for several months, and quite frankly, we thought he‘d been shot by an anti-wolf extremist. But late last week, ODFW photographed him on a remote camera. It turns out his GPS collar had died, and he had somehow eluded being photographed or seen all this time. His return ensures more stability for the Imnaha Pack, as he is a survivor who can show the youngsters in the pack how to hunt for wildlife (he doesn’t seem to like cattle) and how to survive in an environment that spans both very remote wild-lands and relatively populated ranch-lands.
[Top Photo: The Imnaha pack’s Alpha Male, caught on remote infra-red camera. He is discernable by the shape of his collar. Photo courtesy of ODFW.]
2. Wenaha Pack Pups Confirmed!
This past we
ekend, ODFW confirmed pups in the Wenaha Pack – this means Oregon now has two confirmed breeding packs of wolves! ODFW captured two female pups, both weighing about 42 pounds, and both black. They were too young to collar, so ODFW took blood samples, put ear collars in them, and released them. This is yet another example of the Oregon Wolf Plan working successfully!
[Photo: Another of the Wenaha Pack wolves, collared in early August. Photo courtesy of ODFW.]
3. Testify for Oregon ’s Wolves on September 2nd!
As many of you know already, ODFW is in the midst of their Five-year Review of the Oregon Wolf Plan. ODFW is intent on keeping any changes to relatively minor issues, but they are receiving tremendous pressure form the Oregon Cattlemen’s Association to make wholesale changes to the Plan by reducing the number of wolves that would constitute a recovered population and allowing livestock producers to shoot wolves more or less at will.
ODFW must receive the message loud and clear that the majority of Oregonian’s support a healthy wolf population and that we want wolves adequately protected from the anti-wolf extremists.
The ODFW Commissioners will be meeting next week to make the key decisions on which direction to take the Oregon Wolf Plan. Please mark your calendars to attend their meeting on Thursday, September 2nd, at 8am. Address: Washington County Fair Complex, Cloverleaf Building , 873 N.E. 34th Avenue , Hillsboro , Oregon 97124 . Note that the Wolf Plan is the 11th agenda item, and it may be quite some time before they get to it.
Public testimony will be taken. If you speak, the main point to make is that there should be no wholesale changes to the Oregon Wolf Plan without an open and thorough public process, and a reconvening of the Wolf Advisory Committee. Special interest groups (i.e., the Oregon Cattlemen’s Association), should not be allowed to privately push for changes to suit their wants when the original Plan was drafted in a two-year public and open process, in which the OCA participated. And, of course, you should state that all protections for wolves in the Plan should be retained or even strengthened. If you don’t care to speak, please still attend to show support for Oregon ’s wolves!
Also, mark you calendars for September 30-October 1, because the ODFW Commissioners will be voting on the revised Wolf Plan at their meeting to be held then, in Bend .
4. Write Comments to Protect Idaho ’s Lolo Pack by August 30th!
Yes, this is very short notice, but Idaho needs public input on plan to kill wolves – please send your comments in by August 30th!
Idaho wolf managers want to know what the public thinks about their plan to kill dozens of wolves in north central Idaho to help restore elk herds. There are between 75 and 100 wolves around the Lolo elk hunting zone, one of 29 hunting zones the Idaho Department of Fish and Game manages. The agency wants to cut the number of predators here to between 20 to 30 wolves for five years – this could mean killing up to 80% of the wolves in the region!
Please let Idaho Fish & Game know that this is not acceptable! To read the proposal and to submit your comments, please go to: http://fishandgame.idaho.gov/apps/surveys/10tenj/
5. Wildlife Services proposes to gas wolf pups in Idaho, comments needed by August 31st!
The federal Wildlife Services agency (a branch of the U.S. Department of Agriculture) is the primary wolf-killer in the United States . Now they want to expand their wolf-killing operations. They plan to work with Idaho officials to kill up to 80 percent of the wolves in north-central Idaho by land and from the air.
Their plan also includes killing entire packs -- including gassing helpless wolf pups in their dens -- and surgically sterilizing alpha wolf pairs.
All this despite the fact that wolves in the region are once again protected by federal law.
For details on how to take action, go to Defenders of Wildlife’s website.
Greg
Greg Dyson
Executive Director
Hells Canyon Preservation Council
PO Box 2768
La Grande , OR 97850
541-963-3950 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting 541-963-3950 end_of_the_skype_highlighting x.22
www.hellscanyon.org
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