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By STACY D. STUMBO
The News-Review
WINCHESTER -- Calling Douglas County "some of the best wolf territory in Oregon," a wildlife biologist explained the probable migration of the endangered gray wolf to the county during a meeting Tuesday night.
More than 100 people attended the Oregon Fish and Wildlife-hosted forum at Umpqua Community College. Most who spoke expressed apprehension about the animal they say poses a threat to livestock.
The Roseburg visit was the 11th of 15 public meetings to be held throughout the state from La Grande to Medford.
The endangered wolf was reintroduced to Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming, the Sawtooth Mountains of Idaho and parts of Montana in the mid-1990s. The animals are gradually making their way to Oregon.
Mark Henjum, an ODFW regional wildlife biologist based in La Grande, provided information on the gray wolf and what its return might mean to farmers, hunters and fans of wildlife.
"It all depends on your perspective," Henjum said of the results of the animals' migration on local communities. "People are really split on it. It's a very controversial species. I think it's mainly because they haven't been around us for so long -- it's fear of the unknown."
An early federal policy endorsing the trapping, poisoning and shooting of wolves stemmed from the use of public lands for cattle ranching. Ranchers believed wolves were a threat to livestock, and rendered the species virtually extinct.
It's been almost 70 years since the last free gray wolf was killed in Oregon.
Dorleen Dawson, who raises sheep, cattle and goats on her ranch on Sunshine Road in Roseburg, said that's not long enough.
"It's frightening," she said. "The people who live in metropolitan areas don't understand what this could mean down here, how much damage they (wolves) can do."
The comments gleaned from meeting attendees will be passed on to the Oregon Fish and Wildlife Commission and state representatives.
Henjum told the crowd an estimated 575 wolves in 35 or more packs were documented in the three-state recovery area by the end of 2001. The rapid growth in population could mean federal delisting of wolves under the Endangered Species Act as soon as 2003.
With habitat space becoming limited in Idaho, Henjum said, the wolves are moving west looking for new terrain. "This is happening much quicker than anyone expected."
Three confirmed and 60 unconfirmed wolf sightings have been reported over the past two years in Eastern Oregon counties.
Although Henjum speculates Eastern Oregon will be the first region touched by the paws of gray wolves, Douglas County could be the logical next step for a species that prefers to live in isolation.
He called the area "some of the best wolf territory in Oregon."
Ranchers such as Dawson hope not. She expressed concern about regulations limiting landowners' ability to shoot the animals.
"I think I should have the right to shoot the thing," she said. "I shouldn't have to wait for Fish and Wildlife to come and do it for me. By that time it's too late."
Gray wolves are protected by both federal and state Endangered Species acts. The population of wolves in the Northwest are part of a nonessential experimental group, and USFW officials are permitted to take action if members of a pack kill or harass livestock.
Private citizens are not.
"If the wolves are delisted (from endangered to threatened) that could provide people with some relief," he said. "But now, legally, there's not a lot that can be done. We don't want people to get in trouble."
In February 1999, a radio-collared gray wolf from Idaho entered Oregon. The female wolf, identified by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service as "B-45," was eventually captured and returned to Idaho. Two wolves were found dead in Oregon last year. One was hit by a car near Baker City and another was shot in the Blue Mountains east of Pendleton.
"We expect there are some here now," Henjum said. "There have been new sightings in Grant County, but nothing's been confirmed."
Henjum said wolf migration is expected to be an issue in the state Legislature during the session beginning in January, and the statements of people at the Roseburg meeting could be beneficial in helping officials make decisions on the matter.
On the Web: www.dfw.state.or.us/ODF Whtml/InfoCntrWild/gray_wolf/wolf_main.htm
* You can reach reporter Stacy D. Stumbo at 957-4230 or by e-mail at sstumbo@newsreview.info.
The News-Review
WINCHESTER -- Calling Douglas County "some of the best wolf territory in Oregon," a wildlife biologist explained the probable migration of the endangered gray wolf to the county during a meeting Tuesday night.
More than 100 people attended the Oregon Fish and Wildlife-hosted forum at Umpqua Community College. Most who spoke expressed apprehension about the animal they say poses a threat to livestock.
The Roseburg visit was the 11th of 15 public meetings to be held throughout the state from La Grande to Medford.
The endangered wolf was reintroduced to Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming, the Sawtooth Mountains of Idaho and parts of Montana in the mid-1990s. The animals are gradually making their way to Oregon.
Mark Henjum, an ODFW regional wildlife biologist based in La Grande, provided information on the gray wolf and what its return might mean to farmers, hunters and fans of wildlife.
"It all depends on your perspective," Henjum said of the results of the animals' migration on local communities. "People are really split on it. It's a very controversial species. I think it's mainly because they haven't been around us for so long -- it's fear of the unknown."
An early federal policy endorsing the trapping, poisoning and shooting of wolves stemmed from the use of public lands for cattle ranching. Ranchers believed wolves were a threat to livestock, and rendered the species virtually extinct.
It's been almost 70 years since the last free gray wolf was killed in Oregon.
Dorleen Dawson, who raises sheep, cattle and goats on her ranch on Sunshine Road in Roseburg, said that's not long enough.
"It's frightening," she said. "The people who live in metropolitan areas don't understand what this could mean down here, how much damage they (wolves) can do."
The comments gleaned from meeting attendees will be passed on to the Oregon Fish and Wildlife Commission and state representatives.
Henjum told the crowd an estimated 575 wolves in 35 or more packs were documented in the three-state recovery area by the end of 2001. The rapid growth in population could mean federal delisting of wolves under the Endangered Species Act as soon as 2003.
With habitat space becoming limited in Idaho, Henjum said, the wolves are moving west looking for new terrain. "This is happening much quicker than anyone expected."
Three confirmed and 60 unconfirmed wolf sightings have been reported over the past two years in Eastern Oregon counties.
Although Henjum speculates Eastern Oregon will be the first region touched by the paws of gray wolves, Douglas County could be the logical next step for a species that prefers to live in isolation.
He called the area "some of the best wolf territory in Oregon."
Ranchers such as Dawson hope not. She expressed concern about regulations limiting landowners' ability to shoot the animals.
"I think I should have the right to shoot the thing," she said. "I shouldn't have to wait for Fish and Wildlife to come and do it for me. By that time it's too late."
Gray wolves are protected by both federal and state Endangered Species acts. The population of wolves in the Northwest are part of a nonessential experimental group, and USFW officials are permitted to take action if members of a pack kill or harass livestock.
Private citizens are not.
"If the wolves are delisted (from endangered to threatened) that could provide people with some relief," he said. "But now, legally, there's not a lot that can be done. We don't want people to get in trouble."
In February 1999, a radio-collared gray wolf from Idaho entered Oregon. The female wolf, identified by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service as "B-45," was eventually captured and returned to Idaho. Two wolves were found dead in Oregon last year. One was hit by a car near Baker City and another was shot in the Blue Mountains east of Pendleton.
"We expect there are some here now," Henjum said. "There have been new sightings in Grant County, but nothing's been confirmed."
Henjum said wolf migration is expected to be an issue in the state Legislature during the session beginning in January, and the statements of people at the Roseburg meeting could be beneficial in helping officials make decisions on the matter.
On the Web: www.dfw.state.or.us/ODF Whtml/InfoCntrWild/gray_wolf/wolf_main.htm
* You can reach reporter Stacy D. Stumbo at 957-4230 or by e-mail at sstumbo@newsreview.info.
