In The Media

May19

Court Order: Washington Must Give Public Notice Before Killing Wolves

For Immediate Release, May 18, 2018

Contact: Nick Cady, (314) 482-3746, nick@cascwild.org

Court Agreement: Washington Will Give Public Notice Before Killing Wolves

Eight-hour Warning Could Permit Judge to Halt Slaughter Plans

OLYMPIA, Wash.— Washington wildlife officials will have to give eight business hours of notice before killing wolves in the state, under a new agreement reached today in Thurston County Superior Court.

Judge Chris Lanese ruled from the bench today that a challenge by the Center for Biological Diversity and Cascadia Wildlands of a kill order for the Sherman Pack in Washington was moot because the agency had already destroyed the pack.

But Judge Lanese emphasized that the issues raised by the lawsuit were of great public importance and deserved to be fully evaluated. To that end, the judge obtained a commitment from the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife to provide public notice before killing wolves, ensuring the conservation groups have a chance to stop any killing.

The judge suggested that such a request for emergency relief was extremely likely to be granted, to prevent the state from killing wolves before there is a chance to have a court rule on the full merits of the claim.

“We’re deeply saddened by the loss of the Sherman Pack, but this new public notice agreement could save other Washington wolves,” said Amaroq Weiss, west coast wolf advocate at the Center for Biological Diversity. “The pack’s dissolution is exactly what you’d expect if you kill pack members. State officials need to realize that recklessly killing wolves is totally unacceptable given the still fragile recovery of these important animals.”

The groups’ suit challenged the agency’s August 25, 2017 order authorizing killing of members of the Sherman pack. At the time of the kill order, the Sherman pack consisted of only two wolves. The state killed one Sherman wolf on September 1, 2017.

“We don’t like that a state endangered wolf was killed and a pack lost, but we’re glad we’re going to get our concerns with the Department’s wolf management heard,” said Nick Cady, legal director for Cascadia Wildlands. “The science increasingly shows that killing wolves isn’t an effective means to address livestock loss and the public doesn’t want it.”

Overall, since 2012, the state has killed 18 state-endangered wolves, nearly 15 percent of the state’s current confirmed population of 122 wolves. The judge noted that fifteen of the wolves killed since 2012 were killed on behalf of the same livestock owner; those kills have now led to the eradication of three entire wolf packs, including the Sherman Pack last summer, Profanity Peak pack in 2016, and the Wedge pack in 2012. The rancher in question has been a vocal opponent of wolf recovery and has historically refused to implement meaningful nonlethal measures designed to protect his livestock from wolves.

Washington’s wolves were driven to extinction in the early 1900s by a government-sponsored eradication program on behalf of the livestock industry. The animals began to return from neighboring Idaho and British Columbia in the early 2000s, and their population has grown to 22 confirmed packs as of the end of 2017.

But wolf recovery in Washington is still a work in progress. Wolves remain absent from large areas of the state, and although the population has been growing, it remains small and vulnerable. Given the continued endangered status of wolves, conservation groups are urging the state and livestock operators to stick to nonlethal methods as the sole means for reducing loss of livestock to wolves.

Photo of Smackout Wolf Courtesy of Western Wildlife Outreach

Posted by nsc425 in Bring Back Wolves, Campaign News Updates, Caring for Cascadia’s Carnivores, Home Page Hot Topic, In The Media, News, Press Room, Restoring Wolves and Other Species, Strategic Litigation, Uncategorized, Washington Wolves, Wolves and Allies

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May16

Quartz Timber Sale Challenged Over Impacts to Red Tree Voles!

For Immediate Release, May 16, 2018

Contact:

Nick Cady, Cascadia Wildlands, (314) 482-3746

Doug Heiken, Oregon Wild, (541) 344-0675

Reed Wilson, Benton Forest Coalition, (541) 754-3254

Timber Sale Targeting Mature Forests East of Cottage Grove Challenged in Court

Proposed Logging Would Eliminate Seventy-Five Red Tree Vole Nests

EUGENE, Ore.— Today, three conservation groups challenged the 847-acre Quartz timber sale on the Cottage Grove Ranger District of the Umpqua National Forest that targets mature forests. The contested area is home to a thriving population of red tree voles, a small tree-dwelling mammal that is a prey source for the imperiled northern spotted owl and is critical to forest ecosystems in western Oregon.

“It is incredibly disappointing to again witness the Forest Service targeting mature forests to solely benefit private timber interests,” said Nick Cady, legal director at Cascadia Wildlands. “The Quartz timber sale is a clear example of the Forest Service’s pursuit of commercial timber at the expense of all the other public values this agency is required to protect.”

The red tree vole is a unique tree-dwelling species that inhabits mature and old-growth forests throughout much of western Oregon. Extensive red tree vole habitat has been destroyed by aggressive logging in Oregon’s Coast and Cascade Ranges. In 2011, the US Fish and Wildlife Service found that the species warranted listing under the federal Endangered Species Act, but declined to extend those protections in part due to regulatory protections on public federal forest lands. Yet, in 2016, the Bureau of Land Management, which manages interspersed public lands in western Oregon eliminated protections for the species across 2.5-million acres of public forests it oversees.

“The red tree vole is already in a precarious position given the historic logging that occurred in Oregon over the past century,” said Nick Cady. “And the recent elimination of protections for this species on BLM lands in Oregon places its future in jeopardy. The Forest Service must do all it can to ensure its survival and cancel reckless timber sales like Quartz.”

In its initial planning efforts for the Quartz timber sale, the Forest Service surveys documented little red tree vole activity and determined that the forests slated for logging were not good habitat. Subsequent surveys conducted by volunteers with the Northwest Ecosystem Survey Team and verification surveys by the Forest Service resulted in seventy-five vole nest detections. Despite this information, the Forest Service decided to proceed with the sale and destroy the vole nest sites.

"Red tree voles are closely linked with northern spotted owls,” said Reed Wilson with Benton Forest Coalition. “They have similar habitat requirements: old trees with cavities, structural defects and massive limbs suitable for nesting – exactly the kind of trees located throughout the Quartz timber sale by the Northwest Ecosystem Survey Team."

“The Forest Service seems determined to proceed with logging these beautiful forests regardless of the diligent efforts of citizens to document the presence of rare wildlife. First, the Forest Service said there were too few red tree voles to warrant protection. Later, the Forest Service said there were too many voles to warrant protection,” said Doug Heiken, conservation and restoration coordinator at Oregon Wild. “The poor red tree vole just can’t catch a break.”

This case is being brought by the Benton Forest Coalition, Cascadia Wildlands, and Oregon Wild.

The filed complaint can be found here.

Red tree vole photos courtesy of Northwest Ecosystem Survey Team.

Posted by nsc425 in Campaign News Updates, Campaigns, Home Page Hot Topic, In The Media, National Forests, News, Oregon Campaigns, Press Room, Protect Public Forests, Protecting Forests and Wild Places, Red Tree Voles, Strategic Litigation, Uncategorized

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Apr04

Press Release: Trapping Ban Sought to Protect Imperiled Humboldt Marten

For Immediate Release, April 4, 2018

Contacts:
Nick Cady, Cascadia Wildlands, (314) 482-3746, nick@cascwild.org
Tierra Curry, Center for Biological Diversity, (928) 522-3681, tcurry@biologicaldiversity.org

Coastal Trapping Ban Sought to Protect Oregon’s Vanishing Humboldt Martens

New Study Finds Traps Could Wipe Out Imperiled Otter Relative

PORTLAND, Ore.— Five conservation groups filed a rulemaking petition today asking the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife to ban trapping of Humboldt martens in Oregon’s coastal forests. The petition follows a new study that found that trapping could easily wipe out the species in the state.

Humboldt martens are under review for federal Endangered Species Act protection, but they can still be trapped for their fur in Oregon even though fewer than 100 survive here in the Siuslaw and Siskiyou national forests. California banned the trapping of these secretive, mid-sized forest carnivores in 1946.

“Humboldt martens have been driven to the brink of extinction by logging and development of their old-growth forest habitat and historical over-trapping,” said Nick Cady, legal director at Cascadia Wildlands. “Banning trapping is a critical first step to prevent the imminent eradication of the species from the state.”

A newly published scientific study concluded that Humboldt martens are so rare in Oregon that trapping just two to three individuals could result in wiping out the population on the central coast. In addition to trapping, Humboldt martens are threatened by vehicle collisions on Highway 101 and ongoing logging of mature forest habitat.

“The state needs to follow the new science and stop the trapping of these cute and ferocious animals,” said Tierra Curry, a senior scientist at the Center for Biological Diversity. “It would be tragic if Humboldt martens were lost for future generations of Oregonians.”

Relatives of minks and otters, Humboldt martens are found only in old-growth forest and dense coastal shrub in southern and central coastal Oregon and northern California. The cat-like animals were thought to be extinct until they were rediscovered on the Six Rivers National Forest in 1996.

Today they survive only in three small isolated populations of fewer than 100 individuals each — one in northern California, one straddling the border and one in the Oregon Dunes National Recreation Area.

There are two subspecies of Pacific martens in Oregon. Humboldt martens on the coast are critically imperiled, but interior martens from the Cascades and eastern mountain ranges are not imperiled. The petition seeks a ban on trapping west of Interstate 5.

Today’s petition was filed by Cascadia Wildlands, the Center for Biological Diversity, Environmental Protection Information Center, Klamath-Siskiyou Wildlands Center and Oregon Wild. The department has 90 days to initiate rulemaking or deny the petition.

Martens are typically 2 feet long and have large, triangular ears and a long tail. They eat small mammals, berries and birds and are eaten by larger mammals and raptors.

Cascadia Wildlands educates, agitates, and inspires a movement to protect and restore Cascadia's wild ecosystems. We envision vast old-growth forests, rivers full of wild salmon, wolves howling in the backcountry, and vibrant communities sustained by the unique landscapes of the Cascadia bioregion.

Posted by nsc425 in Campaign News Updates, Caring for Cascadia’s Carnivores, Home Page Hot Topic, In The Media, National Forests, News, Oregon Campaigns, Other Carnivores Issues, Pine Martens, Press Room, Protecting Forests and Wild Places, Restoring Wolves and Other Species, Trapping, Uncategorized, Wolverines, Otters and Weasels

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Mar17

Official 2017 Washington Wolf Count Released

The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife released its official 2017 wolf count this past Friday. You can find the report in full here, but fourteen wolves were killed by humans and the overall state population grew by just seven. Concerns over high levels of human-caused wolf mortality are one of the reasons Cascadia Wildlands is challenging the state's "lethal protocol" that permits agency officials to kill wolves in response to livestock depredations. You can read more about that lawsuit here.

Posted by nsc425 in Bring Back Wolves, Campaign News Updates, Home Page Hot Topic, In The Media, News, Press Room, Restoring Wolves and Other Species, Uncategorized, Washington Wolves

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Feb14

Press Release: Marbled Murrelet Listed as Endangered in Oregon

For Immediate Release, February 9, 2018

Oregon Raises Protections for Rare Seabird

Logging, Loss of Prey, Climate Change All Endanger Marbled Murrelet

PORTLAND, Ore.— Responding to a petition from conservation groups, the Oregon Fish and Wildlife Commission voted today to change the status of marbled murrelets from threatened to endangered under the Oregon Endangered Species Act.

The decision to uplist the murrelet reflects the increasingly imperiled status of the species in Oregon and represents an important step in reversing its ongoing decline toward extinction in the state.

“We applaud the commission for recognizing that the marbled murrelet warrants endangered status in Oregon,” said Nick Cady, legal director at Cascadia Wildlands. “This decision sets the stage for the state of Oregon to take the steps that will be necessary to recover this species in Oregon.”

The marbled murrelet is a seabird that nests in old-growth and mature forests and forages at sea. Its population has declined dramatically over the decades because of extensive logging in Oregon’s Coast Range. The commission’s decision could have implications for forest protection on state and private timberlands.

“While federal laws have stabilized habitat loss on federal lands, the state of Oregon has continued to allow logging of older forests at an alarming rate and failed to adequately address new threats to the species,” said Bob Sallinger, conservation director for the Audubon Society of Portland. “Changing the murrelet’s status to endangered will help ensure that Oregon takes the steps necessary to do its part to save this species.”

In response to a petition from multiple conservation organizations, the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife developed a status review to assess the murrelet’s condition. The review demonstrated that murrelets need increased protections under the Oregon Endangered Species Act due largely to loss of nesting habitat from ongoing clear-cut logging. State protections are critical, because although many of Oregon’s Coast Range old-growth forests have been logged and converted into industrial tree farms, some of the best remaining older forests occur on state-managed lands.

“We’re pleased commissioners made a sound, science-based decision that’s exactly what these desperately imperiled seabirds need to survive,” said Tierra Curry, senior scientist at the Center for Biological Diversity. “The science was absolutely clear that the murrelet warrants endangered status in Oregon. This protection will be critical to preserving an amazing part of our state’s natural heritage.”

The murrelet was listed as threatened in 1995. However, the recent status review conducted by Oregon’s Department of Fish and Wildlife concluded that the “key threats identified at the time of listing have continued or increased, and many new threats have been identified since the 1990s … the life history exhibited by this species provides little opportunity for the population to rapidly increase even under the most optimal circumstances.” It also noted that the primary causes of marbled murrelet declines — loss and fragmentation of older forest habitat on which the bird depends for nesting — have “slowed, but not halted … since the 1990s,” with greatest losses occurring on lands managed by the state. The review specifically notes that existing programs and regulation have “failed to prevent continued high rates of habitat loss on nonfederal lands in Oregon.”

The Oregon Endangered Species Act requires that the commission adopt survival guidelines for the species at the time of reclassification. Survival guidelines are quantifiable and measurable guidelines necessary to ensure the survival of individual members of the species. Guidelines may include take avoidance and protecting resource sites such as nest sites or other sites critical to the survival of individual members of the species. They would serve as interim protection until endangered species management plans are developed by applicable state agencies and approved by the Fish and Wildlife Commission.

“It is remarkable that this species has been listed as threatened for more than 20 years but the state of Oregon has never developed a plan to actually protect murrelets on either lands owned by the state of Oregon or private timber lands,” said Quinn Read, Northwest director of Defenders of Wildlife. “The status quo has failed this iconic Oregon seabird. We look forward to working with ODFW and other agencies to developing a plan that will truly protect this species and allow it to recover in Oregon.”

“This is an important step for ODFW. The agency has struggled to faithfully act on it's core mission of protecting all native fish and wildlife in our state, but with this action to protect the marbled murrelet we hope they have turned the page,” said Steve Pedery, Conservation Director for Oregon Wild.

The conservation groups that initiated the petition to declare the marbled murrelet endangered in Oregon were Cascadia Wildlands, Audubon Society of Portland, the Center for Biological Diversity, Oregon Wild, Coast Range Forest Watch and the Oregon Chapter of the Sierra Club.

Posted by nsc425 in Campaign News Updates, Featured Case: Marbled Murrelet, Home Page Hot Topic, In The Media, News, Oregon Campaigns, Press Room, Protect Public Forests, Protecting Forests and Wild Places, Save the Elliott Rainforest, Strategic Litigation, Uncategorized

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Dec11

Reward Boosted to $20,000 in Search for Killer of Two Washington Wolves

For Immediate Release, December 11, 2017

Contact:

Nick Cady, (314) 482-3746, nick@cascwild.org

Noah Greenwald, (503) 484-7495, ngreenwald@biologicaldiversity.org

Reward Boosted to $20,000 in Search for Killer of Two Washington Wolves

Groups Push for Increased Federal Law Enforcement

SEATTLE— The Center for Biological Diversity and Cascadia Wildlands today increased a reward to $20,000 for information leading to conviction in the killing of two wolves last month in northeast Washington.

The groups also called for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to step up its law enforcement efforts to investigate poaching incidents in both Washington and Oregon.

“Poaching wolves or other wildlife is a deplorable crime,” said Noah Greenwald, endangered species director at the Center. “We need people to come forward and help put a stop to the killing of these endangered animals.”

The two wolves killed were part of the Smackout and Dirty Shirt packs. Information on their loss and a $10,000 reward was issued by another conservation group, Conservation Northwest, on Saturday. These killings follow the poaching of three other Oregon wolves over the past several months. Wolf populations in both Washington and Oregon remain small and poaching could have a serious impact on their continued recovery.

“Poaching represents a real threat to the recovery of wolves in Washington and elsewhere on the West Coast,” said Nick Cady, legal director with Cascadia Wildlands. “It’s time for federal and state law enforcement to meaningfully act and catch and prosecute these lawless poachers.”

Following a government-sponsored campaign of poisoning, shooting and killing, wolves were wiped out from all lower 48 states except a small corner of northeast Minnesota. With protection under the Endangered Species Act, wolves have made a comeback in portions of their range. They began returning to Washington and Oregon in the past 10 years or so, now numbering between 100 and 150 animals in each state.

Cascadia Wildlands defends and restores Cascadia’s wild ecosystems in the forests, in the courts, and in the streets. We envision vast old-growth forests, rivers full of salmon, wolves howling in the backcountry, and vibrant communities sustained by the unique landscapes of the Cascadia bioregion. Join our movement today.

Posted by nsc425 in Bring Back Wolves, Campaign News Updates, Home Page Hot Topic, In The Media, News, Press Room, Restoring Wolves and Other Species, Uncategorized, Washington Wolves

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Oct25

Marbled Murrelet Review Suggests Increased Protections!

Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife Status Review Demonstrates that Marbled Murrelet Urgently Needs Endangered Status

In response to a petition from multiple conservation organizations, the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW) has released a status review that demonstrates that the Marbled Murrelet warrants uplisting from threatened to endangered under the Oregon Endangered Species Act and is seeking public comment.

“The Marbled Murrelet has been listed as threatened under the Oregon Endangered Species Act for more than two decades and during that time it has slipped closer and closer to extinction in our state,” said Nick Cady, Legal Director for Cascadia Wildlands. “It is critical that the state increase protections for this species right away if there is to be any hope of saving the Oregon population.”

The Department’s status review documents that the iconic seabird, which nests in old-growth and mature forests and forages at sea, is headed for extinction in Oregon if stronger measures are not taken. Oregon conservation groups are calling on the Oregon Fish and Wildlife Commission to uplist the Murrelet from threatened to endangered at their February 2018 meeting.

“While federal laws have stabilized habitat loss on federal lands, the State of Oregon has continued to allow logging of older forests at an alarming rate and failed to adequately address new threats to the species,” said Bob Sallinger, Conservation Director for the Audubon Society of Portland. “Changing the Murrelet’s status to endangered will help ensure that Oregon takes the steps necessary to do its part to save this species.”

The report concludes the “key threats identified at the time of listing have continued or increased, and many new threats have been identified since the 1990’s….the life history exhibited by this species provides little opportunity for the population to rapidly increase even under the most optimal circumstances.” It also noted that the primary cause of Marbled Murrelet declines, loss and fragmentation of older forest habitat on which it depends for nesting, has “slowed, but not halted…since the 1990s” with greatest losses since on lands managed by the State of Oregon. The review specifically notes that existing programs and regulation have “failed to prevent continued high rates of habitat loss on nonfederal lands in Oregon,”

If the Marbled Murrelet were uplisted from threatened to endangered in Oregon, the Department of Fish and Wildlife would be required to establish survival guidelines at the time of reclassification and a species management plan within 18-months.

“The Marbled Murrelet is the proverbial canary in the coal mine,” said Noah Greenwald, endangered species director at the Center for Biological Diversity. “The species survival guidelines and management plan will help ensure the State of Oregon addresses not only loss of older forests but a whole array of other threats faced by Murrelets, such as energy development, oil spills, power lines and declining forage fish populations.”

“It’s time for Oregon to catch up with our neighbors,” said Danielle Moser, Wildlife Coordinator for Oregon Wild. “California and Washington have already uplisted the Murrelet from ‘threatened’ to ‘endangered’ at the state level, recognizing that more protections are needed to ensure the survival of this imperiled species.”

“The data presented by ODFW staff is clear – habitat loss on state lands is putting the marbled murrelet at the risk of extinction,” said Shawn Cantrell, Northwest Director for Defenders of Wildlife. “The only question for the Fish and Wildlife Commission is whether it will follow the science by changing the status of Marbled Murrelet to endangered in Oregon.”

The data in the review overwhelmingly supports uplisting the Marbled Murrelet to endangered status in Oregon,” said Rhett Lawrence of the Oregon Chapter of the Sierra Club. “We urge the ODFW Commission to recognize the dire situation faced by the murrelet and the state forests on which they depend and move forward with this critically important step to save murrelets in Oregon.”

The conservation groups who initiated the petition to uplist the Marbled Murrelet in Oregon were Cascadia Wildlands, Audubon Society of Portland Center for Biological Diversity, Oregon Wild, Coast Range Forest Watch and Oregon Chapter of the Sierra Club.

Posted by nsc425 in Campaign News Updates, Home Page Hot Topic, In The Media, News, Oregon Campaigns, Press Room, Protect Public Forests, Protecting Forests and Wild Places, Save the Elliott Rainforest, Uncategorized

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Oct18

The Deja Vu of Killing Wolves

by Nick Cady, Legal Director

Late last month, the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife announced that it would shoot up to four wolves in the Harl Butte pack. Again. In August, following conflicts between wolves and livestock in the same area, the Department killed another four wolves from the same pack.

The Harl Butte territory is no stranger to conflicts between wolves and livestock. This is the same area formerly occupied by the Imnaha pack along the Imnaha River near Oregon's border with Idaho. The Imnaha pack was wiped out last year by the Department, after numerous other kill orders over several years.

It is important to keep in mind that the number of wolf/livestock conflicts remains incredibly low when compared to livestock animals lost to coyotes, cougars, and wild dogs. It shrinks to insignificance when compared to the number of animals that die from the weather, disease, traffic accidents, or good ole-fashioned cattle rustling. Regardless, killing wolves remains the persistent agenda of numerous commercial lobbyist groups in the Pacific Northwest, and our Fish and Wildlife Departments all too often oblige.

It is also critical to remember that ranchers are getting compensated, at full market value, for any livestock they lose as long as they show they attempted to proactively reduce conflict between wolves and livestock. That generous cash program is subject to ongoing investigations of questionable payments being made to some of these producers.

The State's wolf killing is designed to prevent future depredations, but we are experiencing livestock losses repeatedly in the same areas. The same story is playing out in Washington, where the State has killed wolves three separate times at the behest of the same livestock producer in the same region. The question remains: Why are we forced to kill wolves in the same areas, again and again?

The Cattlemen's Associations contend it is because the wolves have developed a taste for beef and teach the ways of the burger to their pups. But Oregon and Washington continue to wipe out entire packs. Depredations resume the next year when new wolves move into the vacated habitat.

It is not because beef is delicious that wolves are targeting cows. Pervasively across the West there are areas where wolves and livestock are in close proximity without conflicts. If wolves prefer beef, there would be conflicts any place where wolves and livestock interact. But this is not the case.

Instead, it appears to be a product of there being too many cattle on the landscape. Rob Klavins, a close friend and employee for Oregon Wild, lives out in this Harl Butte/Imnaha area where he and is wife run the Barking Mad B&B (check it out if you're ever near Enterprise). He maintains a series of wildlife cameras on public lands where Harl Butte and Imnaha wolves were regularly seen. When talking with him about this recent kill order, he shared that in reviewing his tapes, of all the different wildlife that pops up on his motion activated cameras, well-over 90% are cows.

Is it that wolves are eating cows because bovine are the only viable prey species left in that area? When cattle are intensively grazed in the specific areas, they drive out the deer and elk that otherwise might comprise the majority of a wolf's diet. This also drives the herds of deer and elk down into agricultural lowlands, where they munch on farmers' fields. This can lead to frustrated farmers poaching loads of elk. It seems likely there are simply too many cattle grazing in these particular areas during the grazing season, which is driving out other game.

Now I know you are saying to yourself, "wait, commercial agriculture overusing a resource? This would never happen." But just maybe this is what is occurring.

Regardless of why wolf-livestock conflict continues in these particular areas, shooting wolves in response to depredations simply is not a long-term solution. It is a money-pit and bad policy. Every year our Fish and Wildlife Departments will continue to shoot wolves, spending tens and sometimes hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars each kill order, in response to a few dead cows, only to see it recur time and time again.

And yet the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife is going broke, or is already broke. They increasingly rely on general fund taxpayer dollars. The Department is coming to the conservation community with its hat in its hand. The conservation community works with the Department to recover habitat and protect non-game species that include many of the imperiled species in the state on the verge of extinction. The conservation community wants to work with the Department on these species.

However, Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife spends 2% of its funding on non-game species, even though these comprise 88% of the species in the state. Only three of the agency's 1,200-person staff work on non-game species. Their requests for money remind me of National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation, where cousin Eddie promises to get you something real nice with the Christmas gift money he borrows from you, but you know that gift is going to be a hastily dug trench filled with dead carnivores.

It is past time for the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife and its Commission to deal with this issue in a direct manner, instead of bending like a willow to interest groups. But this will not happen on its own! Oregon's wildlife needs strong leadership from Governor Kate Brown. She appoints the Fish and Wildlife Commission that makes the calls on these issues, and she needs to send a clear message to this floundering agency and its Commission.

Give Governor Brown a call: (503) 378-4582. If you like wolves, tell her to stop killing them. If you decry government waste and hate to watch the Department endlessly dump public money into a problem of its own creation that it has no intention of solving, give her a ring. If you enjoy the film Christmas Vacation, let her know. Governor Brown was just awarded the Environmental Champion of the Year Award by the Oregon League of Conservation Voters. Let's see if she will put her money where her mouth is.

Posted by nsc425 in Blog, Bring Back Wolves, Campaign News Updates, Home Page Hot Topic, In The Media, Oregon Wolves, Press Room, Restoring Wolves and Other Species, Uncategorized, Washington Wolves

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Sep25

Cascadia Lawsuit Challenges Wolf Killing in Washington!

Lawsuit Challenges Washington Wolf-killing Protocol

Injunction Sought Against Further Killings After State Nearly Wipes Out Three Packs for One Livestock Owner

OLYMPIA, Wash.— Two conservation groups filed a lawsuit today seeking to stop the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife and its director, James Unsworth, from killing any more state-endangered wolves.

Today’s suit, filed on behalf of the Center for Biological Diversity and Cascadia Wildlands, asserts that the agency’s killing of wolves from the Smackout and Sherman packs in northeastern Washington relied upon a faulty protocol and failed to undergo required environmental analysis. The suit was filed in Superior Court of Washington for Thurston County.

“We can’t sit by and watch Washington wildlife officials kill more wolves from the state’s small and recovering wolf population,” said Amaroq Weiss, the Center’s West Coast wolf advocate. “Washingtonians overwhelmingly want wolves recovered, not killed. The Department of Fish and Wildlife needs to listen to public opinion and consider the dire environmental costs of killing more wolves.”

In June of this year, Fish and Wildlife officials adopted a revised “wolf-livestock interaction protocol” for determining when to kill wolves in response to livestock conflicts. The protocol provided for the state to kill wolves more quickly than in prior years. As the lawsuit notes, the protocol was adopted without any public input or environmental review, in violation of the state’s Environmental Policy and Administrative Procedure Acts.

“Reasonable minds can differ on when we should and should not be killing wolves, and whether the killing of the wolves in these two packs was justified,” said Nick Cady, legal director for Cascadia Wildlands. “But there is no question that we should be fully analyzing the efficacy of these actions, welcoming public and scientific input, and be able to hold the state accountable. This is a state agency spending taxpayer dollars.”

The department has since relied on the protocol to order killing of wolves from two packs, with two wolves from the Smackout pack and one wolf from the Sherman pack killed to date. At the time of the Sherman pack kill order, only two wolves could be confirmed as comprising the pack, one of which the department has now killed. The department has temporarily paused killing wolves from both packs, but will resume if there are more livestock losses.

Overall, since 2012, the state has killed 18 state-endangered wolves, nearly 16 percent of the state’s current confirmed population of 115 wolves. Fifteen of the wolves killed since 2012 were killed on behalf of the same livestock owner; those kills have now led to the near eradication of three entire wolf packs, including the Profanity Peak pack last year, and the Wedge pack in 2012. The rancher in question has been a vocal opponent of wolf recovery and has historically refused to implement meaningful nonlethal measures designed to protect his livestock from wolves.

But wolf recovery in Washington is still a work in progress. Wolves remain absent from large areas of the state and although the population has been growing, it remains small and vulnerable. Given the continued endangered status of wolves, the state and livestock operators should stick to nonlethal methods as the sole means for reducing loss of livestock to wolves.

“We appreciate that many livestock owners already are using nonlethal methods, said Weiss, “since the science shows such methods are more effective anyway.”

Plaintiffs are represented in the case by attorneys from the law firm Lane Powell.

The Center for Biological Diversity is a national, nonprofit conservation organization with more than 1.5 million members and online activists dedicated to the protection of endangered species and wild places. Recognizing the ecological importance of wolves, bears and other carnivores, the Center uses science-based advocacy to defend these magnificent animals from persecution, exploitation and extinction. Find out more about our Carnivore Conservation campaign here.

Cascadia Wildlands educates, agitates, and inspires a movement to protect and restore Cascadia's wild ecosystems. We envision vast old-growth forests, rivers full of wild salmon, wolves howling in the backcountry, and vibrant communities sustained by the unique landscapes of the Cascadia bioregion.

Posted by nsc425 in Bring Back Wolves, Campaign News Updates, Home Page Hot Topic, In The Media, News, Press Room, Restoring Wolves and Other Species, Strategic Litigation, Uncategorized, Washington Wolves, Wolves and Allies

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Aug03

Oregon Killing Harl Butte Wolf Pack

August 3, 2017

For Immediate Release

Nick Cady, Cascadia Wildlands, nick@cascwild.org, (314) 482-3746

Oregon Killing Wolves Again in Imnaha Pack Territory

Harl Butte Pack Targeted in Response to Depredations on Forest Service Lands

Today, the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife signed a kill order for the Harl Butte Pack in Northeastern Oregon. The Harl Butte Pack territory largely overlaps with the former territory of the Imnaha Pack which was killed last year by the Department. The kill order comes in response to two recent conflicts with cows on public National Forests, where one calf was confirmed killed by wolves.

"Cascadia Wildlands is disgusted that the Department is moving to kill wolves again in the Imnaha pack territory," said Nick Cady with Cascadia Wildlands. "It is becoming painfully obvious from every experience in Oregon and Washington that killing wolves leads to more conflict down the line and does not address the problem. We are setting ourselves up for a perpetual cycle where we are throwing away public dollars and needlessly killing a still-recovering species."

The Department is operating under a wolf plan last updated in 2010. The Department is obligated to update its plan every five years, but delayed this update to push forward the removal of wolves from the state list of endangered species. This delisting decision is currently being litigated and was heavily criticized by Oregonians and the scientific community.

"The Department is killing wolves under an outdated wolf plan, the revision of which is approaching three years overdue. The Department has released a draft of this plan with a science update that calls into serious question the efficacy of killing wolves to prevent conflicts with livestock. It is ridiculous that the Department is prioritizing killing wolves prior to finalizing a sound management policy."

The request for the kill order came from Oregon's livestock industry, which has recently argued in court that wolves are an invasive species. The recent wolf-livestock conflicts occurred on public Forest Service lands, where grazing is heavily subsidized by the federal government.

"This kill order is wrong and simply another aimless gift to the commercial livestock industry already bloated on public subsidies. There are just over a hundred wolves confirmed in Oregon, and population growth this past year was stagnant. The mission of the Department of Fish and Wildlife is to protect recovering native species, not to meaninglessly pander to large commercial industries pushing for wolf eradication."

The kill order can be found here.

Posted by nsc425 in Bring Back Wolves, Campaign News Updates, Caring for Cascadia’s Carnivores, Home Page Hot Topic, In The Media, News, Oregon Wolves, Press Room, Restoring Wolves and Other Species, Uncategorized, Wolves and Allies

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