OR-17 with a 2013 pup of the Imnaha pack. Photo by ODFW.

Seen as incompatible with the settlement of the West, the gray wolf was trapped, poisoned and shot by state and federal governments and private bounty hunters to the point of near extinction. The species has been listed on the federal Endangered Species Act since the 1973.

To expedite recovery in the Rocky Mountains, the US Fish and Wildlife Service, the federal agency in charge of recovering endangered species, seeded central Idaho and Yellowstone National Park with 29 gray wolves from nearby Canada in 1995 and 37 more in 1996. As anticipated, wolves have repopulated the northern Rockies and have migrated to neighboring states where recovery has begun in earnest.

In 1999, three wolves journeyed into Oregon from Idaho. One was shot and killed, one was hit by a car and killed, and the other was tranquilized and sent back to Idaho.

Because the state has a statutory obligation under the Oregon Endangered Species Act to recover the gray wolf, the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife convened diverse stakeholders to generate a gray wolf recovery plan in 2003.

During the planning process, Cascadia Wildlands mobilized community members across the state, testified at hearings, hosted presentations and submitted official comments on the plan. The plan was adopted by the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife Commission in 2005 and set recovery goals for the species in both eastern and western Oregon. End of year 2015 counts in Oregon documented at least 110 wolves across approximately 15 packs and pairs. In Washington, the count came in at at least 90 wolves across 15 packs. In California, the lone Shasta Pack has established a territory near the namesake volcano.

Multimedia

December 2010: Oregon Dept of Fish and Wildlife footage of the Imnaha Pack

Imnaha Pack, 2009

First wolf confirmed in Oregon

Links and resources

1. "Wolves and the Ecology of Fear: Can Predation Risk Structure Ecosystems?" By William Ripple and Robert Beschta. This article details the impacts wolves have had on Yellowstone since their reintroduction in 1995, including elk herds and riparian vegetation.

2. "Is the Return of the Wolf, Wolverine, and Grizzly Bear to Oregon and California Biologically Feasible?" By Carlos Carrol, Reed Noss, et al.

3. "Modeling Gray Wolf Habitat in Oregon Using a Geographic Information System." Abstract of thesis by Tad Larsen.

4. Article on the Potential for Wolf Recovery in Oregon. By George Wuerthner.

5. Oregon Wolf Conservation and Management Plan

6. Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife's Gray Wolf Webpage

7. Livestock Protection Dogs and Non-lethal Tools to Deter Wolves