by Bethany Cotton, Conservation Director for Cascadia Wildlands
Originally published in The Register-Guard, August 28, 2022.
As the Western U.S. again endures record-breaking summer heat and enters our third decade of drought, it’s time for us to adopt bold, regionwide solutions that will support climate-resilient communities, safeguard drinking water sources, reduce wildfire risk, protect remaining mature and old-growth forests and enhance wildlife habitat.
August 5, 2022 — Five conservation groups filed a lawsuit today asking a state court to enforce Gov. Jay Inslee’s order directing state wildlife officials to enact wolf management rules. The rules should have outlined what steps must be taken before wolves can be killed for conflict with livestock.
April 20, 2022 — Conservationists are concerned about the plateau of Oregon’s wolf population in 2021, largely resulting from poaching and agency killings. The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife’s (ODFW) annual wolf population report, released late yesterday, shows Oregon’s wolf population grew by the lowest percentage (just over one percent) since wolves naturally returned to the state. The 2021 minimum population of 175 wolves increased by just two animals from the 2020 minimum count of 173.
February 23, 2022 — Conservation and animal-protection groups announced a combined $22,500 reward today for information leading to a conviction in the killing of a collared wolf outside the town of Cove in Northeast Oregon.
February 10, 2022 — Today, a federal court restored Endangered Species Act protections for the gray wolf after they were eliminated by the Trump administration in 2020. The ruling orders the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to resume recovery efforts for the imperiled species. Today’s decision redesignates the gray wolf as a species threatened with extinction in the lower 48 states with the exception of the Northern Rockies population (map), for which wolf protections were removed by Congress in 2011.
OR-93 traveled further south than any wolf had in a hundred years. Even after death, he continues to inspire. Originally published December 5, 2021 in The Guardianby Katharine Gammon The … Continue reading A gray wolf’s epic journey ends in death on a California highway
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASEDecember 2, 2021 Contact: Kelly Peterson, Humane Society of the United States, (503) 869-0422, kpeterson@humanesociety.org Sophia Ressler, Center for Biological Diversity, (206) 399-4004, sressler@biologicaldiversity.orgBrooks Fahy, Predator Defense, … Continue reading Press Release: Death of 8 Wolves Confirmed to be by Poisoning
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASEAugust 2, 2021 Contacts:Bethany Cotton, Conservation Director, Cascadia Wildlands, bethany@cascwild.org, 503.327.4923Samantha Bruegger, Wildlife Coexistence Campaigner, WildEarth Guardians, sbruegger@wildearthguardians.org, 970.531.6720 Outrage: Oregon Department of Fish & Wildlife Kills Wolf … Continue reading Press Release: ODFW Uses Tax Dollars to Kill 3.5 Month Old Wolf Pups
Earlier this week, Rep. Peter DeFazio sent a letter to Secretary of the Interior, Deb Haaland and Principal Deputy Director of the USFWS, Martha Williams urging emergency reinstatement of Endangered … Continue reading DeFazio Letter Requests Immediate Protections for Gray Wolves
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASEJune 17, 2021 Contacts:Bethany Cotton, Cascadia Wildlands, (503) 327-4923, bethany@cascwild.orgAmaroq Weiss, Center for Biological Diversity, (707) 779-9613, aweiss@biologicaldiversity.orgJocelyn Leroux, Western Watersheds Project, (406) 960-4164, jocelyn@westernwatersheds.orgBrooks Fahy, Predator Defense, … Continue reading Press Release: WA Wolf Poaching, Reward for Information
