To the Editor:

I was sorry to read Scott McClarans letter in which he implied the ODFW was unable and unwilling to respond to claims of wolf losses on his ranch. In fact he never requested an investigation, although ODFW knew he might have wolf problems and were ready to do their job despite rugged terrain.

As every Wallowa County rancher in wolf country now knows, ODFW staff do their wolf management work despite 12-hour days, sacrificed weekends, disrupted family plans, stinking weather, and stinking carcasses. They have endured overt hostility and intense political and personal pressure. Friendships and families have been strained.

The helicopter work can be dangerous. The ODFW didnt introduce wolves to Oregon.

Wolves came on their own. Some ODFW folks may have reservations about wolves, but they professionally do their job because they work for the majority of Oregonians, who have repeatedly said that if wolves come here, they can stay.

Most of the state wolf budget is spent directly on management to benefit livestock producers. The expensive GPS collars serve primarily to track wolves so ranchers can be warned and range-riders, fladry and other nonlethal tools can be deployed. Nearly all the monitoring trapping, helicopter flights, thousands of miles of driving, equipment expense is for wolf/livestock management to benefit stockmen.

The recent settlement of the wolf lawsuit resulted from 17 months of hard, anguished negotiation by the state, conservationists and cattlemen, creating a sorely needed understanding between the parties, reflected in the final settlement. No other state has accomplished this.

This settlement deserves a chance, but Scott McClarans letter seems to dismiss its accomplishments, which include lethal control directly by ranchers, and to belittle the efforts of fellow stockmen in the Oregon Cattlemens Association who sweated blood during this long negotiation on an extremely contentious issue and it does a disservice to the ODFW people who put their whole weight into a necessary, honest, sometimes unpleasant, and apparently thankless task.