A pack of gray wolves gathers in Oregon. Their predation on livestock has prompted the Wallowa County Board of Commissioners to write to Congress urging the federal delisting of wolves in the Lower 48 states. (Wallowa County Chieftain, Archive Photo)

ENTERPRISE — The Wallowa County Board of Commissioners is giving its support for a resolution in the U.S. House of Representatives to delist wolves in the Lower 48 states.

The county board approved sending a letter asking Congress to delist wolves that have protection under the Endangered Species Act in three-quarters of the state. Wolves east of Highway 395 are not under federal protection. House Resolution 845 would remove that protection statewide.

A bill introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives on Jan. 31 would remove gray wolves from the list of endangered and threatened species under the Endangered Species Act, effectively delisting them across the Lower 48 states. The bill also would prevent judicial review of the delisting decision.

“This partial status makes it very hard to have a collaborative plan to manage the predator, and makes it extremely difficult to follow the Oregon Wolf Conservation and Management Plan and its phases when we do not have the whole state delisted,” the commissioners wrote.

Wolves were reintroduced to Yellowstone National Park in the mid-1990s and migrated across Idaho and entered Oregon at Wallowa County.

“This population recovery, while a testament to successful conservation efforts, has come with serious and unintended consequences for Oregon’s farming and ranching communities,” the letter stated. “They are devastating and hard to continue to witness.”

The letter went on to state that while Oregon attempts to compensate livestock owners for losses to wolves, the funding program often runs short and often does not keep pace with losses incurred.

State Sen. Todd Nash, R-Enterprise, was successful in getting the Legislature to pass a bill to increase compensation to livestock producers from the market value of livestock lost to wolves to four times the value for most animals. Last year, while he was a Wallowa County commissioner, he supported a measure that would have had a multiplier of seven times the market value, but that bill failed. Rep. Bobby Levy, R-Echo, ushered Nash’s Senate bill through the Oregon House.

The letter to Congress in conclusion attested to Oregon’s capability to manage wolves responsibly.

“It is clear that the current management strategy for gray wolves in Oregon is no longer balanced,” the commissioners wrote. “The wolf population has surpassed sustainable thresholds for coexistence with humans, agriculture and wildlife in many regions. Delisting wolves would allow for more localized and responsive wildlife management that considers both ecological and economic realities. Oregon is fully capable responsibly managing its wolf population at the state level, just as it does with other predator and game species.”

HR 845 would return to Oregon local control of the predators it hasn’t had for years.

“We strongly support HR 845 and removing the federal protection status on all gray wolves in the whole state of Oregon.