Evidence Idaho Wolves Again in Oregon
5-4-2000, addition 5-8-2000
There is once again sign the wolves from Idaho have migrated to eastern Oregon. Roy Heberger, assistant supervisor of the Boise office of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service told a group of ranchers, wildlife managers and Native Americans in Pendleton that wolf tracks had been seen the Eagle Cap Wilderness of Oregon near the Idaho border.In February and March 1999, a female wolf (B45F, originally from the Jureano Mountain pack near Salmon, Idaho) migrated from Idaho to the Blue Mountains of northeast Oregon. She was eventually captured and returned to Idaho where she has remained and may have found a mate. The tracks seen recently would be from new wolves.
The Eagle Cap Wilderness embraces much of the Wallowa mountain range, and is a bit closer to Idaho than the Blues. The Wallowas are full of elk and deer, although numbers have declined recently, and of course, some blame predators -- cougar specifically. No doubt wolves will be blamed too.
Little Eagle Meadows. Wallowa Mountains. Eagle Cap Wilderness. Copyright © Ralph Maughan
Heberger told me there also continues to be reports of a wolf near the Idaho-Utah-Nevada border. He said he had alerted Nevada wildlife officials. This is especially interesting because Nevada and California are the only two states that where the wolf would not be a threatened species if the expected downlisting plan of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service materializes this summer. In Nevada and California the wolf would receive no protection. Defenders of Wildlife have been adamant that this is the wrong approach.
May 8, 2000. Roy Heberger contacted me and said the Oregon wolf tracks were from Nov. 1999. This story is all over Oregon now because it originated from a local newspaper article, and in some circles folks are ringing their hands. But by now the wolves could be far from where they were tracked, or, on the other hand, they may be nearby with a litter of pups.
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Copyright © 2000 Ralph Maughan
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