Monday, October 11, 2010

A view on Wolves in Wallowa Valley

Oregonians list feeling safe in their homes and communities as a top priority. Until recently, this focus was on criminal behavior. Now it is wolves. Wolves are not just a problem for ranchers; they are a community problem and the ranchers, who are an important and traditional part of our rural life, should not have to bear the burden of loss from wolf depredation alone.

Our family benefits from the chickens, eggs, lamb, pork and beef that we buy from local ranches. We get a healthful source of food and they benefit from our economic support. Now local livestock producers are working toward creating a wolf compensation trust fund to help with economic losses from wolves. They can put the Falbo family down on their list of potential donors. We are not ranchers, but we will be there for the common good.

The Draft Updated Oregon Wolf Conservation and Management Plan September 2010 is a work in progress which the public can easily access on line. The plan is forward looking and anticipates the eventual de-listing of the Wolf from the Federal Endangered Species act. It addresses compensation for depredation on private lands and livestock grazing legally on Federal and State lands. It also provides for many facets of wolf management, among them: Radio-collaring, monitoring, the need for sufficient funds to implement the plan and, when necessary, permitting the killing of depredating wolves.

It won’t be easy to hammer out a workable legal guide for dealing with wolves. Clearly, property owners have the right to defend their property to the full extent of the law. Therefore, the law must be crystal clear to all parties.

Government and public officials have a role to play in bringing all the concerned parties to the table; in writing the essential legislation to implement the plan; and, in authorizing sufficient money for it. Both the State and Federal governments are struggling financially with meeting existing program obligations, let alone taking on new ones. Thus, in these times, it is important to specify how new programs will be paid for within the constraints of revenues. There is no free lunch here; what is taken from one part of government comes at a cost elsewhere in government.


Our headlines alert us to the issues of wolves and keep us informed. This is good. But the choice and tone of our words matter. When our anger and our fears spill over into the local media they are quickly picked up by that echo chamber of the Internet, blogs and Face book. An unintended consequence of this publicity could be a chilling effect on tourism. Consider that in Wallowa County the Leisure and Hospitality sector employs about 280 people and in Union Count, accounts for about 860 jobs. If visitors are fearful of coming here, it will be difficult to count our loss. A room at a B & B left vacant here, a fisherman looking to hook a steelhead gone elsewhere or another job lost.


We can avoid that by use of measured words and thoughtful, calm analysis. If we get it right, in the end I believe that this County can get ahead of the wolf issue by proposing both legal and community-based grass roots efforts that work. If so, we will be justly proud to have created a plan that can serve as a model for the rest of our State.

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