In Which NWLobos Announces a New Floating Feature

NWLobos is Excited and Pleased to Announce a New Rotating Feature

NWLobos, recognizing that much of what we do here is not strictly related to the Pacific Northwest, hereby announces a new rotating feature that seeks to illuminate wolf, or carnivore-related issues across the globe.  

Said "International" features will include wolf and canid-related news from around the world, but won't necessarily restrict themselves to wolves and canids, it being the case that said matters almost never stand alone and instead are typically entwined with much larger themes involving trophic cascades, land-use, rewilding and the protection of existing power structures.  

NWLobos was originally founded, as it's name suggests, as a forum for news and opinions regarding wolves in the Pacific Northwest.  This seemed like a good idea at the time, but it soon became obvious that one could not touch the subject without also touching many other fraught but related issues that had to be covered were the issue of wolves in the Pacific Northwest to have anything like context.  

It soon became apparent that in some ways wolves in the Pacific Northwest were, if not an allegory, than at least a sort of symbol that could easily be used as an avenue towards greater understanding of the larger themes that face all of humanity as we struggle to find an equilibrium that balances environmental concerns with the cold and stark reality of modernity.  

In other words, NWLobos quickly realized that it made no sense to speak of wolves in isolation, as if they were a discrete issue somehow unrelated to the larger currents of the world.  

The above understanding of issues regarding wolves as being largely a stand-in for issues regarding humanity's interaction with nature is, therefore, the basis upon which we launch the "International" feature.   

Washington State Rep Matt Shea is a Hardcore Far Right Extremist; The Washington State House of Representatives Report on Shea and why it Matters to NWLobos

First of all, Here's the PDF of the Washington State House of Representatives Report of Investigation Regarding Representative Matt Shea.

I recommend that everyone read the entire thing as it is full of damning information that in total, paints a frightening picture of an aspect of American culture that (present blog obviously excluded) has gone widely under-reported and underappreciated.

Matt Shea, and many of the people he represents --not as constituents in his district, but as like-minded citizens-- is bad news.  This is not a good or kind person and I think it's important that people understand this.  These people, these so-called members of the Patriot Movement, are not patriots at all and in fact, mostly hate this country and everything it stands for.  They hate you if you are not straight, white, Christian and militantly opposed to liberal democracy. 

Matt Shea is an authoritarian, plain and simple, and as such he has no place as an elected official in this country.

Here's an excellent OPB listicle on Shea that runs through 15 details revealed in the report, all of which should be alarming to the sane citizens.

Here's an article by Austin Jenkins, a Northwest News Network reporter obviously affiliated with both OPB and NPR, though I don't claim to know his official status.  In any case, Jenkins is by all accounts reputable.

Here's a Seattle Times article with a byline including three staff reporters.

Finally, here's a Salon.com article by Igor Derysh.  I'm not a huge fan of Salon, nor am I familiar with Derysh and his work, but in this particular instance I think Salon/Derysh gets it right and at the risk of compromising my credibility, I include it.

Again, the upshot here is that this report reveals Matt Shea as the far right extremist that so much great reporting has already shown him to be.  Matt Shea is not a good dude and I have to believe that Eastern Washington can do better.

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Judge Denies Grazing Rights To Dwight And Steven Hammond

This is not a specifically wolf-related story, but it is related to the Malheur Wildlife Refuge occupation of 2016, the so-called "patriot" movement, and broader land-use issues in the west, all of which are very near and dear to NWLobos's heart and have received extensive coverage here in the past.

Here's  a link to the OPB story on the issue, and lest we be accused of only linking to milquetoast liberal news organizations, here's a link to THE WESTERNER, a blog published by former New Mexico Secretary of Agriculture Frank DuBois who, while certainly not a wild-eyed extremist, appears to be far more sympathetic to the Hammonds than is NWLobos.

In any event, please do read the articles linked above, but if you can't, or just don't feel like it, the short version of the story is this:

Father and son ranchers, Dwight and Steve Hammond, whose legal misadventures sparked the Malheur Wildlife Refuge occupation, have had their grazing permit revoked by U.S. District Judge Michael H. Simon.   On Friday Judge Simon overturned former Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke's order renewing said permit saying it was a "abuse of discretion."  

The Hammond Family.  I post this because I don't want to demonize anyone.  These are just regular people with whom I happen to disagree.  It's never personal.  No one can be blamed for wishing to protect the lifestyle they've cultivated for generations.    

Readers who have kept abreast of the Malheur fiasco will recall that the Hammonds were convicted of arson in 2012 for burning public land --ostensibly to protect "their" winter range, though also, allegedly, to cover up the illegal slaughter of deer-- were subsequently imprisoned and then became a cause célèbre for the "Patriot" Movement, ultimately resulting in the armed occupation of the Malheur Wildlife Refuge by a group led by brothers Ammon and Ryan Bundy, sons of Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy who'd gained notoriety in 2014 as the leaders of an armed standoff between federal law enforcement and members of the "Patriot" Movement.

The upshot is that this ruling is generally good news for those of us who believe in the rule of law and the primacy of public over private interest with regard to the management of public land in the west.  It is also a blow to the Trump administration which has thus far deferred entirely to private land-use interests in the west, one suspects, out of an understanding of where it's base lies, rather than for anything resembling ideology.

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Colorado initiative would OK reintroducing the gray wolf

Here's the article in full, as always I urge everyone to read it.  The gist is that wildlife activists in Colorado have introduced a ballot initiative that would authorize the reintroduction of wolves into the state.

If this strikes anyone as odd, or at least mildly puzzling given that wolves have proven themselves perfectly capable of self-reintroduction in states like Washington, Oregon and, most recently, California, fear not, for you are in good company.  

One obvious question here is how wolves have recolonized Washington, Oregon and far-northern California from Idaho, Montana and Wyoming, while seemingly somehow shunning Utah and Colorado.  The answer is, of-course, related to geography and climate as well as human-made obstacles.  While there are vast swathes of both Utah and Colorado that are more than capable of supporting healthy wolf populations, they are cut off from the Northern Rockies and Pacific Northwest by a combination of man-made and natural obstacles that together have thus far stymied the efforts of all but a few wandering wolves, none of whom have established a pack.

In any case, this is the first time that wolf-reintroduction will be voted on by the citizens of a state and it has attracted a great deal of money and controversy as well as hard feelings and strong words on all sides.  As anyone might have predicted, and as we have so often belabored on this blog, the divide is once again primarily rural vs urban, conservative vs liberal; a sort of microcosm of the greater cultural divide that is currently tearing the country apart.     

2 Yellowstone Wolf Pups Killed in Fatal Encounter with Vehicle

As always, here's the link to the original story which everyone should definitely read.  If for whatever reason you can't read it, the short version is that two sibling pups were struck and killed in an evening incident on November 19 in the northeast part of the park.  The pups were black, which probably didn't redound to their benefit in terms of visibility, and were members of the Junction Butte pack which fortunately is otherwise healthy and one of the largest in the northern regions of the park. 

The Junction Butte pack is also one of the most frequently seen packs since it inhabits an area that's relatively accessible, including a road that remains open year-round, and is home to several popular hiking trails.  Park Service biologists suspect that habituation to humans may have played a role in the incident and are still investigating it.

The Junction Creek Pack, courtesy of the USNPS

For whatever it's worth, my own rather cynical perspective --as a former Yellowstone-employee who's repeatedly seen visitors do astonishingly stupid things-- leads me to immediately imagine the worst with regard to the driver behind this incident, but to be fair, I am not in any way objectively justified in so imagining.

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1 ranch, 26 wolves killed: Fight over endangered predators divides ranchers and conservationists

Northeastern Washington's Diamond M Ranch produces some very dodgy numbers together with a dismissive attitude toward those who voice concerns.

Here's the link to an excellent LA Times article that digs into the issue fairly deeply.  For those who may not have the time to read it all, the gist is that of 31 wolves eradicated in Washington state, 26 of them were on or related to a single ranch in NE Washington.  The Diamond M Ranch's owners are singularly unrepentant, deny having acted improperly and in general appear to be a perfect type-specimen of the kind of anti-government entitlement that informs the political thought of so many rural westerners.  The situation also highlights the urban/rural cultural divide that's been belabored so extensively elsewhere on this blog.  In this case, as in Oregon, it's a divide that often --though not always-- coincides geographically with the Cascade Crest.  

Finally, as we've said here so often, the question really comes down to who owns the land.  

Is it really public land that accordingly should be administered by those practices endorsed by a majority of citizens, or should ranching families that have lived on the land for multiple generations have some kind of preemptive claim? 

I deliberately pose the question this way because these are the competing equities that have to be balanced.  While it may seem obvious that the larger public will should prevail with regard to public lands, it's also true that it's a very hard-sell for families that have made their living for generations out on the land to be told that they must change their way of life at the behest of the city-dwelling masses.  Nor should we be at all surprised when said families utterly reject said will of the masses, whatever the historical truth that underlies the mythology of the western rancher may be --and I can assure you, it is ugly, often very violent, and to paraphrase Conrad, mostly involves the taking away of land from those who have a different complexion or slightly flatter noses than ourselves.   
  

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Sierra Nevada Red Fox Presence Confirmed in Oregon Cascades

US Fish and Wildlife Service, Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, Sierra Nevada Red Foxes and a Plethora of Acronyms and Jargon Decoded.  

In which, theoretically at least, we attempt to put together a coherent story based on today's ODFW press release. 

 

The upshot here is that as of today the US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) has officially decided not to list the Sierra Nevada Red Fox (SNRF) under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) on the basis of a study conducted by the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW) in conjunction with US Forest Service (USFS).   

Said study confirmed SNRF presence in the Oregon Cascades, specifically, in the Mt. Jefferson, Mt. Washington and Three Sisters Wilderness Areas respectively.  Additional samples indicating possible SNRF presence were collected as far north as Mt. Hood Nat'l Forest and in Crater Lake Nat'l Park.    

The study used cameras, hair snares and bait and lasted from 2012-2014.  DNA samples were analyzed at UC Davis in California.

Note: this is old AF and should have been posted many eons ago but for some reason was overlooked and has since withered on the vine.  Normally I don't even bother with these old errors, but I've recently been trying to clean up and otherwise generally revitalize the blog --more as an exercise in personal edification than anything else-- and in the process I came across this and thought it was cool enough to deserve a post, even were it several years out of date.

So there you have it.

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The hunt for Japan’s ‘ghost’ wolves

Fascinating article from the BBC about cryptid canids in one of Central Japan's national parks.  I am largely ignorant of Japan's geography and freely admit that this article defied my expectations in that it posits the existence, in the middle of one of the world's most densely populated countries, of a remnant wolf population.  That said, it seems legit.  here's the link.

These are a couple of pics taken with trail cams.  Clearly it's a canid.  I am nowhere near knowledgeable enough to have a valid opinion as to whether or not it's anything like a Japanese wolf, which are thought to have gone extinct over 100-years-ago.  That said, even if it's just a hybrid, and not an actual Japanese wolf, it's still pretty cool. 

USDA Hires "Conflict Prevention Specialist" for Southern Oregon

You can read about it in more detail here.  The gist is that the USDA will have a full-time employee working on developing and implementing non-lethal measures to counter wolf predation in Southern Oregon.

Bundyville

From Longreads and Oregon Public Broadcasting, "Bundyville" is a seven-part series chronicling the rise, fall and resurgence of the Bundy family, the armed uprisings they inspired and the fight over the future of the American West.

Very cool podcast that, while not directly related to wolves in the PNW, does cover a lot of related issues regarding land-use and ideology in the rural west.  I highly recommend to anyone interested in these issues since they bear directly on the much larger question of wolves and wildland preservation in general.  I am not anti-rancher in general, but I am opposed to those militant ranchers who choose to use force in order to project extremist ideologies at the expense of the American people.    

Oh yeah, here's the link: https://www.npr.org/podcasts/606441988/bundyville

Only a matter of time before wolves settle in Central Oregon

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• • Bend Bulletin
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  By MICHAEL KOHN The Bulletin

Wolf packs have established themselves in all points of the compass from Central Oregon, and it’s probably only a matter of time before one settles in the Deschutes National Forest, according to wildlife biologists.

With packs as close as Warm Springs Indian Reservation to the north and the Umpqua National Forest to the west, the areas between are almost certain to be filled in with at least one wolf pack, said Bend-based John Stephenson, the lead wolf biologist for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in Oregon.

“It’s surprising that they haven’t settled in this area yet. But now there’s a critical mass of wolves around us so we expect it’s only a matter of time before they establish themselves in the Deschutes (National Forest),” said Stephenson, who has been researching wolves in Central Oregon for 15 years.

Stephenson and other experts say “dispersing wolves” periodically travel through Central Oregon, but none stay for too long. A dispersing wolf is typically a young wolf that leaves its natal pack in search of a mate.

Corey Heath, a biologist for the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, said one or two wolf sightings are reported every week, but many are false reports that end up being large dogs or coyotes.

When a sighting is reported, ODFW enters the location of each into a database. One-off sightings are typically not pursued for confirmation unless there are special circumstances. But biologists will respond if multiple sightings are reported in an area within a short amount of time. Hanging trail cameras is one way to monitor an area, said Heath.

“We wait for a focal point to develop because transient wolves go through an area, and they could be 50 miles away by the following day,” said Heath. “If we get repeated sightings, that’s when we know there is something going on in that area.”

Gray wolves once ranged across Oregon, but their numbers plummeted in the 19th and 20th centuries due to clashes with ranchers. A deliberate campaign to eradicate wolves from the state was successful by the 1940s. Wolves returned to the state in the 2000s, having ranged over from Idaho.

A 2018 survey documented a statewide population of at least 137 wolves, including 16 packs and 15 breeding pairs. That’s up from 64 wolves and eight packs documented in a 2013 survey.

A pack is defined as a group of four or more wolves traveling together in winter. A breeding pair is an adult male and female with at least two pups that survived until the end of the year.

But as the number of wolves increases, so does the number of wolf attacks on livestock. ODFW confirmed 28 head of livestock were either killed or injured by wolves last year, compared to 17 in 2017.

Last year the Oregon Department of Agriculture awarded grants of $160,890 to 10 counties. The funds were used for direct payment of confirmed depredations and missing livestock to ranchers. Some funds were also allocated for nonlethal preventative measures, such as fencing to keep livestock safe from wolves, or the use of alarms or scare devices.

The nearest pack to Bend is the White River Pack, located southeast of Mount Hood. Wolves from this pack were photographed with trail cameras located on remote parts of the Warm Indian Springs Reservation.

To the south of Bend, the Rogue Pack is located in an area that straddles Jackson and Klamath counties. To the west of Bend, the Indigo Pack is located in the Umpqua Forest.

Heath said it’s not clear why a pack has not established itself in Central Oregon, but he believes that is likely to occur.

“I think at some point it could happen. They are territorial in nature. In the future, packs will develop in areas that don’t already have wolves. As those habitats fill in, wolves will be here to stay,” said Heath.

While wolves have yet to make a permanent presence around Bend, there has been a number of cougar sightings, especially around the Deschutes River Canyon south of Bend. In May, a cougar had wandered well into town, getting close to Bend’s Fred Meyer. Heath said cougars and wolves can exist on the same range, but because they travel in packs, wolves can crowd out a solitary cougar.

Wolf sightings have occurred in both forested areas of Central Oregon, as well as the more open range areas. Stephenson says a number of the sightings have occurred south of La Pine, near Chemult and Crescent.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has plans to do winter snow track surveys in the upcoming months as it’s easier to track the wolves in snow compared to the bare forest floor, said Stephenson. He will be keeping his eyes on the Indigo Pack.

“That pack had four pups this year, and some of those will disperse,” he said.