Responding to an amendment added to the FY 2001 Department of the Interior Appropriations funding bill, which was reported out of the Senate Appropriations Committee today, Defenders of Wildlife called the unexpected effort to keep wolves out of Oregon a “dangerous, precedent- setting attack on the Endangered Species Act’s wolf recovery program.”

Wolves were first documented to be dispersing from Idaho into Oregon in 1999. The first wolf to do so, B-45 (named Freedom by Oregon school children), was captured and returned to Idaho by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS). The agency stated at that time that it would not interfere with future migrations of wolves into Oregon unless necessitated by wolf behavior. Since then, additional wolves have made the trek between the states. Currently, FWS estimates that there are at least two adult wolves in the Eagle Cap Wilderness Area in Oregon.

The Senate Appropriations committee approved the bill, which included the amendment, and sent it to the floor for consideration late today. The bill could be taken up by the full Senate as early as next week. If the amendment is enacted, any wolves that have already naturally migrated into Oregon – and any new immigrants – would have to be removed by either FWS or a local wildlife management agency. The animals would be returned to the experimental recovery area in Idaho from which they came.

The unprecedented amendment was unexpected by conservationists who therefore had no opportunity to fight against it. At this point, no one even knows who was behind this amendment.

“This violates the government’s promises made to the people of Oregon who have asked that wolves be allowed to stay in their state,” said Rodger Schlickeisen, president of Defenders of Wildlife. “Only the Oregon Cattlemen’s Association has demanded that wolves that migrate into Oregon be removed. Congress is pandering to the wishes of a few over the desires of the many. We have long known that Oregon offers some of the best wolf habitat in the Pacific Northwest.”

Citizens, agencies, tribal representatives and other organizations in Oregon have been working on the newly established Oregon Wolf Working Group for the return of wolves to their state. The Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla have made it clear they support the wolf’s return and will oppose any attempts by the federal government to remove wolves from their native lands in Oregon. Polls show that the majority of Oregonians overwhelmingly support wolves within their borders and do not want them removed.

“This amendment is nothing short of an end run around the Endangered Species Act and it usurps the authority of the Fish and Wildlife Service to manage endangered species,” said Schlickeisen. “In addition, it is a clear slap in the face for the citizens of Oregon who have been working together to ensure wolves are allowed to stay.”

Upon learning that wolves were dispersing from their experimental population areas, Defenders of Wildlife expanded its Wolf Compensation Trust to include Oregon. The $200,000 Wolf Compensation Trust compensates ranchers, at fair market value, for livestock losses due to wolves. Initiated in 1987, the program has been instrumental in building trust and spirit of cooperation between wolf supporters and livestock producers in wolf recovery areas.

Defenders of Wildlife has worked in conjunction with FWS, the Umatilla Nation and others to develop the Oregon Wolf Working Group and to educate and inform Oregonians about wolves and living with these carnivores.

Defenders of Wildlife, founded in 1947, is a national nonprofit organization dedicated to the protection and restoration of native wild animals and plants in their natural communities.