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Wolves Deserve a Welcome

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Many of us in Bend wish to see a return of gray wolves to their ancestral Oregon habitat. With shock and incredulity we now learn that our Department of Fish and Wildlife, caving into pressure from the cattle industry, has announced its intention to, essentially, destroy what remains of the Imnaha wolf pack.

Please join a peaceful gathering of concerned citizens at the corner of 3rd St. and Powers (one block from the Bend ODFW office) on Tuesday, Oct. 4, at noon. We will be asking ODFW to adhere to its wolf recovery plan and to be consistent and conscientious in its use of non-lethal wolf management methods as an alternative to killing.

The local economy of northeast. Oregon has received a boost from the presence of the Imnaha pack, with wolf-watching tours in recent years making money for small businesses.

Ranchers receive money from the Federal Livestock Compensation Program and have been reimbursed for every one of the seven wolf-related livestock kills in the past two years.

As the wolves make their way back to their ancestral territories, human-wildlife conflict is inevitable. It seems disproportionate to eliminate an entire pack for what seems to be such a trivial amount of depredation.

Foster Fell, Bend

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