ENTERPRISE — A second Chesnimnus pack wolf was killed by biologists from the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, ending the activity of a kill permit issued April 29, according to the ODFW website Monday, June 13.

The website stated that the kill was accomplished from the ground. ODFW also considered doing it from the air.

State officials agreed to help with the lethal removal of one Chesnimnus pack wolf after repeated attacks on livestock in Wallowa County, a spokeswoman for ODFW said June 9.

Michelle Dennehy, of ODFW, said the permit was issued April 29 and extended to June 14. That permit was for two wolves, and an agent of Crow Creek rancher Tom Birkmaier shot one wolf May 3.

The permit allowed Birkmaier or his agent to kill two wolves in Dorrance Pasture or Trap Canyon Pasture, where recent depredations on cattle occurred, he said when the permit was issued. Dennehy said June 13 that since the two wolves allowed to be taken under the permit are now dead, the permit is no longer active. ODFW will continue to assess the situation for possible further actions and another update will be made if another wolf is killed or the permit is reissued, according to the website.

Before the permit was issued, Birkmaier asked ODFW to “remove” — or completely kill — the Chesnimnus pack given its propensity toward predatory behavior, but the agency just issued the kill permits.

John Williams, co-chairman of the wolf committee Oregon Cattlemen’s Association, said ranchers are busy enough and shouldn’t have to do what he considered the ODFW’s job of managing the wolves.

“When there’s a time to kill wolves, they’re the ones who should be doing it,” Williams said last month of ODFW.

The minimum known count of wolves in Oregon at the end of 2021 was 175, an increase of two wolves over the 2020 number, according to the Oregon Wolf Conservation and Management 2021 Annual Report released April 19.

According to a May 24 report in the Oregonian, one wolf that had been part of the Chesnimnus pack and found dead Jan. 8 southeast of Wallowa originally was determined to have been killed by a gunshot wound, Oregon State Police said at the time. But the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Forensics Laboratory in Ashland conducted an analysis that showed the wolf actually died of blunt-force trauma to the chest and pelvis, state police said and those injuries were consistent with being hit by a car.

Nonlethal efforts tried

Birkmaier has been known for his efforts to use nonlethal deterrents to keep wolves at bay.

“He’s doing every nonlethal (action) everybody can dream up,” Williams said. “What was more effective was he had a lot of people out there helping with nonlethal presence of humans.”

“I’m still continuing the relentless nonlethal measures, including two AM-FM radios, two fox lights that come on at night and motion-triggered noise-making devices that have a siren and flashing lights,” Birkmaier said. “I’ve been putting those in saddles on ridges or any natural crossing area where wolves may enter pasture.”

Dennehy confirmed that “the producer” has been attempting to use nonlethal methods of deterring wolf attacks with limited success.

More livestock deaths

At least one more confirmed and one probable wolf kill of livestock were reported in Wallowa County by the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife in its ongoing Wolf Depredation Report on Wednesday, June 8.

The two were attributed to the Chesnimnus pack, one a 225-pound, 4-month-old calf in the Chesnimnus Creek area June 4 and the other a 245-pound, 2½-month-old calf in the Crow Creek area the same day.

Another three kills were confirmed June 6 in the Daly Creek area of Baker County. They were attributed to the Lookout Mountain pack, ODFW reported.

The Chesnimnus pack has been reported to have killed numerous livestock in Wallowa County this year.

The report lists five confirmed or probable wolf kills of livestock in Wallowa County and two others designated “possible/other” since early May. In that time, another 18 confirmed/probable and 10 possible/other kills are listed in the report for neighboring counties. The livestock deaths, while mostly cattle, also include sheep, goats, working dogs and at least one horse, according to the ODFW.