OR-3, a three-year-old male wolf from the Imnaha pack in Wallowa County, Ore. The Oregon Fish and Wildlife Commission is expected to decide today whether to remove wolves from the state's endangered species list.

The wildlife biologists in charge of Oregon’s gray wolf recovery program believe wolves should be taken off the state endangered species list.

The recommendation goes to the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW) Commission, which will decide Nov. 9 whether to de-list wolves. Livestock producers, especially those represented by the Oregon Cattleman’s Association, favor de-listing.

The Grant County Court agreed to support the delisting of wolves statewide and will deliver a letter of support when Judge Scott Meyers attends the meeting in Salem.

Todd Nash, Wallowa County rancher and chairman of the Oregon Cattlemen’s Association Wolf Task Force, considered the announcement a step forward, although he said it barely affects the way livestock producers interact with wolves, which is governed by the Oregon Wolf Management Plan. He said, however, that delisting wolves would hamper the litigation prospects of wolf advocate groups that have used the Endangered Species Act (ESA) to litigate in the past.

“Once the commission votes to delist — and I have full confidence that they will — then it’s an appealable decision,” Nash said. “We fully expect the groups to appeal it. Then it will be up to a judge to decide. Hopefully the outcome is a positive one, but it’s a process we have to go through if we want to move forward.”

Conservation groups oppose the idea. In a joint statement released Oct. 29, the Pacific Wolf Coalition said the staff recommendation is flawed and has not been peer reviewed as required by state law. The coalition includes Oregon Wild, Cascadia Wildlands and the Center for Biological Diversity.

Michael Paul Nelson, a College of Forestry professor of environmental ethics and philosophy at Oregon State University, called de-listing “logically indefensible” when wolves are present on only 12 percent of their potential range in the state.

“Dropping state protections for wolves right now would suggest that politics, rather than science and law, are guiding wildlife management decisions in Oregon,” Nelson said in a statement issued by Pacific Wolf Coalition.

ODFW disagrees.

“We have reviewed and used documented and verifiable information to formulate our results,” ODFW spokeswoman Michelle Dennehy said. “We are confident in our process and that we are following statutory and regulatory requirements.”

If the ODFW commission agrees with the staff recommendation, it would mean wolves in the eastern third of the state are not protected under either state or federal endangered species laws. Federal ESA protection would still be in force in the rest of Oregon.

That wouldn’t mean open season on wolves, however. The state wolf plan would remain in force, and it allows ODFW-approved “controlled take,” or killing, of wolves in cases of chronic livestock attacks or if wolves cause a decline in prey populations, chiefly elk and deer. Ranchers, as they do now, would be able to shoot wolves caught in the act of attacking livestock or herd dogs. None have been killed in that manner.

Oregon’s wolf plan does not allow sport hunting of wolves in any phase of the recovery timeline, Dennehy said.

The ODFW staff recommendation was not a surprise. A biological status review completed earlier this fall said gray wolf recovery in Oregon has met the de-listing criteria in every instance.

The ODFW recommended the delisting after an in-depth examination found biological data indicates the fulfillment of five criteria spelled out by the state’s Endangered Species Act:

• Wolves are represented over a large geographic area of Oregon, are connected to other populations, and nothing is preventing them from occupying additional portions of Oregon.

• The wolf population is projected to continue to increase. The overall probability of extinction is very low and genetic variation is high.

• Wolf habitat in Oregon is stable and wolf range is expanding.

• Over-utilization of wolves is unlikely as the Wolf Plan continues to provide protections for wolves and any commercial, recreational or scientific take in the future is regulated by the commission.

• The Wolf Plan ensures protection of wolves in the future, regardless of ESA status.

State wildlife biologists, headed by ODFW’s Russ Morgan, believe the criteria have been met. Morgan describes Oregon’s wolf population as steadily increasing in number and geographic distribution.

The first wolves migrated to Oregon from Idaho, where they had been released as part of a national recovery program coordinated by U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The first Oregon pack was documented in 2008, and the confirmed wolf population stood at 85 as of July 2015. Since then, three wolves have died: The Sled Springs pair were found dead of unknown cause in Wallowa County in late August, and a Grant County man hunting coyotes on private property in early October reported shooting a wolf designated as OR-22. A district attorney is reviewing evidence in the case.

The Nov. 9 ODFW Commission meeting begins at 8 a.m. at the department headquarters, 4034 Fairview Industrial Drive SE, Salem. Wolf de-listing is the only topic on the agenda.