SENECA — The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife authorized the killing of one wolf in the Bear Valley area east of Highway 395 in Grant County on Nov. 9, the agency announced.

It is the first lethal take permit ever issued in Grant County, said ODFW spokesperson Michelle Dennehy.

A livestock producer on Nov. 3 requested lethal removal after four confirmed depredation events since late May, two of which were confirmed in the last two weeks. The depredations were attributed to the Murderers Creek pair, officials said.

The authorization allows the killing of one wolf by USDA Wildlife Services or the producer or their agent, through a limited-duration permit, on the producer’s private land pastures. The authorization is valid until Dec. 31 or until a wolf is killed, whichever comes first, officials said.

The stock producer impacted by recent wolf depredations has been using non-lethal methods to prevent wolf attacks, including regular human presence patrolling day and night, hazing, cleaning up attractants, removing injured or sick livestock from pastures, and brightly colored noisemaking devices placed within pastures, officials said.

The Murderers Creek wolf pair is resident in the area of the depredations and is believed to consist of two adult wolves. All Oregon Wolf Plan rules regarding lethal removal are in effect for this authorization and permit, including the absence of any identified wolf attractants on the property, according to officials.

Another update about the authorization will be posted if a wolf is removed, after Dec. 31 if no wolves are removed, or the authorization is extended, ODFW officials said.

A lethal take request was received by ODFW in June, Dennehy said, but it was not authorized.

ODFW assistant district biologist Ryan Platte said the permit request for a confirmed depredation by the Desolation Pack in Grant County was not authorized because the request did not meet criteria for approval.

“There was one earlier this year that was requested, but it was not approved,” he said. “It was for Desolation Pack … Two calves were attacked, but they were attributed in the same (case).”

An earlier confirmed depredation this year was attributed to the Desolation Pack after ODFW investigated an attack on two four- to six-week-old calves injured on May 28.

The latest confirmed depredation, which occurred this month, makes the sixth this year for Grant County. An investigation on Wednesday, Nov. 1, resulted in the finding of a confirmed wolf attack that injured a cow in Bear Valley. The depredation was attributed to the Murderers Creek pair, which consists of a male and a (presumptive) female wolf.

A week earlier, on Oct. 24, a 4-year-old cow was determined to have been injured in the Bear Valley area by a wolf from the Murderers Creek pair.

A dead 10-month-old steer, determined to have been killed by a wolf, was found in the Board Gulch area on a leased grazing allotment of public forest land in northern Grant County near Dale on Sept. 22. The depredation was attributed to a wolf from the Desolation Pack, which had eight known wolves as of last year, Platte said.

The confirmed depredations in September, October and November occurred east of Highway 395, which is a dividing line in Oregon that helps to determine whether a lethal take permit can be authorized, but the issuance of such permits must also involve two confirmed depredations by the same wolf pack or group within a nine-month period.

ODFW officials in Salem must also evaluate whether the livestock producer utilized non-lethal methods to prevent depredations, Platte said.

On Nov. 2, a Grant County elk hunter shot and killed a wolf from the Logan Valley Pack near Seneca after the animal approached him despite his efforts to scare it away. Wildlife officials ruled the man acted in self-defense.