Oregon's Wolf Protection & Restocking Birds

Oregon's Wolf Protection & Restocking Birds. I'm Greg Martin with today's Northwest Report.

The divide between those wanting to protect and those desiring fewer wolves is quickly becoming a chasm in Oregon. 81 gray wolves are being recommended for removal from the states protected list. Environmentalist don't believe that 81 wolves is a viable, stable population. John Stephenson with U.S. Fish & Wildlife says they keep a close tab on the wolves and any new pups with tracking devices.

STEPHENSON: It does make it easier to determine if they've got pups each year and keeping track of the size of the pack. It is helpful if you do have any problems with livestock. That's kind of the goal of the Oregon wolf plan.

Remember the outbreak of bird flu earlier this year where millions of chickens and turkeys were euthanized? Now federal agricultural officials say commercial chicken and turkey farms that were infected by the bird flu have been cleared to restock. Bird flu first surfaced in December on the West Coast and spread over six months to 15 states, resulting in the death of 48 million birds. USDA's veterinarian says that commercial turkey and chicken operations among the 219 farms nationwide can restock as those farms involved have now been disinfected and tested negative for the virus. We may still see a bit of an increase in this year's Thanksgiving turkey prices.

That's today's Northwest Report. I'm Greg Martin on the Ag Information Network of the West.