The Complicated—and Hopeful—Story of Gray Wolves in Oregon.

​The Goods News is The gray wolf population in the Cascades is growing. The bad news is, there is still a lot of stigma surrounding wolves. 

Introduction

Wolves are an extremely resilient species that have roamed North America for millions of years. They are often considered keystone species due to their role in balancing ecosystems. The gray wolf is one of the focal species of the Wolverine Tracking Project, a community science effort that collects data on wildlife in the Mt. Hood National Forest through camera, scat, and tracking surveys. Volunteers at Cascadia Wild are especially excited to conduct wolf surveys this summer.

​Gray wolves in Oregon were extirpated by 1947. The story of wolves and their interactions with settlers in Oregon has been complicated and sensitive. As researchers aiding conservation efforts, we must be cautious—sharing too much information about wolves can be detrimental, as not everyone supports their population growth. I am curious about exploring the history of gray wolves in Oregon.

Section 1 — What We Know About the Gray Wolf Population in Oregon Cascades

The wolves in Oregon today are part of the Northern Rocky Mountain wolf population. They are descendants of wolves that naturally recolonized northwest Montana in the early 1980s, as well as wolves captured in Canada and released in Yellowstone National Park and Idaho in the mid-1990s. These gray wolves migrated into Oregon through Idaho—literally walking into the state.

Fun fact: The wolf OR4 was the father of the first successful breeding pack in Oregon in many decades. His offspring founded many of the packs now living in the state.

Also called Canis lupus, gray wolves are the largest members of the dog family, Canidae. Females weigh an average of 80–85 lbs., while males average 95–100 lbs., though size and fur color vary significantly from the Arctic to central Mexico (Young and Goldman 1944, as cited in Smith, 2002).

Wolves live, travel, and hunt in packs averaging four to seven animals, typically consisting of a breeding pair, their pups, and subordinate or young wolves. A breeding pair leads the pack, tracking prey, choosing den sites, and establishing territory (Mech 1970). Wolves primarily prey on hoofed animals like deer, elk, moose, and bighorn sheep, but they also eat smaller prey such as snowshoe hares, beavers, rabbits, opossums, and rodents. While they occasionally prey on livestock, wild game is their preferred food source (Mech 1970).
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As of 2024, there are 204 wolves in Oregon. According to the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW), there are 25 packs, including 17 breeding pairs.

​Fun fact: A wolf pack is defined as four or more wolves traveling together in winter.

Several wolf packs reside in Oregon, with a notable concentration in the northeast. The White River and Warm Springs packs are active in areas surveyed by the Wolverine Tracking Project. However, our research partners, field leaders, and coordinators are careful to omit specific pack locations due to the contentious nature of wolf-human relations.

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​Section 2 — Early Wolf and Human Interactions in the Pacific Northwest 

In many Native American cultures, wolves play a central role in creation stories. Western science confirms that Canis lupus has roamed North America for tens of millions of years. For example, Kalapuya Elder Esther Stutzman shares a creation story featuring Le-lu, the first woman, and her encounter with Quartux, Mother Wolf. Le-lu entrusted Mother Wolf to care for her children while she roamed the earth—illustrating a long-standing symbiotic relationship between wolves and humans.

Indigenous Art form, PNW Coastal Wolf, Formline style 

​Wolves symbolize strength, courage, protection, and spiritual guidance in various cultures. They are integral to rituals, from daily life to rites of passage. The Nuu-Chah-Nulth of the Northwest Coast, for instance, performed the Klukwana (Shamans’ or Wolf Dance) as a central winter ceremony. Before settler-colonialism disrupted Indigenous lifeways, many tribes coexisted with wolves. It’s important to note that these stories and traditions are often sacred, passed down orally within specific lineages, and not meant for public dissemination.

The souring of wolf-human relations is tied to the dispossession of Native lands, the rise of animal husbandry, habitat loss from Oregon’s timber industry, and the formation of Oregon’s government. Early explorers documented abundant wolf populations. In 1805, Lewis and Clark reported wolves near the Columbia River. Young and Goldman noted:​

“Wolves are exceedingly numerous in Oregon and Washington Territories, from the Cascades to the Rocky Mountain Divide.” (Young and Goldman 1944, 1946).

As settlers moved west, wild prey dwindled, leading wolves to prey on livestock. This sparked conflict, with settlers viewing wolves as threats to their livelihoods.

​“Wolves are very numerous in this country and exceedingly troublesome.”
— Mr. Drayton, Wilkes Expedition, near Fort Walla Walla, 1841.

The turning point came when pioneer William H. Gray organized the Wolf Meetings to unite settlers under a common cause—wolf extermination—while covertly laying the groundwork for Oregon’s government. As such, the first wolf bounty was established in 1843 by the Oregon Wolf Association (OWA), offering $3 per wolf. The last recorded bounty was paid in 1946 for a wolf killed in the Umpqua National Forest. By 1947, wolves were extirpated from Oregon.

​“The ostensible purpose of the Wolf Meetings was to adopt measures for the extermination of predatory animals… But the real purpose was revealed in a resolution to appoint a committee of 12 to ‘take into consideration the propriety of taking measures for civil and military protection of this colony.’”
—Charles H. Carey, General History of Oregon

​Flash forward many years, a wolf called B-45, nicknamed Freedom, entered Oregon in the 1990s by crossing the Snake River. She was a part of the offspring from Idaho’s Jureano Mountain Pack and returned to Idaho shortly after, but this marked the beginning of Wolf’s return to Oregon. And by 2022,  gray wolves in Oregon, and 44 other states, were designated as endangered species.

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CONCLUSION — Why Does It Matter?

The Gray Wolf Population Is Growing, but It’s Complicated!!

It’s understandable that livestock owners would want to protect their investments, but wolves are ecologically vital. As apex predators, they regulate ecosystems through trophic cascades—their presence suppresses mesopredators (e.g., coyotes), benefiting smaller mammals and birds (Crooks and Soulé 1999; Ritchie and Johnson 2009; Letnic and Dworjanyn 2011, as cited in Oregon Wolf Conservation and Management Plan).

​Fun fact: Mesopredator suppression is the reduction of medium-sized predators due to apex predators’ influence.

​Wolf populations also shape prey behavior and abundance (see Oregon Wolf Conservation and Management Plan, Section A). However, recovery must be organic. Reintroduction effects are unpredictable, requiring careful monitoring—which is where groups like Cascadia Wild come in. By conducting surveys and setting trail cameras in Mt. Hood, we contribute to understanding how wolf reintroduction reshapes Oregon’s ecosystems.

​There is good news, the Cascade wolf population is growing—just not as fast as we hoped. Tensions are more or less sustained in some livestock communities, although there are many who are learning to co-exist with wolves. While the relationship between humans and wolves is complicated, Gray Wolves are one of the carnivores that we focus our attention on because they are an essential part of a balanced ecosystem in the Cascade Mountains.

“The presence of wolves in the woods is sacred and tangible. They are a gift.”   - Mike Wiggins, chairman of the Bad River Ojibwe tribe in Wisconsin.

I would agree. 

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Author

My name is Eva Osirus, I am the Development and Outreach lead at Cascadia Wild! I am a first-generation Haitian American exploring my identity as an Afro-Indigenous and Latina woman, holding a Bachelor of Arts in General Music with concentrations in Sociology, Environmental Studies, and Literature.

​My life revolves around the ocean, art, creating space for the sacred, and travel, all of which deeply inform my personal and creative journey. My writing will explore the intersections of ecology and colonialism through an indigenous world view. My perspectives are my own.