May 15,2019 KATE BROWN

Governor
The Honorable David Bernhardt, Secretary
US. Department of the Interior
1849 Street NW
Washington DC 20240

Dear Secretary Bernhardt:

As the Governor of the State of Oregon, I am writing to clarify and correct a position outlined in a May 9, 2019 letter
from the Oregon Department of Fish Wildlife (ODFW) that the State of Oregon and its agencies do not support the
delisting of wolves from the federal Endangered Species Act across their range in the 48 contiguous states.

The success of wolf recovery in Oregon is unquestioned. Wolves, eliminated from Oregon by the late 1940s, have
returned. As documented by the ODFW, their numbers exceed the minimum documented population of at least 137.
At various times Oregon?s wolf recovery plan has been lauded as a national model. Our state agencies invest
signi?cant general fund dollars in wolf recovery and compensate for depredation.

I appreciate the documentation of the signi?cant successes our ?sh and wildlife agency has described in its letter.
However, I have noti?ed the Department and am herein informing you that the conclusion that Oregon or its agencies
support delisting the wolf based on our own success is incorrect.

In Oregon, we have a long tradition of working collaboratively on complex issues of natural resource management.
Oregon developed the Oregon Plan for Salmon and Watersheds in an effort to catalyze habitat restoration and retain
management authority for salmonid species. Our sage?grouse conservation plan relies on collaboration, voluntary
action, and binding commitments that help restore an iconic species whose population is challenged across the West.'
Wolves are different. Unlike salmonid and sage?grouse, the principal reason for the decline of the wolf across the
Western United States was deliberate extirpation. We are not yet far enough from that cultural history to warrant
con?dence that wolf recovery is inevitable.

Our collaborative work and its success cannot protect imperiled wildlife beyond our borders in other states. Our
commitment to the Oregon way gives me great con?dence that wolves are on the path to recovery and do not warrant a
listing within Oregon, but their listing under the federal Endangered Species Act affords them some protection across
their range.

Oregon supports the current federal listing status for gray wolves, and opposes delisting. Our state investments should
be mirrored by other states that can help lead to recovery of the species across a signi?cant portion of its historic range.
These animals are wide-ranging, and as Oregon?s wolves venture into California and return, they warrant the protection
of the federal Endangered Species Act during their peregrinations.

I appreciate the collaborative partnership that federal and state wildlife agencies employ when managing the state?s
wildlife and I thank you for acknowledging this correction to the position of the State of Oregon.

Sincerely,

Kim/re?

Governor Kate Brown

254 STATE CAPITOL, SALEM OR 97301-4047 (503) 378-31 1 1 FAX (503) 378-8970


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