ODFW Confirms Two Wolf Depredations Near Mt. Harris in Union County

Two confirmed wolf depredations struck a roughly 90-acre private pasture below Mt. Harris in Union County on March 1, the first entries in what became a four-incident month across Eastern Oregon for state investigators.

The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife released its depredation determinations for March 2026, confirming that the two Union County cases represented half of all verified incidents for the month. The remaining confirmed depredations were documented in Baker and Wallowa counties, placing the Mt. Harris cases within a broader pattern of wolf-livestock conflict stretching across the region's ranching belt.

ODFW's investigation process captures the date, pasture size, type and number of livestock affected, and, where evidence supports it, the responsible animal or pack. The roughly 90-acre pasture at the base of Mt. Harris provided investigators with the terrain and site data the agency compiles in its regular monthly reports.

For the ranchers involved, the confirmation carries direct financial consequences. Verified depredations make producers eligible for state compensation tied to documented losses and open access to technical assistance on nonlethal prevention methods, including guard animals, improved fencing, night penning protocols, and range riders. In Union County, where grazing operations run on narrow margins, a single confirmed incident can reshape herd management decisions across an entire season.

The determinations also carry a regulatory dimension. When ODFW documents repeated depredations by the same animals or pack, the agency can authorize targeted management actions, a measure applied elsewhere in Eastern Oregon following clustered livestock losses. Increased monitoring around Mt. Harris is a likely near-term response to the March findings.

Beyond the individual ranches, the data feed into a broader public process. Ranchers, county commissioners, and conservation stakeholders regularly draw on ODFW's monthly depredation reports to shape management and funding requests. The March numbers from Union County will likely surface at county agricultural and wildlife advisory discussions as the spring grazing season advances.

Anyone in the area who observes wolf activity can report it directly to ODFW, where investigators track real-time movement patterns across Eastern Oregon.