BY AMAROQ WEISS and WALLY SYKES

The peaks and canyons of Northeast Oregon's Wallowa County draw more and more visitors each year, bringing millions in tourist dollars. In recent years, there has been a new draw for people flocking to the scenic region: the chance to see gray wolves that call the remote area home.

Despite the tourism potential, Gov. Kate Brown has allowed the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife to kill Wallowa County wolves for the livestock industry for the second year in a row. This time, officials killed four members of the Harl Butte pack.

It's becoming increasingly clear that a different solution is needed than killing wolves every time a small number of livestock are lost.

The mountains, canyons and prairies of this area are wolves' entryway into Oregon from Idaho. The first confirmed Idaho wolf in Oregon passed through the Wallowas, journeying to the John Day area in 1999. More wolves entered Wallowa County soon after.

By 2008, two new wolves settled here and had pups. The next year's litter included famous wolf OR-7, who later ventured into California. Yet this same family, the Imnaha pack, had members gunned down in 2011 and was entirely eradicated last year.

Now, the Harl Butte pack has taken over the Imnaha territory and is spending the summer on a 5,500-foot-high plateau with buttes and canyons. Stands of fir trees, spruce and ponderosa pines are broken by meadows dotted with aspen groves.

Wolves are comfortable here, with good cover and usually abundant wild prey. But the recent harsh winter killed many deer and elk and weakened others, translating to low birth rates and survival. The prolonged winter and now scorching dry summer has further depleted prey. This may be contributing to wolves supplementing their diet with small numbers of unattended cattle.

In response, Harl Butte wolves are being killed in the same place the Imnaha wolves were slaughtered. It is nothing short of tragic.

Oregon killed these wolves at taxpayer expense despite also compensating the ranchers who lost livestock. Plus, science shows killing wolves does little to prevent further loss of livestock - and may make the problem worse.

Killing wolves in Wallowa County year after year just isn't working. Instead, livestock practices must be adapted to coexist with wolves. There are proven methods ranchers can use to reduce the risk of losing livestock to wolves.

In Wallowa County, we suggest these methods in combination with compensation as the sole means to prevent and respond to livestock losses. If this is not enough, we suggest targeted purchase of grazing rights to give wolves more space to live in this cherished landscape or retirement of public lands grazing allotments, which comprise the vast majority of grazed lands in the county.

It's time to acknowledge that this breathtaking region is a tourist destination precisely because of its wild beauty and wildlife. We call on Gov. Brown to show leadership on this issue and bring an end to killing wolves here and across Oregon.

Amaroq Weiss is a biologist and West Coast wolf organizer with the Center for Biological Diversity. Wally Sykes is cofounder of Northeast Oregon Ecosystems and a Wallowa County Wolf Compensation Committee member.