The Wolf Formerly Known as OR-7
In the fall of 2011, a radio-collared Oregon wolf with the designation OR-7 from the Imnaha Pack in northeast Oregon made history. After an epic journey across the state, the two-year old male became the first confirmed wolf west of the Cascades since the last wolf bounty had been collected in 1947.
In a moment of rare historic symmetry, OR-7 – born to the first pack of wolves to return to Oregon since that tragic day – may have passed by the very spot in the Umpqua National Forest where Oregon’s last wolf was killed.
After spending time in the Soda Mountain Wilderness, Klamath Basin and Sky Lakes Wilderness south of Crater Lake, OR-7 continued his journey south and became the first wolf confirmed in California in nearly a century. Part of what made OR-7’s trek across the state possible were the Wilderness and roadless areas he traveled through, demonstrating the value and worth of large roadless areas to facilitate wildlife corridors (learn more about roadless areas below).
In an attempt to draw attention to the great conservation success story that is wolf recovery, Oregon Wild sponsored a children’s art and naming contest, and on January 4, 2012, OR-7 got a new name – Journey.
On the very same day, the first “real” photo of Journey surfaced in the Medford Mail Tribune, taken by a hunter’s remote trail camera. A few months later, the first color photo of Journey was released by the California Department of Fish and Game (above) of Journey on a Modoc County hillside.
