Wolf panel picks final two

Maupin rancher Keith Nantz and Dufur Gap Road rancher Mike Filbin were joined by wolf proponent Sherlene Bowen in selecting Mike Urness, owner of C.H. Urness Motors, as top choice.

Bowen resides in The Dalles and is operations administrator for a wind power project.

Next on the trio’s list was Brandon Ayres, owner of Arrowhead Outfitters, and their agreed-upon alternate was Scott Ziegenhagen. He is a wildlife biologist and owner of Ziegenhagen Enterprises, LLC, a construction business.

Wolf proponent Debra Lutje, a small business owner in The Dalles, had selected Ayres as an alternate but named Ziegenhagen as first choice and Blair Herman, an officer at Columbia Bank, as second.

The committee’s selections will have to be approved next week by the county board before becoming official, said Kramer.

The full committee is scheduled to meet Tuesday, Oct. 21. Lutje asked for the group to convene in the afternoon to accommodate her evening work schedule. The time was set at 2 p.m. and the location at Dufur City Hall if the council chambers are not already reserved.

Lutje said the immediate challenge facing the group was the state’s limited supply of compensation dollars.

The Oregon Department of Agriculture is allotted $100,000 each year to pay out to ranchers who have livestock killed by wolves.

Last year Wallowa County alone claimed $65,000 of that funding and several other northeastern Oregon counties have been dealing with wolf-related losses in 2014.

Jeremy Thompson, biologist for the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, was present at Wednesday’s meeting.

He works out of the agency’s office in The Dalles and told the committee that the amount of money allocated for compensation had been set by the legislature in 2005. That was the year the Wolf Conservation and Management Plan was adopted.

“The wolf plan was put together prior to their establishment in the state,” he said.

Thompson said Defenders of Wildlife, a conservation group, had compensated ranchers at one time but was no longer doing so.

Lutje suggested the committee apply to Defenders and other nonprofits for financial assistance, as well as seek state and federal grants. She is advocating to institute as many non-lethal measures as possible to protect livestock and the wolf population.

“It’s a good idea to look,” agreed Filbin. “They’re going to have to get something in place if they want this to work.”

“And I want it to work,” said Lutje, who also gained agreement for grant writing from Bowen and Nantz.

Nantz is president of the North Central Livestock Association and requested formation of the committee following a presentation by Todd Nash, chair of the wolf committee for the Oregon Cattlemen’s Association.

Nash runs 650-head of cattle in Wallowa County and told area ranchers that they need to get ready for the presence of wolves, which are the top predator in the state.

Oregon law mandates formation of a compensation committee before a county can seek money to offset livestock and working dog losses due to wolf attacks.

The first reported attack on livestock protection dogs in Oregon came in mid-September. The Mt. Emily pack, one of eight documented packs in the state, is believed to have killed three of the five dogs guarding sheep that were grazing on public land in the northeastern sector of the state. An armed herder was reportedly camped on site when the wolves attacked. He heard noise but in the darkness was unable to make out what was going on. Ten sheep were killed, including two bucks, according to the producer.

Kramer said because wolves are federally protected as an endangered species on the western side of the state, Congress should allocate money for losses.

He told the group that he had requested as much from a staffer of U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley’s but had yet to receive a reply.

“Not sure where that’s going to go but I’m giving it a shot,” he said.

“They should be paying,” said Filbin, one of the largest cattle ranchers in the county with a 400-head herd.

Kramer said when the full committee convenes, it will be time to get to work on what level of compensation ranchers will receive. Some counties are paying a fixed amount and some setting a price based on market value.

In Wallowa, he said ranchers receive $250 for a wounded calf and $500 for a kill, which he didn’t see as fair payment. He said the market value of a bred cow right now is about $3,000 and the going price for a weaner calf is about $1,200.

Nash and local cattlemen contend the losses from a wolf attack are much higher than just the cost of slain livestock. They argue that trauma and stress to the herd lowers weight gain in calves and reduces fertility among cows.

There is a “no-kill” rule for wolves in place in Wasco and Sherman counties, as well as others on the western side of the state under federal control. On the east side, ODFW manages wolves and a rancher is allowed to shoot one caught in the act of wounding or killing livestock. Ranchers argue that it is almost impossible to catch the predators in the act since they hunt at night and are secretive.