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4 CapitalPress.com March 13, 2015 Bill requires Washington state’s wolf population up by 30 percent natural resource State stuck on four breeding pairs; recovery goals still years away By DON JENKINS Capital Press Washington’s wolf popu- lation grew by 30 percent in 2014, but the animals contin- ue to be concentrated in the northeast part of the state, with statewide recovery still several years away, Washington De- partment of Fish and Wildlife wolf policy lead Dave Ware said Friday. The WDFW still projects that recovery goals won’t be achieved until 2021. Since 2012, the state has been stuck on five breeding pairs, at least 10 short of recovery. Plus, the wolves need to be more widely dispersed. WDFW says it may be missing breeding pairs, which may show up in future counts. Also, wolves may be poised to begin spreading out, Ware said. “The northeast is very close to approaching saturation, so those wolves have to go some- where else or die,” Ware said. WDFW released a summa- ry of its 2014 wolf census late Friday afternoon. It plans to provide a full report to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in April. In 2014, the WDFW con- firmed the presence of 68 wolves in the state, up from 52 in 2013. Some 55 wolves were in the Eastern recovery zone, the eastern one third of the state. There were 12 wolves in the Northern Cascades zone, and one wolf in the Southern Cascades zone. Four breeding pairs were in the Eastern zone and one was in the Northern Cascades zone. The state has 16 wolf packs, four more than the year Photo courtesy of Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife In this 2011 file photo taken by the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, a Teanaway pack wolf recovers after being tranquilized and collared. Officials say the state’s wolf population increased by about 30 percent last year. before. Wolf packs have tri- pled since 2011. At least 15 breeding pairs, with at least four in each zone, must be established to meet recovery goals. Until then, un- der current state law, wolves will remain on the state’s en- dangered species list. Northeast Washington lawmakers and county com- missioners are pressing the Legislature to reopen the wolf plan in light of the fact the wolves are established in that region but statewide goals are still far from being met. They also want WDFW to judge success in reintroducing wolves by the number of wolf packs, not breeding pairs. Ware said it’s unknown whether the increase in the wolf population is the result of wolves crossing into the state or of in-state breeding. He said the 30 percent in- crease in one year was on par with the experience of other states after the wolf popula- tion reached 50. Ware said it’s difficult to count wolves and that the census reflects only wolves that biologists have detected multiple times by sightings, tracks, howls or collar de- tections. He estimated there could actually be about 100 wolves in the state. WDFW has received cred- ible reports of wolves south of Interstate 90, but did not count any in its census. “We haven’t been able to confirm, but it’s a matter of time,” he said. Gray wolves are protect- ed under Washington law throughout the state and un- der federal law in the western two-thirds of the state. The four new packs — Goodman Meadows, Profani- ty Peak, Tucannon and White- stone — were discovered east of the Cascades, where all of the state’s wolf packs are lo- cated. The state’s wolf plan defines a pack as two or more wolves traveling together in winter. Donny Martorello, WDFW carnivore specialist, said the number of packs would have been even higher if not for the loss of the Ruby Creek pack last spring. One wolf was struck and killed by a vehicle. The other was accepted for care by Wolf Haven International in Ten- ino after it was found living among dogs in Pend Oreille County. At least nine other wolves also died in 2014. Three were killed by poachers, three died of natural causes, two died of unknown causes, and a breeding female was killed last summer during an effort by WDFW to stop members of the Huckleberry pack from preying on a rancher’s sheep in Stevens County. Attacks on sheep by the Huckleberry pack also pushed the number of livestock killed by wolves to a record. The pack accounted for 33 of the 35 sheep killed or injured by wolves and docu- mented by WDFW in 2014, according to Martorello. Ranchers say they’ve lost hundreds of animals to wolves. WDFW, which says it rec- ognizes actual losses are high- er than the number verified to date, also documented four cows and a dog that were at- tacked by wolves from other packs last year. In a WDFW press release, the department’s new director, Jim Unsworth, said wolf re- covery in Washington is pro- gressing much as it did in Ida- ho, where he spent much of his career in wildlife management before taking his new position in February. “Conflicts with livestock are bound to rise as the state’s wolf population increases, and we have to do everything we can to manage that situation. So far, wolf predation on live- stock has been well below lev- els experienced in most other states with wolves,” he said in a written statement. Martorello said the scarcity of snow made it more difficult to track wolves late last year, complicating the 2014 survey. “Given the continued growth of the state’s wolf population, there’s a good chance that we have breed- ing pairs east of the Cascade Range we haven’t found yet,” he said in a written statement. rule notification Agencies would have to alert lawmakers of regulation changes By MATEUSZ PERKOWSKI Capital Press Natural resource agencies in Oregon would be required to notify lawmakers before changing regulations under a bill in the state legislature. House Bill 2497 is intend- ed to prevent agencies from usurping power from legis- lators by adopting, revising or repealing rules that impact their districts, said Rep. Gail Whitsett, R-Klamath Falls, who sponsored the bill. “Policy is what we are here for, not the administra- tive branch,” Whitsett said during a March 10 hearing of the House Committee on Agriculture and Natural Re- sources. Legislators often aren’t notified of changes related to groundwater policy and other issues affecting their constituents, said Sen. Doug Whitsett, her husband and a co-sponsor. “They’re amending their rules every 15 minutes,” he said. Committee Chair Brad Witt, D-Clatskanie, said he favors the bill because law- makers can be more effective when they’re not caught by surprise by controversies. Witt said the Oregon De- partment of Environmental Quality sets an example of good government by notify- ing legislators when issuing penalties within their dis- tricts. “I think it allows all of us to do our job that much bet- ter,” he said. While it’s important to be engaged in government, HB 2497 would impose new costs on state agencies, said Peggy Lynch, natural re- sources coordinator for the League of Women Voters of Oregon, which opposes the legislation. The DEQ can notify law- makers of a specific address when it issues a penalty, but natural resource agencies often take actions affecting broader areas that aren’t con- fined to political boundaries, she said. “We are concerned about the burden on agencies with this particular bill,” Lynch said. Under the bill’s current language, agencies would have to notify legislators 49 days before a rule change becomes effective, even if it is a temporary or emergency action, said Paul Garrahan, a natural resources attorney for the Oregon Department of Justice. The Oregon Department of Justice isn’t taking a posi- tion on a bill, but there could be a situation where an agen- cy must provide notice on a shorter timeframe, like when agriculture regulators issue a quarantine, he said. HB 2497 could be draft- ed so the notification would not apply to temporary rules, Garrahan said. During the March 10 meeting, the committee also unanimously approved a pro- hibition against using aerial or aquatic drones for hunting and sport fishing. The legislation, House Bill 2534, will now move to a vote on the House floor with a “do pass” recommendation from the committee. Amendments to the bill clarify that it doesn’t apply to commercial fishing or state agencies that use drones to assist with wildlife manage- ment. Oregon wolves a conservation success story, biologist says SALEM — With nine known packs and six “start- up pairs” identified, Oregon’s gray wolves are continuing to increase and are spreading from the northeast corner of the state, the state’s wolf pro- gram coordinator reported to the state Department of Fish and Wildlife Commission Friday. Wildlife biologist Russ Morgan said Oregon’s wolves are increasing at a pace iden- tical to their recovery in the northern Rocky Mountains. “From a conservation per- spective this is very much a mea- sure of success,” Morgan said. The 2014 count shows Or- egon has a minimum of 77 wolves, including 26 known pups, in nine packs. More im- portantly, eight of those packs contained breeding pairs, meaning they had at least two pups that survived to the end of the year. The numbers mean ODFW now moves into what’s known as Phase 2 of the Oregon Wolf Plan, the hard-fought compromise that governs wolf conservation and management in the state. It also means the agency can propose removing wolves from the state’s endangered species list. That’s likely to be a lengthy public process. More immediately, Phase 2 gives ranchers the right to shoot wolves caught in the act of biting, killing or chas- ing livestock. State delisting would eliminate endangered spe- cies status for wolves in the eastern third of the state. Wolves in the rest of Or- egon — all areas west of state Highways 395, 78 and 95 — remain covered under the federal Endangered Spe- cies Act, administered by the Eric Mortenson/Capital Press Russ Morgan, the ODFW biologist in charge of Oregon’s wolf recovery, says it is a success from a conservation perspective. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Ser- vice. The federal jurisdiction includes the Southwest Ore- gon Cascades now inhabited by the well-traveled OR-7 and his mate and pups. Oregon’s true wolf pop- ulation is unknown but is certainly higher than 77, Morgan said. The state tracks wolves from signals emitted by radio collars, but only 33 wolves have been collared in a decade of work. Many of those collars have failed, or the wolves have died or been killed, leaving research- ers with only 13 collared wolves at year’s end. Three radio-collared wolves dis- persed out of state in 2014, Morgan said. One was killed in Idaho, one was killed in Montana, and the third is liv- ing in Washington, Morgan said. In his remarks to the wild- life commission and in an interview, Morgan said five of the six pairs living outside designated packs are known to be male-female pairs, which could produce pups and expand to pack status. “These pairs are very im- portant, they really represent an increasing population,” Morgan said. In comments to the com- mission, representatives of three hunting organizations said the state should contin- ue following the wolf plan LEGAL 11-2/#7 Capital Press rop-6-26-5/#17 By ERIC MORTENSON OREGON TECHNICAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE MEETING (OTAC) WHAT: OTAC Meeting WHEN: March 24, 2015 @ 12:00pm - 4:00pm WHERE: NEW LOCATION! Clackamas Community College 29353 Town Center Loop E, Rooms 111 & 112 Wilsonville, OR 97070 503-594-0940 For more information or to arrange special accommoda- tions for attendees, please contact Laurie Sassmann, Oregon NRCS State Office 503-414-3206. 11-7/#4 guidelines. “Certainly the population growth has caused some is- sues, but we strongly support staying the course with your plan,” said Dave Wiley, rep- resenting the Rocky Moun- tain Elk Foundation. Stephanie Taylor of Port- land, who said she has an en- vironmental science degree and hopes to become a wolf biologist, said it is “prema- ture” to allow ranchers to take lethal measures against wolves. Jerome Rosa, executive director of the Oregon Cattle- men’s Association, said the population increase means it is time to “think about the maximum number of wolves that will be acceptable.” Rosa said the OCA is working on a idea to help fund endangered species pro- grams with a self-imposed fee assessed to ranchers. “It would be unprecedented for our organization,” he said. The OCA has previous- ly said it expects more at- tacks on livestock this year if wolves remain on the endan- gered species list. Conservation groups op- pose delisting Oregon wolves too soon. Oregon Wild, a key player in formulating the wolf plan, said the wolf count represents “great prog- ress” but does not represent biological recovery. Conser- vation director Doug Heiken has said the state needs to see better geographical dis- tribution of wolves as well. He said that will happen over time if wolves are not prema- turely delisted and “persecut- ed.” LEGAL PURSUANT TO ORS CHAPTER 87 Notice is hereby given that the following vehicle will be sold, for cash to the highest bidder, on 3/24/2015. The sale will be held at 10:00 am by VISUAL DIESEL 12142 SKY LANE, AURORA, OR 2002 Ford Excursion SUV VIN=1FMSU41F3YEC33274 Amount due on lien $17,245.25 Reputed owner(s) Robert Tomlinson Legal-11-2-4/#4