Wednesday, November 14, 2018 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
Oregon
eyes new
plan for
managing
wolves
PENDLETON (AP) —
Oregon officials are propos-
ing a new framework for
managing wolves that prey
on livestock.
The East Oregonian
reports that a possible deal
e m e rg e d Tu e s d a y t h a t
involves ranchers making
clearly defined efforts to
protect livestock and ward
off wolves with non-lethal
deterrents.
If ranchers follow those
rules and still lose livestock
to wolves, and the wolves
meet the state’s definition of
“chronic depredation,” ranch-
ers can ask that the wolves be
killed.
Ranchers and conserva-
tion groups have been work-
ing with a mediator to find a
solution.
Todd Nash of the Oregon
Cattlemen’s Association says
the proposal would provide
much-needed clarity.
Sean Stevens of Oregon
Wild says environmental-
ists like the idea because
it prioritizes non-lethal
measures.
Oregon officials were to
develop plans to present to
the groups on November 5.
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Streams recovering thanks to wolf
By Steve Lundeberg
Correspondent
CORVALLIS — In the
first study of its kind, research
by Oregon State University
scientists shows that the
return of large terrestrial car-
nivores can lead to improved
stream structure and function.
The findings, published
today in Ecohydrology, are
important because they high-
light the role big predators
play in the health of aquatic
and riparian ecosystems.
Robert Beschta and
William Ripple of the
OSU College of Forestry
looked at stream-bank wil-
lows over a 13-year period
along two forks of a creek in
Yellowstone National Park,
first in 2004 and again in
2017.
The study, funded in part
by the National Science
Foundation, began nine years
after wolf reintroduction in
Yellowstone and two decades
after cougars had returned to
the park.
Gray wolves and cougars
had been hunted to extirpation
in Yellowstone by the early
1900s, allowing for an abun-
dance of elk that ate so much
willow as to erode stream
banks and damage waterways
the shrubs had historically
protected.
Beschta and Ripple exam-
ined willows along the west
and east forks of Blacktail
Deer Creek in the northern
portion of the park.
“In the 1990s, elk were
still keeping the willows
short, usually less than two
feet tall, and that led to stream
widening — oversized cross
sections of channel and a
drastically reduced frequency
of overbank flows,” Beschta
said. “But by 2017, willow
heights greater than six feet
were prevalent and canopy
cover over the stream, which
had essentially been absent
in 1995, had increased to 43
percent and 93 percent along
the west fork and east fork,
respectively.”
Increases in willow height,
greater canopy cover, and
stream-bank stabilizing cour-
tesy of well-vegetated banks
all point toward a recovering
riparian/aquatic ecosystem,
he said.
Beschta notes, however,
that the healing is in its early
stages and the recovery of
stream channels may be slow
in some areas.
“ T h e o v e r - w i d e n e d
streams that resulted when elk
were able to browse on wil-
lows as they did when wolves
and cougar were absent,
that’s a big change that’s
taken place and may become
a legacy effect,” he said. “In
some areas these geomor-
phic changes to channels
may not be quickly reversible
and could be there for a long
time.”
Nevertheless, the ecosys-
tem improvements that have
already happened show the
many positives of having a
full guild of large carnivores
present.
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“The cougars had been
back for a while, and the
bears have always been there,
but they were unable to con-
trol the elk populations or at
least their browsing,” Beschta
said. “It wasn’t until wolves
were returned that we got this
reshuffle in what elk were
doing and we began to see
improvement in plant com-
munities and streams. This
is the first study showing
improving stream morphol-
ogy in Yellowstone’s northern
elk range, or anywhere else
in the U.S. as it relates to the
return of a large predator.”
With improvements in
stream channels and to ripar-
ian vegetation, beavers are
returning to parts of the study
area, their dam-building add-
ing its own unique set of eco-
system enhancements.
“They reinforce and recon-
nect streams with floodplains
in a way that only beavers
do,” Beschta said. “They irri-
gate riparian areas in ways
that won’t occur otherwise,
and that’s not only good news
for riparian vegetation but
also a host of wildlife species,
such as songbirds, waterfowl,
amphibians, fish and others.”
Ranchers try
new strategy
with wolves
SALEM (AP) — Two
ranchers in eastern Oregon
are working with state wildlife
officials to test a new strategy
for preventing wolf attacks on
livestock.
T h e C a p i t a l P re s s
reported Thursday that
Rodger Huffman, presi-
dent of the Union County
Cattlemen’s Association,
and Cynthia Warnock, presi-
dent of the Wallowa County
Stockgrowers Association,
will develop plans that empha-
size non-lethal methods such
as range rider, alarm boxes,
and electrified fencing to keep
wolves away. The ranchers
agreed to test the idea, but it’s
still unclear who would pay
for the non-lethal tools.
If wolves continue to
attack, then ranchers could ask
the state to kill them.
The proposal was outlined
by stakeholders who are trying
to find common ground on a
five-year update of the state’s
wolf conservation plan, which
is now three years overdue.
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