OREGON
A6 — THE OBSERVER
SaTuRday, dEcEmBER 4, 2021
Levy proposes $1M for wolf-livestock compensation
State has confirmed
wolves injured or
killed 87 animals so
far in 2021
“(Producers) didn’t
ask for these wolves to be
brought in,” Levy said. “It’s
a very emotional thing, and
it’s getting more costly by
the day.”
The wolf compensation
By GEORGE PLAVEN
program was created by
Capital Press
the Legislature in 2011, and
provides grants to counties
SALEM — An Eastern
where wolves are present.
Oregon legislator wants to
Grants may be awarded to
significantly increase state
cover the losses of dead,
funding to reimburse
injured or missing
ranchers for dead and
livestock, as well as
missing livestock
nonlethal prevention.
caused by wolves.
Ranchers, how-
ever, argue the pro-
State Rep. Bobby
gram is woefully
Levy, R-Echo, plans to
underfunded. For
introduce a bill in the
2020, ODA awarded
2022 Legislature that
Levy
$130,164 split among
would provide $1 mil-
lion over the next biennium
12 counties, covering just
for the Oregon Department
37% of all grant requests. In
of Agriculture’s Wolf Dep-
2019, counties were awarded
redation Compensation and
$251,529, or 58% of all
Financial Assistance grant
requests.
program.
State Sen. Bill Hansell,
The bill comes on behalf
R-Athena, requested
of the Oregon Cattlemen’s
$800,000 for the program in
Association, Oregon Farm
the 2021 Legislature. Law-
makers instead approved
Bureau, Oregon Sheep
a one-time allocation of
Growers Association and
Oregon Hunters Association. $400,000, on top of what is
Oregon department of Fish and Wildlife/Contributed Photo, File
A male wolf from the Wenaha Pack was fitted with a radio collar on
Aug. 4, 2010. State Rep. Bobby Levy, R-Echo, plans to introduce a bill
in the 2022 Legislature that would provide $1 million over the next
biennium for wolf depredation compensation and assistance.
already provided in ODA’s
budget.
Jonathan Sandau, a
special assistant to ODA
Director Alexis Taylor,
said the agency anticipates
having a little more than
$800,000 total to compen-
sate producers for wolf-live-
stock conflicts during the
biennium, including federal
grants from the U.S. Fish
and Wildlife Service.
Despite the boost,
ranchers say it is still
not enough as they face
more instances of wolves
attacking and killing their
animals.
Oregon has at least 173
wolves scattered across
the state, according to the
most recent estimate from
the Oregon Department of
Fish and Wildlife. So far
in 2021, ODFW has con-
firmed 87 animals killed or
injured by wolves, including
51 cattle, 28 sheep, six goats
and two guard dogs. That is
up by more than double over
2020, when 32 animals were
attacked or killed by wolves
— 28 cattle, two llamas and
two guard dogs.
Levy said the estimated
cost for dead and missing
livestock, as of Nov. 6, was
$780,000 and that number
is expected to increase as
ranchers finish moving their
livestock out of the moun-
tains and down into winter
pasture.
Rodger Huffman, a
Union County rancher and
member of the OCA wolf
committee, said the compen-
sation program likely will
not cover counties’ grant
requests.
“More tools are needed,”
he said. “If more tools are
not provided in manage-
ment, then more money is
needed for compensation.”
What’s more, Huffman
said the program does not
compensate ranchers for
other hidden costs they
suffer due to wolves. Live-
stock might not be directly
killed or injured, but have
lower birth rates or gain less
weight if they are stressed
by predators.
“There’s cost in the cattle
production side,” Huffman
said. “Then the other big
cost is the producer cost to
be out there trying to pre-
vent the depredations.”
Sandau, with ODA, said
applications for ranchers to
receive compensation for
2021 depredations will be
made available in February
2022. With the $400,000
boost in funding, he said
they should be able to ful-
fill more requests than they
have in past years.
“We talk to stakeholder
groups and county govern-
ments, and with the available
funds make the best invest-
ment that we can,” Sandau
said. “With potentially more
depredation requests for
2021 in the granting cycle
for 2022, we’ll see how it all
balances out.”
Audit finds room for improvement at state law enforcement training agency
By WHITNEY WOODWORTH
Salem Statesman Journal
SALEM — The agency
tasked with training and
certifying Oregon law
enforcement is limited in
its ability to hold officers
accountable for misconduct
and lacks oversight of field
training, according to an
audit released Wednesday,
Dec. 1, by the Oregon Sec-
retary of State’s Office.
Every newly hired
police officer in Oregon
must attend a four-month
training at the state Depart-
ment of Public Safety
Standards and Training
in Salem. The agency
is responsible for regu-
lating all public safety
professionals in the state,
including county, city and
tribal police officers and
city and county corrections
officers.
Officers who fail to meet
moral fitness standards
may face decertification by
DPSST.
But the audit found
that while the agency has
improved its procedures to
hold officers accountable,
local control, narrowly-de-
fined administrative rules
and gaps in the certifica-
tion review process limit its
ability to hold more officers
accountable.
“As a result, officers
whose conduct is worthy
of decertification may
go undetected or unad-
dressed,” auditors noted in
the report.
The audit pointed to,
as an example, the 57 offi-
cer-involved shootings and
in-custody deaths from
2004 to 2018 involving the
Portland Police Bureau. Of
these 57, only one officer’s
actions may have met the
standards for a DPSST pro-
fessional standards review.
The audit also found that
while the agency has devel-
oped training that complies
with state laws and includes
an evidence-based curric-
ulum, only a small portion
of law enforcement officers
have received this training
and DPSST’s ability to
train officers further evap-
orates once they leave the
academy and go into the
field.
“The agency’s ability to
provide police training and
to certify and decertify offi-
cers is hindered by staffing
and technology con-
straints,” auditors said.
The audit was con-
ducted with the purpose of
examining how the agency
responsible for regulating
officers approached police
training and accountability.
“Recent years have been
marked by much-needed
attention to racial injustice,
inequity, and the actions
of law enforcement agen-
cies,” auditors said in the
report. “As the debate on
police reform intensifies
and with public trust in
law enforcement waning, it
raises questions about the
ability of these agencies
and the State of Oregon to
hold officers accountable
for misconduct.”
The audit singled out
George Floyd’s murder by a
Minneapolis police officer
in 2020 and the 100 days of
protest in Portland that fol-
lowed as driving the calls
for police reform.
Each state has an officer
standards and training
commission to establish
standards and training
requirements. Most oversee
the certification, decertifi-
cation and ongoing training
for officers.
Since 1961, Oregon’s
system has evolved into
DPSST to provide basic
training, certify officers
and monitor compliance
with professional standards.
The audit noted that the
DPSST board does not have
control over law enforce-
ment agency operations
and instead deals with indi-
vidual officers.
“Holding local LEAs
(law enforcement officers)
accountable is ultimately up
to publicly elected leaders,
including city and county
officials,” auditors said.
Currently, 5,620 police
officers, 20,935 private
security professionals and
6,974 firefighters are certi-
fied through the agency.
The DPSST board can
deny or revoke an officer’s
certification. In 2019, 71
certifications were revoked.
Last year, 49 certifica-
tions were revoked, four
were denied and two were
suspended.
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