FROM PAGE ONE
A8 — THE OBSERVER
SNOWPACK
Continued from Page A1
the northern Blue Mountains near
Tollgate, the water content at the
start of April was 17.8 inches —
74% of average. By month’s end
the water content had risen to 21.6
inches. More notably, that fi gure
was 177% of average.
A similar trend prevailed at
RANCHERS
Continued from Page A1
“They’ve done one but
not the other,” he said.
“They’ve been highly crit-
ical of poaching, and I’m
not defending that, but they
need to step up to the plate
when it’s appropriate for
them to take lethal action,
and they have not done so.”
He emphasized that he
doesn’t mean elimination of
wolves as a species.
“We’re not talking about
total eradication of wolves,”
he said. “When wolves get
to be chronic depredators of
livestock, then you have to
be eff ective managers.”
But the kill permit issued
to Birkmaier allows what
is already legal in Ore-
gon’s eastside cattle country,
where wolves were removed
from the state’s endan-
gered species list in 2015.
State law allows a rancher to
eliminate wolves after two
confi rmed kills of cattle.
“We already have permit-
less take in that anybody on
this side of the state where
wolves are chasing, biting,
killing their livestock, they
have the authority to go
ahead and kill the wolves,”
he said. “So the permit they
gave was not much diff erent
than what we already have
available to us.”
Nash said the ODFW
issuance of a kill permit
wasn’t eff ective wolf
management.
“Their response was to
give two kill permits for a
given area. In that area, it’s
restrictive,” Nash said. “I’m
going to use the example of
if (serial killer) Ted Bundy
moved out of one apartment
some other sites:
• Moss Springs above Cove
— 76% of average at the start of
April, 117% at the end.
• Bald Mountain, near Moss
Springs — 59% to 109%.
• Mount Howard, near Wal-
lowa Lake — 84% to 106%.
• Aneroid Lake, Eagle Cap
Wilderness south of Wallowa
Lake — 61% to 74%.
Jason Yencopal, Baker County
and into another, you’d just
say, ‘Oh, he’s moved now.
You can’t arrest him.’ …
Instead of the whole pack,
they’ve restricted the area
down.”
Nash showed photo-
graphs of sheep that were
killed April 29 in the Elk
Mountain area of Wallowa
County. Three lambs and
two ewes were killed and
the report blamed the depre-
dation on coyotes, offi cially
calling the responsibility
“other.”
He showed photos of
fresh wolf tracks nearby
and a dog track to compare
for size. He also decried
what the ODFW said was a
coyote attack.
“Those (wolf) tracks
were right next to where
the sheep were killed,” he
said. “And they’re calling it
a coyote? But there wasn’t a
fresh coyote track out there.
There were some old ones.”
Williams also was on the
scene of the attack on the
sheep. He agreed it was a
wolf attack and not coyotes.
Nash said he went right
to the top of the agency.
“They’re absolutely
wrong on this one,” he said.
“I talked to the director
and asked for a review, that
they take a keen look at this
because they’re just wrong.”
Like Birkmaier about his
agent who shot a wolf, the
owner of the sheep wanted
to remain anonymous. Both
hope to keep a good rela-
tionship with the ODFW.
Birkmaier said the local
ODFW agents have off ered
to help tend his cattle.
Nash mentioned another
case where he believed the
ODFW had fallen short.
Last year the Lookout
THURSDAY, MAY 12, 2022
emergency management director
who also does snow surveys,
plodded through the drifts to a
meadow just east of Anthony
Lake on the fi rst day of May.
He measured 64 inches of
snow — up from 49 inches at the
end of March.
The water content rose during
April from 19.5 inches — 61% of
average — to 25.5 inches, 91% of
average.
Mountain Pack killed cattle
and ODFW hunters killed
two wolf cubs. Later, the
hunters killed two more.
“But why kill the pups
when it’s the adults who do
the hunting?” Nash asked.
“It was like punishing
the kids for their parents’
misbehavior.”
Michelle Dennehy,
ODFW spokesperson, said
the Lookout Mountain Pack
was a diffi cult case.
“This was an attempt
to keep the pack intact,”
she said. “The breeding
male and female were col-
lared and with all those
mouths to feed can lead to
depredation.”
She said the “cubs” were
partially grown and already
hunters.
“These were 40-pound
wolves that were no longer
in the den,” Dennehy said.
“Lookout Mountain was a
tough one. It worked for a
while, but started up again.”
Agency report
The most recent livestock
kills in Wallowa County
reported on ODFW’s wolf
depredation report were
on April 30. Three more
attacks were listed in Baker
County on May 5.
Birkmaier said he’s lost
One damp month can’t end the
region’s drought, to be sure.
As of May 3, all of North-
eastern Oregon was in either mod-
erate, severe or extreme drought,
according to the U.S. Drought
Monitor. (The monitor uses a
fi ve-level rating system — abnor-
mally dry, and four categories
of drought: moderate, severe,
extreme and exceptional.)
Most of Baker County remains
a couple more calves this
month and he’s spending
time treating a calf that he’s
not sure will survive.
“I’m spending an hour
a day doctoring the other
one,” he said. “I can’t get
ahead of the infection.”
He said he understands
it takes a while for the
agency to complete inves-
tigations and list the dep-
redations, but wolves don’t
wait around for agency
paperwork.
“Generally, they take
great deal of time when
time is of the essence,”
Williams said.
Dennehy said determi-
nations of reported wolf
kills are generally reported
within 48 hours of a produc-
er’s report. When the agen-
cy’s determination is con-
sidered unsatisfactory to the
producer, a review process
is available.
“If requested by the
owner of the livestock, we
have a process to review
disputed determinations
and that is happening now,”
Dennehy said about the
April 29 sheep kill.
As of May 9, the report
still said “bite wounds were
consistent with coyote
attacks on sheep” and listed
the determination as “other.”
in extreme drought, with a small
part on the western side, and much
of the Panhandle, in severe drought.
Phillips Reservoir in Sumpter
Valley, which supplies irrigation
water for more than 30,000 acres
in Baker Valley, is holding just
12% of its capacity.
Thief Valley Reservoir, near
North Powder, is full, and Unity
Reservoir in southern Baker
County is 92% full.
Nonlethal eff orts
not enough
Birkmaier has been
known for his eff orts to
use nonlethal deterrents to
keep wolves at bay.
“He’s doing every non-
lethal (action) everybody
can dream up,” Williams
said. “What was more
eff ective was he had a lot
of people out there helping
with nonlethal presence of
humans.”
“I’m still continuing
the relentless nonlethal
measures, including two
AM-FM radios, two fox
lights that come on at
night and motion-triggered
noise-making devices that
have a siren and fl ashing
lights,” Birkmaier said.
“I’ve been putting those in
saddles on ridges or any
natural crossing area where
wolves may enter pasture.”
But there are only so
many hours in the day and
a rancher has other jobs
besides tending cattle.
“I’m still averaging
16-20 hours a day with the
cows,” he said. “You know
how far behind I am and
how my family’s suff ering
from not having a dad and
husband around?”
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