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March 18, 2016 CapitalPress.com 3 Washington mulls new policy on shooting wolves By DON JENKINS Capital Press Dan Wheat/Capital Press Fresh snow reached down to the 2,000-foot level behind pear and cherry trees off Red Apple Road north of Wenatchee, Wash., the morning of March 10. Three days later snow fell in town. Storms increased the statewide snowpack 8 percent. Winter storms boost Washington snowpack By DAN WHEAT Capital Press WENATCHEE, Wash. — Recent storms boosted Wash- ington’s mountain snowpack by 8 percent, but forecasters say it won’t alter the arrival of an early spring runoff. “We would need four more storms like this to make any real impact,” Scott Pattee, state water supply specialist, said after the irst storm March 9. The second storm, March 12 and 13, brought an inch of snow to Wenatchee and some other east slope towns and much more in the mountains. The statewide snowpack in- creased from 100 to 108 per- cent of normal. It helps but doesn’t lessen chances that warmer weath- er will melt much of the re- maining snowpack about a month earlier than desired, said Pattee in the Washing- ton Snow Survey Ofice of the USDA Natural Resourc- es Conservation Service in Mount Vernon. That’s a worry for farm- land irrigators, particularly in the Yakima Basin. The March 9 storm had been forecast to drop heavy valley rain and up to 2 feet of snow in upper elevations of the Cascade Range with the possibility of lash loods in the Wenatchee area, Okan- ogan Valley and Waterville Plateau. But the storm ran its course, leaving sunshine and fresh snow above 2,000 feet. Winds reaching 128 mph on Mission Ridge south of Wenatchee blew the storm away faster than expected, minimizing rain, snowfall and looding, Pattee said. Stevens Pass received 12 inches of new snow over- night, ive measurement sites north of Mount Rainier re- ceived 12 inches or more and 6,000-foot-elevation Lyman Lake above Lake Chelan re- ceived 15 inches, Pattee said. From 6,000 feet down to 3,500 feet, snowfall ranged from 4 to 6 inches, he said. Little snow and tempera- tures 5 to 15 degrees high- er than normal in February have left the snowpack about a month ahead of normal in maturity, he said. Cooler weather the irst half of March slowed the melt but a warm second half of March will accelerate it, he said. The March 12-13 storm dumped 22 inches on Mount Crag in the eastern Olym- pics, Pattee said. “That’s almost an inch an hour. It’s high avalanche danger. It was the heaviest in the state. But Stampede Pass (in the central Cascades near Snoqualmie Pass) received no snow, so it was a hit-and- miss storm,” he said. The Olympics and Mount St. Helens received the most snow, he said. June Lake at the 3,300- foot level on the south side of Mount St. Helens re- ceived 11 inches Saturday and 11 inches Sunday, he said. Bumping Ridge above Bumping Lake in the Yakima Basin received 13 inches of snow and Lyman Lake above Lake Chelan received 7 inch- es, he said. March storms restore Oregon snowpack, but that could change By ERIC MORTENSON Capital Press PORTLAND — Heavy rain and mountain snow that socked Western Ore- gon March 10-14 restored the low- and middle-eleva- tion snowpack that had been lost during an earlier warm stretch, but continued weath- er luctuations make summer water predictions a guessing game, according to the US- DA’s National Resources Conservation Service. Scott Oviatt, NRCS snow survey supervisor in Portland, said it’s becoming more likely the region will have suficient water this summer, but an extended warm spell and early snow- pack melt could change the outlook. Irrigation districts and reservoir operators might want to hedge their bets, he said. “If you have the ability to store a little more (water) now, that’s great,” he said. Oregon river basins are “right at the cusp” in terms of having suficient water, Ovi- att said. In most of them, the amount of water contained in the snowpack — called the “snow-water equivalent “ — is near normal or above normal for this time of year. Notable exceptions are the Willamette River Basin, which is at 83 percent of nor- mal, the Hood-Sandy-Lower Don Jenkins/Capital Press Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife consultant Francine Madden writes down ideas from members of the department’s Wolf Advisory Group March 14 in Tumwater. The group asked WDFW staff members to rework the department’s policy on shooting wolves to stop depredations on livestock. dence in the department, espe- cially since WDFW oficials in Tumwater will involve ield staff in Central and Eastern Washington who work directly with ranchers. “I think we’re in a really good place,” he said. WDFW resorted to shoot- ing wolves in 2012 and 2014 to stop depredations on livestock — high-proile actions that outraged wolf advocates but also fell short of some ranch- ers’ expectations. WDFW hired Madden and enlarged the advisory group a year ago to encourage collab- oration. The advisory group’s 17-member roster represents livestock producers, environ- mentalists and hunters. The group has yet to make any speciic policy recommen- dations. The discussions Mon- day and Tuesday touched on many subjects, but there was 15-5/16 x 10 x 2 18-3/4 x 14-3/8 x 3 CALL FOR PRICING AND AVAILABILITY. 503-588-8313 2561 Pringle Rd. SE Salem, OR Begins With You! 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The comparisons are based on averages com- piled from 1981 to 2010. The snowpack levels are somewhat mixed, but heavy rain this winter has put pre- cipitation totals off the charts. Every Oregon river basin measured by NRCS has re- corded precipitation more than 100 percent of normal. “That doesn’t mean the drought’s over,” Oviatt said. Many reservoirs were low, and reilling them with rain or melting snow takes time. “It’s a building process,” Oviatt said. “This is a step in the right direction.” Leasing available • Call for video no consensus on any topic. WDFW can only use lethal removal in the eastern one- third of Washington, where 77 of the 90 wolves counted by the department in 2015 roamed. Wolves are federally protected in the western two- thirds of Washington, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service doesn’t use lethal removal to manage wolves. Producers are generally asking for policies that ensure repeated depredations will be quickly and effectively con- fronted. Environmentalists are stressing exhausting preven- tive measures irst. The Cattle Producers of Washington and the Stevens County Cattlemen’s Asso- ciation, two groups whose members are most affected by wolves, withdrew from the panel last fall, questioning its value. ROP-12-2-2/7 TUMWATER, Wash. — Washington wildlife managers will digest ideas from an advi- sory group and propose a new protocol for shooting wolves to protect livestock. New lethal-removal pro- cedures may not differ much, if any, from current practice, which has been criticized by ranchers and environmental- ists. But the state Department of Fish and Wildlife hopes that drawing on the advisory group’s diverse viewpoints will foster broader acceptance of lethal-removal policies. “It is the biggest issue for the department,” WDFW wolf policy lead Donny Martorel- lo said Tuesday near the end of a two-day meeting of the department’s Wolf Advisory Group. WDFW’s general policy is to consider lethal removal af- ter four depredations. The de- partment also must conclude that preventive measures have been tried and failed, and that depredations are likely to con- tinue. Other considerations such as pack history and the time between depredations can fur- ther complicate the decision. The advisory group spent most of two days in a mo- tel conference room tossing out and discussing variables WDFW should consider. By the end Tuesday, meet- ing facilitator Francine Mad- den had taped 125 pages of handwritten notes on the walls. Martorello said WDFW staff members will take the notes and develop lethal-pro- tocol options for the advisory group to consider in May. “I don’t have a precon- ceived idea of what the out- come will be,” he said. “From my perspective, I see more in- put and themes than I’ve seen before.” Washington Cattlemen’s Association Executive Vice President Jack Field, a group member, said he had coni- • Farmers Ending Hunger donated over SIX MILLION POUNDS of food crops to Oregon Food Bank since 2006! • More than 240,000 people per month eat meals from emergency food boxes. • 33 percent of those who receive emergency food boxes are children. 12-2/#13
