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CapitalPress.com
March 18, 2016
Washington’s wolf
population up 32 percent
Wolves concentrated
in northeast corner
By DON JENKINS
Loss of trust seen
across demographics
Capital Press
TUMWATER, Wash. —
Washington’s wolf population
increased by almost one-third
in 2015, though progress to-
ward meeting the state goal
of statewide dispersal lagged,
with packs and breeding pairs
still concentrated mostly in the
northeast corner of the state.
The state had at least 90
wolves, up from 68 in 2014, ac-
cording to a count announced
Monday by the state Depart-
ment of Eish and Wildlife.
The number of packs in-
creased from 16 to 18, while
breeding pairs went from ive
to eight. Breeding pairs, a male
and female with at least two
surviving pups at the end of the
year, had been steady at ive
since 2011.
The 32 percent increase in
the overall population is in line
with the expectations of wild-
life biologists.
The larger population, how-
ever, did not translate into a
measurable advance toward
meeting the state’s main recov-
ery objective — at least four
breeding pairs in each of three
recovery zones and at least 15
statewide for three consecutive
years.
Seven breeding pairs are in
the Eastern Washington zone.
One breeding pair was in the
North Cascades zone, while
there were no wolves at all
documented in the South Cas-
cades zone.
Some 13 of the state’s wolf
packs and 77 of the wolves are
clustered in northeast Washing-
ton, where most wolf attacks
on livestock have occurred.
WDEW wolf policy lead
Donny Martorello said wolves
remain on track to meet the
state’s recovery goals by 2021
by continuing to slowly mi-
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Study says “Ag gag” laws
reduce consumer trust
By MATEUSZ PERKOWSKI
Capital Press
Washington Dept. of Fish and Wildlife
The wolf population in Washing-
ton, which includes the Teanaway
wolf pack above, increased by
nearly one-third last year, ac-
cording to the department.
grate from the northeast to the
North Cascades and from there
to the South Cascades.
“It’s a steady progression.
It’s not overnight,” he said.
“We’re right on the path we
expect to be on. I think it’s a
sign that we’re on a path to our
recovery goal.”
Washington identiied four
new packs in 2015 — the Loup
Loup pack in the North Cas-
cades, and the Skookum, Bea-
ver Creek and Stranger packs
in northeast Washington. The
Stranger pack split from the
Huckleberry pack in Stevens
County.
The state did not ind evi-
dence that the Wenatchee pack
in the North Cascades still ex-
isted. Also, the Diamond pack
moved across the border to
Idaho.
Wolves killed seven cattle
in 2015 and seriously injured
one sheep dog. Six of the dep-
redations, including the attack
on the dog, occurred in north-
east Washington.
Depredations were down
from 2014, when WDEW con-
irmed wolves killed 35 sheep,
four cattle and dog. The total
does not include suspected but
unconirmed livestock losses to
wolves.
WDEW documented seven
wolf mortalities in 2015. Three
wolves were legally harvested
on the Spokane Indian Reser-
vation. One wolf died while
being captured for collaring
on the Colville Indian Reser-
vation.
One wolf, the irst known
wolf to venture west of the
Cascades, was hit and killed
by a vehicle on Interstate 90,
while another one was shot in
self-defense by a homeowner
in the Blue Mountains. One
wolf died of unknown causes.
Criminalizing secret re-
cordings of agricultural oper-
ations is more likely to breed
suspicion of farmers than to
shield their public image, a re-
cent study found.
So-called “ag gag” laws,
which prohibit hidden-camera
ilming and obtaining employ-
ment under false pretenses,
substantially reduce trust in
agriculture among U.S. con-
sumers, according to research-
ers from the University of
British Columbia.
“There are reputation-
al consequences. People are
likely to be left with a bad
taste in their mouths when
they’re made aware of them,”
said Jesse Robbins, one of the
study’s authors.
Among participants asked
to read an explanation of
such laws, the trust rating for
farmers was about 20 percent
lower than for a control group
that read a generic description
of hay.
Participants
informed
about the laws were also less
comfortable with the current
status of farm animal welfare
and were more likely to sup-
port stricter regulations for an-
imal agriculture.
The decrease in trust was
seen across multiple demo-
graphics, regardless of the
participants’ political ideology
or where they lived.
“Rural Republicans had a
similar drop in trust as urban
vegetarians,” said Robbins.
It’s signiicant that even
among people positively-in-
clined toward farming, such
as conservatives and rural res-
idents, awareness of “ag gag”
laws caused ratings to cross
the line from trust to distrust,
he said.
The impact also extended
beyond the domain of animal
welfare, with participants ex-
pressing less trust in farmers
for their environmental stew-
ardship, Robbins said.
These indings are notable
because previous psycholog-
ical research has established
that trust is a hard-won com-
modity not worth squander-
ing, he said. “It’s a whole
lot easier to lose than it is to
gain.”
Bob Naerebout, executive
director of the Idaho Dairy-
men’s Association, said his
group recognized such rep-
utational risks in 2014 when
it decided to support the Ida-
ho Ag Security Act, which
critics have assailed as an
“ag gag” statute.
The law was struck down
by a federal judge as unconsti-
tutionally limiting free speech
last year and is now being re-
viewed by the 9th U.S. Circuit
Court of Appeals.
Despite the potential effect
on consumer perceptions, IDA
advocated for the law because
it’s meant to protect property
rights in agriculture, Naere-
bout said.
The farm industry felt it
shouldn’t have to tolerate ac-
tivists who are willing to de-
ceive the public, he said.
Sen. Jim Rice, R-Caldwell,
said he sponsored the bill be-
cause farmers should have a
right to determine what activ-
ities occur on their properties.
“Our purpose wasn’t to
protect the reputation of ag-
riculture so much as prevent
certain types of attacks,” he
said.
LAMBING SCHOOL
Vet students get
hands-on experience
By MATTHEW WEAVER
Capital Press
LAMONT, Wash. — At
times it was a little hard to tell
who was more nervous during
the ear-tagging lesson — the
lambs getting the tag or the
students who were doing the
tagging for the irst time.
Seven Washington State
University veterinary stu-
dents attended the Washington
State Sheep Producers lamb-
ing school March 12, taught
by Jill Swannack, a Lamont,
Wash., veterinarian and presi-
dent of the organization.
The course for the day in-
cluded ear-tagging, castrating
and docking tails, examining a
carcass and observing a birth.
The school teaches the
students techniques to make
lambing go more smoothly,
Swannack said.
“I hope they come away
with what they want to learn,”
she said. “They have a long
Matthew Weaver/Capital Press
Washington State University veterinary students, including Allison
Reeder, left, look on as veterinarian and Washington State Sheep
Producers president Jill Swannack explains how to ear-tag,
castrate and dock lambs March 12 in Lamont, Wash.
road ahead of them. What they
need to learn is how fun it is
to learn.”
Sara Packebush, a sec-
ond-year veterinary student at
WSU, wanted to get a better
understanding of lamb pro-
cessing and the timing of key
procedures.
“It’s a really good opportu-
nity,” Packebush said. “This is
a lot more animals per student
than we can get sometimes
at the vet school, where there
are three vet students on one
lamb. Each person gets to
handle more than one lamb at
a time.”
Liz Soler, also a sec-
ond-year vet student, want-
ed to see how a larger lock
would manage. She hopes to
go into a rural mixed-animal
practice for large and small
animals.
“It’s really important for a
veterinarian to know what a
producer has to do, so we can
help educate the producers
who are less knowledgeable,
and also help producers who
are more knowledgeable im-
prove their management prac-
tice,” she said. “We do a lot of
book learning in vet school,
so it’s really important to get
hands-on opportunities.”
With new veterinarians
entering the sheep industry,
Swannack said the school is
critical.
“The only way to get ex-
perience is to experience it,”
she said. “That’s why we have
traditionally offered a lambing
school, so people can learn
these skills before they need
them.”
The organization offers the
school in the spring, with as
many as three classes, Swan-
nack said. The next classes
will be April 2 and April 30,
also on Swannack’s ranch in
Lamont.
Legal-12-2-2/#4
Rancher, cattle industry leader Burke dies at age 80
By DAN WHEAT
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Capital Press
ELLENSBURG, Wash.
— Mary Lou Masterson
Burke, a cattle rancher well
known for her expertise in
water and private property
rights, died March 13 in John
Day, Ore. She was 80.
Burke was born July 3,
1935, in Ellensburg, and grew
up on the historic Masterson
Ranch, homesteaded by her
great-grandfather in 1880, in
the Teanaway Valley.
She married Pat Burke in
1956 and they ranched and
raised their family together
in the Teanaway until moving
to Eox, Ore., near John Day,
in 2006. The family operates
ranches near Eox and Ellens-
burg.
Mary Burke was the
irst woman president of the
Washington State Cattlemen’s
Association and was past
president of Kittitas Coun-
ty Cattlewomen and Kittitas
County Cattlemen. She served
on committees of the National
Cattlemen’s Association.
“She’s been friends of my
grandparents longer than I’ve
been alive. She was always an
inspiration to me, encouraged
me to become an attorney
and mentored me,” said Toni
Meacham, a Connell attorney
active in agricultural issues.
“She would say, ‘Go forth
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and do good.’ She always told
me that,” Meacham said.
Marriage
interrupted
Burke’s college career but she
became self taught in water
and private property issues
and law, and became a knowl-
edgeable resource to legisla-
tors and attorneys in the 1980s
and 1990s, Meacham said.
She testiied before Con-
gress multiple times on ag-
ricultural issues and people
across the nation consulted
her, she said.
Her interest in law was
nurtured when she went to
work in a law ofice in the
1970s when cattle prices were
low. She had a quick grasp of
issues and written material.
“She read the whole ESA
(Endangered Species Act)
and could digest it, remember
it and see the impacts,” Mea-
cham said.
She had a distinctive
voice, a way with words and
Courtesy of Marty Stingley Photography
Rancher Mary Burke, of
Ellensburg, Wash., and Fox,
Ore., was known as a self-
taught expert on water and
private property rights. She
died March 13 at age 80.
“could insult people and they
wouldn’t even know they’d
been insulted,” Meacham
said. “She didn’t speak frivo-
lously. She always had a point
and would get to it even when
you thought she was ram-
bling.”
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