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May 20, 2016 CapitalPress.com 9 Oregon Workshop focuses on wolf management in E. Oregon By GEORGE PLAVEN EO Media Group Courtesy of U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Wolves killed a llama in north- eastern Oregon, according to the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife. –Wolves kill llama in northeastern Oregon By ERIC MORTENSON Capital Press A llama found dead and partially eaten May 9 was killed by one or more wolves, according to Ore- gon Department of Fish and Wildlife. The attack occurred on pri- vate land in the Buford Creek drainage of Wallowa County in northeast Oregon. The stockowner found the llama with muscle tissue from the lank and abdominal area consumed, and most of its internal organs were on the ground next to the carcass. An ODFW report indi- cated the attack probably oc- curred several hours before the carcass was discovered. The location and size of bite marks indicated wolves were responsible, according to ODFW. Investigators also found fresh wolf tracks 200 yards and 10 yards away. Tracking collar data showed OR-23 was 1.5 miles from the carcass site six days earlier. The attack was attributed to the Shamrock Pack. PENDLETON, Ore. — Despite killing four wolves from the Imnaha Pack earlier this year for repeatedly at- tacking livestock, the Oregon Department of Fish and Wild- life reiterated the value of non-lethal deterrents during a workshop here May 13. Eastern Oregon ranchers and county oficials gathered at Blue Mountain Community College to hear presentations on the science and economics of dealing with wolves. The workshop featured speakers from the U.S. Department of Agriculture Wildlife Ser- vices. ODFW also provided an update on the state’s Wolf Conservation and Manage- ment Plan, which is now up for review. Roblyn Brown, the depart- ment’s acting wolf program coordinator, said the wolf population is growing rapid- ly in Oregon — there were at least 110 wolves counted by the end of last year, com- pared to just 14 in 2009. Yet the number of conirmed at- tacks on livestock has stayed relatively lat, which Brown said is due in part to the use and effectiveness of non-le- thal tools. “We’re iguring things out,” Brown said. “Non-le- thals can absolutely work in certain situations.” Key measures The most important thing, Brown said, is for ranchers to make sure they clean up their bone piles to avoid attracting wolves onto their property in the irst place. Things like ladry fencing, range riders, guard dogs and alarm boxes can be effective deterrents, at least temporarily, if they’re used correctly. Ranchers are doing a much better job now than they were when the plan was irst im- plemented, Brown said. The number of conirmed wolf depredations was even down slightly in 2015, compared to 2014. But non-lethals don’t work every time, which is why Phase II of the wolf plan al- lows wildlife oficials to se- lectively kill problem wolves. In the case of the four Imnaha wolves, Brown said there were a number of fac- tors that prompted ODFW to use lethal control. First, the wolves had ap- parently changed their behav- ior and started moving outside of their usual territory. Second, the group’s alpha female had a back leg injury, which could have prompt- ed the group to target easier meals. Finally, non-lethal de- terrents had proven ineffec- tive in keeping wolves away from sheep and cattle. Comparing cases Brown compared that to another series of attacks last year by the Mount Emily Pack on sheep in the Umatil- la National Forest. All ive of those incidents came against a single band of sheep, and by the time the producer asked for lethal control, Brown said non-lethal tools had started to work. “ODFW will evaluate each situation when they’re mak- ing a determination about when to go to lethal control,” Brown said. Non-lethal steps irst The agency’s focus, how- ever, continues to be on non-lethals irst. With the ev- idence suggesting deterrents are effective, the workshop shifted to community-wide models for rural areas where wolves are re-established. Suzanne Asha Stone, se- nior Northwest represen- tative for the conservation group Defenders of Wildlife, pointed to a few successful programs across the West — most notably the Wood River Wolf Project in central Idaho, where there’s the largest con- centration of domestic sheep in the region. Stone said the program pulls together ideas and fund- ing from ranchers, agencies and wolf advocates alike to implement non-lethal solu- tions. More groups are start- ing to take this approach, she said, because it makes more resources more broadly avail- able. “The challenge is that it really requires a lot of good communication,” Stone said. Between 2008 and 2015, Stone said they’ve had any- where from 10,000 to 23,000 sheep on the land, yet they’ve only lost 30 of the animals to wolves over that period. “Some of our best solu- tions have come from that mix of people that don’t usually talk to each other,” she said. Committees work Stone said she was en- couraged by how county wolf compensation committees were working together to en- sure ranchers are made whole for dead or missing livestock due to wolves. Both Susan Roberts, of Wallowa County, and Jerry Baker, of Umatilla County, were on hand to discuss how their committees reach out to producers and submit applica- tions for state grants. Environmental groups, tribe protest new BLM plan for W. Oregon By ANDREW SELSKY Associated Press SALEM — Conservation and ishing groups and an Indian tribe announced Mon- day they have iled protests against a draft federal propos- al to manage 2.5 million acres in Western Oregon — a plan that would allow logging to increase by more than a third and for trees to be felled clos- er to streams. Earthjustice and the Western Environmental Law Center, which filed a formal protest on Monday on behalf of 22 conservation and fish- ing groups, charged that the plan would increase clear- cutting and harm streamside forests. Associated Press ile This photo shows Bureau of Land Management timber outside Ruch, Ore. The BLM has released its draft of a new Western Ore- gon Management Plan, which has drawn protests from conserva- tion groups. In its four-volume, 2,010- page proposal, the Bureau of Land Management said a re- vised plan is needed because of changes in timber management. Under the plan, timber that can be harvested will be increased by about 75 million more board feet to 278 million board feet, BLM spokesman Jim Whittington told Jeffer- son Public Radio, a station based in the Southern Oregon town of Ashland. Whittington emphasized that the acreage available for timber harvest would not increase. The protesting groups said the 37 percent increase in log- ging levels “will boost carbon emissions and make the forest less resilient to climate change and other disturbances.” Whittington said trees could be cut closer to streams under the plan, with the buf- fer shortening from double the height of an average tree in the area to the height of a single tree. A ishermen’s group blast- ed that aspect of the plan. “The last, best salmon hab- itat in Oregon is within these BLM-managed forests,” Glen Spain of the Paciic Coast Federation of Fishermen’s Associations, among the 22 groups, said in a statement. “Productive salmon streams are far more valuable for the salmon-related jobs they cre- ate than for the market value of the lumber you could gen- erate from logging them.” The BLM said the new plan will provide a sustained yield of timber while protect- ing threatened and endan- gered species. Reap the Rewards Find Your Next Job in Capital Press Print and Online. 1.800.882.6789 www.cpmarketplace.com www.capitalpress.com 21-2/#4x 21-1/#13