July 15, 2016
CapitalPress.com
7
Wolves in Colville Valley worry state wildlife managers
Predators seen in
close proximity to
humans, domestic
animals
By MATTHEW WEAVER
Capital Press
SPOKANE
VALLEY,
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they are worried that wolves
in the Colville Valley of
northeastern Washington may
be getting too accustomed to
humans.
Two or three wolves in the
Stranger Pack have shown up
near the homes of residents,
several of which have dogs,
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specialist for the Washington
State Department of Fish of
Wildlife.
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monitoring the predators, but
for now they say there’s no
risk to public safety.
Shepherd spoke to mem-
bers of the state wolf advisory
group during their July 7 meet-
ing in Spokane Valley, Wash.
“The more times wolves
come into contact with hu-
mans and human-occupied
areas with dogs, the more
they become accustomed to
that being part of their ritual,
behavior and home range,”
Matthew Weaver/Capital Press
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Shepherd said. “That’s start-
ing to occur on the periphery
of the Colville Valley.”
The area includes residents
who own dogs and ranches,
Shepherd said.
The department advises
residents to haze the wolves,
including clapping at the an-
imal, throwing rocks and
possibly installing fences to
protect their dogs and other
animals.
“The wolves do travel in
between populated areas, but
they tend to also avoid peo-
ple,” said Donny Martorel-
lo, wolf policy manager for
WDFW. “We want them to
maintain their fear of people
and avoid areas with people.”
Wolves see dogs as other
wolves, which can lead to
territorial disputes, Martorel-
lo said. Pet owners should
keep their animals enclosed at
night.
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portunities to help with hazing
and considering future steps.
Trent Roussin, a wolf bi-
ologist at the department, said
GPS data doesn’t show any
unusual activity for the area.
“If you see wolves interact-
ing with your dogs, you’re go-
ing to want to scare them off
whatever non-lethal way you
can ... unless you fear for your
dog’s life,” he said.
Residents are more likely
to successfully haze the wolf
than department staff, Rouss-
in said.
“They’re going to be the
ones who see it,” he said.
“The chances of us getting up
there at the right time are pret-
ty slim.”
Wolves are not known for
aggression towards humans
unless severely habituated,
Shepherd said. He believes
the wolves are near the begin-
ning of that stage.
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— what you want to do is stop
it now,” he said.
Don Dashiell, a Stevens
County commissioner, said
the rural county has a dense
population
and
enough
wolves that the animals are
likely to be exposed to people.
“Our level of comfort with
habituation might be lower
than what the game depart-
ment might want to wait for,”
Dashiell said.
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aware of potential problems,
Dashiell said. He wondered
how long the department will
allow non-aggressive interac-
tions before stepping in.
“They at least have raised
their hand to say, ‘We’ve got
a problem,’ they just haven’t
quite convinced themselves
they’ve got to do something
about it yet,” he said.
Wolves kill two calves in
northeastern Washington
By MATTHEW WEAVER
Capital Press
Wolves have killed an-
other calf in northeastern
Washington, and two more
were eaten by wolves, a
rancher says.
This is the second con-
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ing calves in the region in a
week.
“It’s an ongoing thing,”
said Len McIrvin of the Di-
amond M Ranch near Lau-
rier, Wash. He said the Pro-
fanity Peak Pack, Sherman
Pack and another pack are in
the vicinity.
“According to the fa-
mous wolf plan that has no
bearing on anything, we’re
supposed to let them kill
four of our cows, and then
the game department might
take action, although that’s
not a guarantee,” McIrvin
said.
McIrvin has declined
compensation from the
state. He has alerted the Fer-
ry County sheriff and com-
missioners in Stevens and
Ferry counties.
A Diamond M worker
has been near the livestock
daily, McIrvin said.
“These wolves are kill-
ing right where there’s a lot
of people — huckleberry
pickers are there continu-
ally where they’re killing
the cattle,” McIrvin said.
“People being on the ground
has no bearing, because the
wolves kill at night. They
might go lay up in a dense
thicket during the day a mile
from people, but as soon as
the people are out of there,
they come right out and are
killing cattle.”
In the other case, wolves
from the Profanity Peak
pack killed a calf last week,
according to a state wildlife
RI¿FLDO
The calf, weighing about
250 pounds, was killed by
one or more members of
the pack, Washington De-
partment of Fish and Wild-
life wolf policy lead Donny
Martorello said in an email
to state wolf advisory group
members.
Martorello declined to
name the rancher.
Reduced penalties proposed Potato and onion storage company
for Oregon pesticide applicator locates U.S. headquarters in Boise
By SEAN ELLIS
Judge calls 5-year
license revocation
‘an excessively
harsh sanction’
By MATEUSZ PERKOWSKI
Capital Press
An Oregon pesticide ap-
plicator could face reduced
penalties for allegedly ignor-
ing the Oregon Department
of Agriculture’s order to stop
spraying herbicides.
The ODA originally
wanted to revoke the pesti-
cide-spraying licenses of Ap-
plebee Aviation and its own-
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years in addition to levying
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Applebee admitted that his
company carried out multi-
ple herbicide operations after
ODA suspended its license in
September 2015, but claimed
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the order. He also claimed it
wasn’t clear the state agency
had the jurisdiction to prohibit
spraying on federal property.
Senior Administrative Law
Judge Jennifer Rackstraw
has now found that Applebee
Aviation and its owner vio-
lated Oregon pesticide law,
but has recommended sus-
pending their pesticide-spray-
ing licenses for one year and
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$55,000.
While
the
company
shouldn’t have sprayed with-
out a license and “engaged
in a pattern of misconduct,”
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year revocation would be “an
opening ceremony July 1.
Tolsma, a 75-year-old
company based in Holland,
BOISE — The president of produces technology and
an international company that equipment that controls and
specializes in potato and onion regulates the climate in potato
storage technology said the de- and onion storage facilities.
cision to locate the company’s
The company’s Boise head-
U.S. headquarters in Idaho quarters is near the Idaho-East-
was easy.
ern Oregon onion growing re-
Tolsma Storage Technolo- gion, the largest in the nation
J\RI¿FLDOVVSHQWDORWRIWLPH by volume.
looking for the right location
The company’s chief com-
in North America to expand PHUFLDORI¿FHUUHFHQWO\PRYHG
the company’s operations, but his family to Boise.
Boise was the ideal location,
Tolsma recently expanded
said CEO and President Pieter into the U.S. market and is al-
Wesseling.
ready producing some equip-
“Idaho being potato ment at manufacturing facil-
country in the United States ities in Idaho at Nampa and
and us being in the potato Idaho Falls.
business, at the end it was an
Wesseling said the compa-
easy choice,” he told Capital ny has an ambitious growth
Press following an official strategy and plans within the
Capital Press
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license to spray pesticides.
excessively harsh sanction”
for Applebee Aviation’s viola-
tions.
The ODA suspended Ap-
plebee’s pesticide license
when he was on an out-of-state
hunting trip and had limited
means to respond to the order,
which meant that several oper-
ations carried out directly after
it was issued weren’t “will-
ful or grossly negligent,” the
judge said.
However, Applebee and
his company could have done
more to shut down spraying
once they had “reasonable
knowledge” of the emergency
suspension order, Rackstraw
said.
He also “recklessly disre-
garded” the ODA’s opinion
that the company wouldn’t be
able to spray on federal land
managed by the U.S. Bureau
of Land Management, she
said.
Applebee proceeded with
the operations with the “hope”
it was outside ODA’s jurisdic-
tion but without contacting an
attorney or BLM for advice,
she said.
As for previous incidents
in which Applebee’s compa-
ny allowed herbicide drift and
sprayed a pesticide on a pro-
hibited site, Rackstraw said
the violations were relatively
isolated and “should not weigh
heavily” on the penalty analy-
sis.
The ODA did properly con-
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“personal protective equip-
ment” being provided to Ap-
plebee employees, the judge
said.
While the agency initial-
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against Applebee and his com-
pany, it has since revised that
number to roughly $60,000.
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Rackstraw further adjusted it
to about $55,000.
next few years to build a new
manufacturing facility in Boi-
se that will employ about 100
people.
“We want to double sales in
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feasible,” he said. “The market
is there.”
According to a Tolsma
news release, the company has
500 clients in Idaho, Eastern
Oregon and Washington.
Tolsma is the latest of sev-
eral ag-related companies that
have expanded or located in
the state, said Idaho Depart-
ment of Commerce Director
Megan Ronk.
“Idaho is known around
the world for agriculture,
whether it’s the actual raw
agricultural products we pro-
duce or the value that we add
to them,” she said.
Joyce Capital, Inc.
In agriculture, nothing is certain. Your interest rate should be.
We offer competitive interest rates for
your agricultural financing needs:
• Term agricultural loans
(purchases & refinances)
• FSA Preferred Lender
• Amortizations
up to 25 years
CONTACT: Kevin Arrien, or Joe Lodge
at Joyce Capital, Inc.
Agricultural Loan Agents
(208) 338-1560 • Boise, ID
joe@arrien.biz
29-4/#17
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