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October 14, 2016 CapitalPress.com 7 Wolves Oficials pleased with wolf depredation’s downward trend By JOHN O’CONNELL Capital Press Courtesy of Colville National Forest Cows graze in the Colville National Forest in northeastern Wash- ington. Some ranchers are cutting short the grazing season in the national forest to avoid conlicts with wolves. Profanity Peak pack attacks another calf as hunt continues Washington rancher says: ‘Everybody’s having problems’ By DON JENKINS Capital Press Washington wildlife man- agers have conirmed that a calf found this week on private land was injured by the dimin- ished Profanity Peak wolf- pack, a sign depredations will continue until the entire pack is eliminated, according to the state Department of Fish and Wildlife. The injured calf, found last week, was at least the 10th bo- vine attacked by the pack this summer, according to WDFW. The department concluded ive other cattle were probably at- tacked by the pack. WDFW has shot seven wolves in the pack since Aug. 5, leaving at least one adult fe- male and three pups. The last shooting was Sept. 29. Citing continuing depre- dations, WDFW wolf policy coordinator Donny Martorello reafirmed that the department plans to eliminate the entire pack. “Given this pattern, we do not believe recent lethal re- movals are likely to achieve the goal of stopping depreda- tions in the near future,” he said in an email. Also Thursday, Martorello reported that WDFW inves- tigators determined Sunday that the Dirty Shirt pack had injured a cow on a state De- partment of Natural Resources grazing allotment. Martorello said the ranch- er turned out livestock June 5. Because of the depredation, the producer is moving the live- stock off the allotment, he said. The attack was the irst con- irmed depredation this year by the Dirty Shirt pack. WDFW considers culling a pack after four conirmed depredations. Only the Profanity Peak has reached that threshold this year. Although WDFW says it intends to remove the pack — an operation that has out- raged some environmental groups — frustration remains high among some ranchers in northeastern Washington, said Stevens County rancher Scott Nielsen, vice president of the Cattle Producers of Washing- ton. Conlicts between livestock and wolves are escalating, and WDFW’s oficial depredation tally relects only a fraction of the losses in Stevens, Ferry and Pend Oreille counties, he said. Losses may come into sharper focus when the grazing season on public land is over at the end of October. “There are a lot of people worried about what they’re going to get when they bring (cattle) in,” Nielsen said. “I wouldn’t be surprised that if in this tri-county area there were 200 livestock missing or bitten. “Last year, we hardly had any problems,” he said. “Ev- erybody is having problems up here this year.” Ferry County rancher Ar- ron Scotten said Friday he will move his cows from the Colville National Forest over the next week to avoid con- licts with wolves. That’s two weeks earlier than usual. “We’re trying to get cattle off the allotment, and what we’re inding are the injured calves that we weren’t neces- sarily inding before,” he said. He said he expects calves to be thinner and fewer cows to be pregnant because they have been harassed by wolves. “They became habituated to beef, and everywhere we moved cattle, they would fol- low,” Scotten said. National Forest spokes- man Franklin Pemberton said he knows of at least one other rancher who plans to bring in his cows early. The Forest Service and ranchers have tried all summer to adjust grazing plans to cre- ate space between cattle and wolves, he said. “It was a little more inten- sive this year than last,” Pem- berton said. “The number of wolves goes up every year.” Scotten said he’s concerned that wolves will follow his cat- tle out of the national forest. “With this situation, the way it is, when we bring them home, we’ll be doing daily checks,” Scotten said. Ending the grazing season early will lead to spending more money on hay this win- ter, he said. Scotten said he plans to feed his cows closer to his house this winter and install lights in calving pens. “We’re trying our best to do our part,” he said. “Everything we do literally has to change. We have to rethink every as- pect of how we produce cat- tle.” BOISE — An oficial involved in controlling problem wolves believes livestock depredations have reached a low point and should stay there, show- ing that Idaho wolf programs are on the right trajectory following the recent end of federal involvement. In Fiscal Year 2013, Todd Grimm, director of Idaho Wildlife Services, said his ofice killed 78 wolves, all due to reports of livestock depredation. In Fiscal Year 2016, which ended Oct. 1, his ofice killed 70 wolves, 50 of which were tied to livestock depredations. The recent numbers were about the same as during FY 2015. Once numbers are tabulated on to- tal depredations, Grimm expects to see a slight drop from the previous year. Grimm believes depredation cases have now gotten about as low as they’re going to get, and the state experienced no “re- ally big kills anywhere and didn’t have any super hot spots.” “I think this is what we can expect Courtesy of U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Idaho wildlife managers say a reduction in wolf depredations in that state shows their wolf program is on the right track. unless some other dynamic changes,” Grimm said. “We seem to be getting to a management level where there’s always going to be losses, but we’re doing our best to minimize those losses as much as we can.” Dustin Miller, administrator with the Idaho Governor’s Ofice of Species Con- servation, believes the state has greater lexibility and should manage wolves more effectively and eficiently, having crossed a ive-year post-delisting manage- ment threshold in May. Before achieving that milestone, the federal government Wolves, possibly from OR-7’s pack, kill 2 calves in S. Oregon By ERIC MORTENSON Capital Press Wolves killed and ate most of two calves and badly in- jured a third in an attack that happened on private land fre- quented by the pack formed by Oregon’s best known wolf, OR-7. Whether the Rogue Pack was involved is uncertain, be- cause no pack members wear tracking collars, but the Wood River Valley in Southern Ore- gon’s Klamath County is part of the territory the pack uses, according to Oregon Depart- ment of Fish and Wildlife. A federal biologist, John Ste- phenson, added that other wolves use that area as well. If it turns out Rogue Pack members were responsible, it would be their irst known attack on livestock, said Ste- phenson, who works for U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. “They’ve had a good record,” he said. Two calves, one about 800 pounds and the other estimat- ed at 600 pounds, were found dead and mostly consumed Oct. 5. An employee of the livestock operation told inves- tigators he saw three wolves feeding on one of the calves. A third calf, about 300 pounds, was found alive with bite wounds on all four legs, according to an ODFW report. Stephenson said the cow herd is scheduled to be moved from the area in a couple weeks, and wildlife oficials hope to keep them safe until then. The Rogue Pack’s alpha male, OR-7, became well known when he dispersed from northeast Oregon’s Im- naha pack in September 2011. He wandered across the state and into California, becoming the irst wolf known to have entered that state since 1924. After traveling more than 1,000 miles in zig-zag fashion, he settled in the Southern Or- egon Cascades and in 2014 found a mate, an unknown female. They’ve since had three litters of pups. held the state to rigorous monitoring and recovery requirements, he said. “We’ve got the ability to act quick- ly to depredations as they arise,” Miller said. “We don’t have the federal govern- ment calling the shots or looking over our shoulder any more.” In recent years, Miller’s ofice has covered ranchers’ wolf depredations at full market value, through a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service program that div- vies up $1 million among states where wolf kills occur. Half of that funding goes toward preventive programs, and Mill- er said a couple of Idaho cattle ranchers have used it to add range riders, with good results. Jim Hayden, staff biologist with the Idaho Department of Fish and Game, believes his agency is now free to pursue more “biologically meaningful” work following the end of federal oversight. Hayden explained IDFG was required to use “outdated” monitoring tech- niques, such as collaring animals, and had to make pack size estimates during mid-winter, rather than at the start of wolf breeding season. ODFW Commission begins review of wolf, cougar management plans By ERIC MORTENSON Capital Press Oregon wildlife oficials are beginning required re- views of the way they manage wolves and cougars, while researchers are continuing to study how the two predators interact. Information on the review process was scheduled to be presented to the Oregon De- partment of Fish and Wildlife Commission at its meeting Oct. 6-7 in La Grande. In the background is an intriguing study, now in its third year, on wolf-cougar interaction in the Mount Em- ily Wildlife Unit of the Blue Mountains outside the city. Cougars and wolves compete for the same prey, primarily deer and elk. Cou- gars far outnumber wolves in Oregon — the state has an estimated 6,000 cougars and a minimum of 110 wolves — but are thought to be at a disadvantage because they are solitary animals while wolves Attention: Seed Industry Members 2016 WSCIA/WNISA 23 RD ANNUAL JOINT MEETING November 14 & 15, 2016 Northern Quest Resort & Casino • Airway Heights, WA Wash. Department of Fish and Wildlife Oregon researchers are in the third year of a study on wolf-cou- gar interaction in the Mount Emily Wildlife Unit of the Blue Mountains near La Grande. hunt in packs. From July 2014 through January 2016, ODFW and Oregon State University re- searchers documented 16 cases of direct and indirect wolf-cougar interaction in the Mount Emily management unit, according to research material. The majority of the interactions involved wolves scavenging prey that cou- gars had killed and hidden in caches, as they are called. MANY THANKS TO OUR CURRENT AND PAST SPONSORS THAT HAVE MADE THIS ANNUAL MEETING POSSIBLE PREMIER CONVENTION SPONSORS Breeding programs and research experts will make presentations of interest to everyone. Topics include new varieties of small grains, seed treatments, certification information, and beyond! Registration form available at washingtoncrop.com, or by calling WSCIA at 509-334-0461. Vendor display space still available! Contact Darlene at WSCIA Foundation Seed Service office: 509-335-4365 ROOM RESERVATIONS: Call Northern Quest Resort & Casino @ 877-871-6772 to make reservations and be sure to mention the WSCIA/WNISA Annual Meeting. You can also make your reservation online at www.northernquest.com. Be sure to click on “special promos” and use the group code #14416 to receive the special rate of $124 + taxes. This guest room block and special group rates can be used on Nov. 13 for early arrival and are effective until Oct. 21, 2016. Please make reservations directly with the hotel as the travel websites online reservations will not have information regarding our group rate. MEETING TOPICS SPEAKERS • Small Grain Breeding Program Updates - MONDAY MORNING: • Dr. Drew Lyon Limagrain Cereal Seeds Syngenta University of Idaho Washington State University Oregon State University • WSU Extension Cereal Variety Testing Program and Oregon Elite Yield Trial updates and results Ryan Higginbotham and Mike Flowers • WSDA Seed Lab Advisory Meeting • WSCIA General Membership Meeting This is just a small portion of the agenda, with more topics being added each day. Pesticide credits are being applied for. WSU Weed Scientist, will present on management of noxious weeds. • Dr. Randy Fortenbery WSU Wheat & Small Grains Economist, will speak on the value of wheat in Washington PLATINUM CO-SPONSORS • Dr. Camille Steber from the USDA-ARS Wheat Genetics, Quality, Physiology and Disease Research Unit will present on the science of falling numbers. BANQUET AND RECEPTION – MONDAY NIGHT Silent and live auction to support WNISA scholarships, with special entertainment provided by Limagrain Cereal Seeds. PLEASE JOIN US FOR AN INFORMATIVE AND ENJOYABLE MEETING! Additional meeting information available at washingtoncrop.com/annual-meeting GOLD CO-SPONSORS • Bratney Companies SILVER CO-SPONSORS • Agventures NW • Crites Seed, Inc. • Michael Dunlap & Associates • Whitgro, Inc. BRONZE CO-SPONSORS • Central Bean Co. Inc. 42-2/#14
