February 17, 2017
CapitalPress.com
5
Wolf count, management
plan update delayed
By ERIC MORTENSON
Capital Press
Mateusz Perkowski/Capital Press
A linear irrigation system operates in a corn field in Oregon’s Willamette Valley. State water regulators
want to increase water right transaction fees by 15.88 percent over four years, the third hike since 2009.
Water regulators propose
third transaction fee hike
Bill would increase
fee rates by 15.88
percent over
next four years
$100 management fee on
water rights — isn’t passed,
said Mary Anne Nash, pub-
lic policy counsel for the
group.
The cost of processing
water right transactions
is currently split evenly
between water users and
OWRD.
The Farm Bureau wants
the agency to continue
shouldering half the ex-
pense instead of shifting
more of the burden on irri-
gators, Nash said.
Oregon’s heavy snow in
January caused problems for
wildlife staff who track the
state’s wolf population.
The Oregon Department
of Fish and Wildlife said ex-
treme weather in northeast
Oregon, where most of the
state’s wolves live, interrupt-
ed airplane, helicopter and
ground surveys of wolfpacks.
As a result, the annual wolf
report has been delayed a
month and won’t be delivered
to the ODFW Commission
until its April 21 meeting in
Klamath Falls.
The report usually is re-
leased in March and typically
includes an updated wolf pop-
ulation count and information
on the number of breeding
pairs in the state. The count
provides an information base-
line as the commission con-
siders updates to the state’s
Wolf Management and Con-
servation plan. The plan is
reviewed every five years,
and the commission will most
likely adopt an updated ver-
sion later in 2017.
Although heavy snow and
an extended cold snap delayed
Courtesy of ODFW
Adult wolves from the Walla
Walla Pack were caught on a
remote trail camera last year in
Umatilla County, Ore. Extreme
weather in northeast Oregon
interrupted wolfpack surveys.
ODFW’s field work, depart-
ment spokeswoman Michelle
Dennehy said it probably
didn’t harm Oregon’s wolves.
“Wolves typically do quite
well during the winter,” she
said by email. “Winters that
are hard on deer and elk may
actually be easier on wolves.
There is winter (prey) loss to
scavenge and it is harder for
ungulates (deer and elk) to es-
cape in the deep snow.”
Oregon had a minimum
of 110 wolves at the end of
2015, according to figures re-
leased by ODFW in February
2016. At least seven wolves
died in 2016. Four members
of Wallowa County’s Imnaha
pack, including venerable al-
pha male OR-4, were shot by
ODFW in March 2016 after
repeatedly attacking, killing
and eating livestock. Wildlife
biologists speculated at the
time that the group began at-
tacking livestock due to OR-
4’s advanced age and the fact
that his longtime mate limped
from an injured leg. They had
two yearlings with them, and
the four appeared to have sep-
arated from or been forced out
of the main Imnaha pack.
In addition, a female
wolf designated OR-28 was
found dead in October 2016
in south-central Oregon. Of-
ficials have not said how the
wolf died, and Oregon State
Police are investigating. A
$20,000 reward for informa-
tion is available.
State police also are inves-
tigating a wolf found dead in
northeast Oregon in March
2016.
In May 2016, a sheep herd-
er shot a wolf from the Walla
Walla pack that was attacking
sheep. State police judged the
shooting was lawful under the
“caught in the act” provision
that allows producers to kill
wolves that are wounding,
biting, killing or chasing live-
stock, according to ODFW.
By MATEUSZ PERKOWSKI
Capital Press
Oregon water regula-
tors want to raise fees for
water right transactions
by nearly 16 percent over
four years to avoid pro-
cessing slowdowns for
irrigators.
The Oregon Water Re-
source Department’s re-
quest to state lawmakers,
House Bill 2295, would
mark the third such increase
since 2009.
Some groups represent-
ing irrigators are uneasy
about the proposal, par-
ticularly in light of anoth-
er bill that would impose
a new $100 management
fee on every water right in
Oregon.
Under HB 2295, a trans-
action fee increase of 15.88
percent would be phased in
over four years and a sunset
on previous hikes — set to
expire this year — would be
eliminated.
If the fee schedule were
to revert back to 2009 lev-
els, OWRD would have
to cut 5.5 full-time posi-
tions, effectively extend-
ing the time that irrigators
must wait to develop or
transfer water rights, said
Tom Byler, the agency’s
director.
The increase is also nec-
essary to maintain OWRD’s
dam inspection program,
which oversees roughly 900
large structures, he said.
“These are all very import-
ant functions for the agen-
cy.”
Fees must be raised just
to keep these services at
current levels due to climb-
ing expenses for salaries,
benefits and retirement
plans for state employ-
ees, Byler said at a Feb. 13
hearing of the House Com-
mittee on Energy and the
Environment.
The Oregon Water Re-
sources Congress, an irri-
gator group, wishes that fee
increases wouldn’t occur
so frequently but nonethe-
less supports HB 2295, said
April Snell, its executive
director.
The Oregon Association
of Nurseries also testified in
favor of the bill.
“Water transfers are a
big part of how we do busi-
ness,” said Jeff Stone, ex-
ecutive director of OAN.
Nurseries typically rely on
water right transfers when
they expand production
onto newly bought or leased
property.
Water for Life, an irri-
gator group, is concerned
about the rate at which costs
are growing, said Richard
Kosesan, its lobbyst. “Wa-
ter for Life is not enamored
with the fee increases.”
The Oregon Farm Bu-
reau is neutral regarding HB
2295 and won’t oppose the
hike as long as another piece
of legislation — House Bill
2706, which imposes the
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