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CapitalPress.com
March 10, 2017
Wolf’s poisoning raises questions about Wildlife Services
By ERIC MORTENSON
Capital Press
A Northeast Oregon wolf
died after it bit a spring-load-
ed cyanide powder trap set by
USDA Wildlife Services in an
apparent violation of an in-
formal agreement it had with
state officials not to use the
devices in areas frequented by
wolves.
OR-48, a 100-pound male
from the Shamrock Pack,
died Feb. 26 after it bit an
M-44 device, which fires cya-
nide powder into a predator’s
mouth when it tugs on a bait-
ed or scented capsule holder.
Wildlife Services set the trap
on private land in an attempt
to kill coyotes. The federal
agency kills predators or other
wildlife that damage or pose a
threat to property, livestock or
humans. The agency’s web-
site describes the M-44 as an
“effective and environmen-
tally sound wildlife damage
management tool.”
It’s primarily used to kill
coyotes, wild dogs and fox-
es. The agency’s website said
animals that trigger the device
fall unconscious and die with-
Courtesy of Oregon Dept. of Fish and Wildlife
An Oregon gray wolf. OR-48, a 100-pound male from the Sham-
rock Pack, died Feb. 26 after it bit an M-44 device, which fires
cyanide powder into a predator’s mouth when it tugs on a baited or
scented capsule holder.
in one to five minutes. Sodium
cyanide powder in the capsule
reacts with saliva in the ani-
mal’s mouth, producing dead-
ly hydrogen cyanide gas.
Predator Defense, a non-
profit wildlife activist group
based in Eugene, has repeat-
edly called for M-44s to be
banned. Executive Director
Brooks Fahey said the devices
are “notoriously dangerous,”
indiscriminately kill canids,
including dogs, and pose a
threat to children or others
who might run across them.
Use of M-44s was prohib-
ited in areas of known wolf
activity when wolves were
listed as endangered under
Oregon law. After wolves
were taken off the state en-
dangered species list in 2015,
U.S. Wildlife Services said it
would continue to avoid using
M-44s, ODFW spokesman
Rick Hargrave said.
He said Wildlife Services
held an Incidental Take Per-
mit that allowed it to conduct
wildlife control operations in
protected wolf areas but pro-
hibited M-44s. The Incidental
Take Permit expired when
wolves were de-listed, but
Wildlife Services indicated it
would continue following the
permit rules, Hargrave said.
“We discussed our con-
cerns specifically regarding
M-44s,” he said. “We didn’t
want those devices in those
areas.”
“We believed it was clear
what our concerns were,”
Hargrave said.
In a prepared statement,
ODFW Wildlife Division Ad-
ministrator Doug Cottam said
the wolf’s death shows the
risk involved when Wildlife
Services conducts such oper-
ations.
“This is a situation we take
seriously and we’ll be work-
ing with Wildlife Services
with the goal of preventing it
from happening again,” Cot-
tam said in the statement re-
leased by ODFW.
Also in a prepared state-
ment, Dave Williams, state
director for Wildlife Services
in Oregon, said the agency
has begun an internal review
to “see if any changes to our
procedures are necessary.”
Fahey, the Predator De-
fense executive director, was
harshly critical of USDA
Wildlife Services and its tac-
tics in the West. His group
produced a film, “Exposed:
America’s Secret War on
Wildlife,” in which critics say
Wildlife Services indiscrim-
inately and carelessly kills
wildlife. Fahey alleges Wild-
life Services routinely does
not follow safety guidelines
when placing M-44s, even
when killing coyotes near res-
idential areas.
For example, Fahey al-
leged Wildlife Services does
not put up required warning
signs when placing M-44s be-
cause the agency doesn’t want
the public to notice them and
fiddle with them out of curi-
osity. Wildlife Services also is
worried animal rights or wild-
life activists might try to re-
move the devices, Fahey said.
“I don’t think the public
really understand how these
things are all over the West,”
he said. “I find it mind-bog-
gling after the history of
these devices that we haven’t
banned them completely.”
Fahey said Oregon 4th Dis-
trict congressional Rep. Peter
DeFazio, D-Eugene, has pre-
pared legislation that would
ban M-44s. Fahey acknowl-
edged such legislation faces
an uncertain reception, given
the political division over the
Trump administration.
“No doubt it’s a real tough
atmosphere,” he said. But he
said some ranchers have lost
stock or guard dogs to M-44s
and favor banning the devic-
es.
“It’s still early in this ad-
ministration,” Fahey said.
OR-48, the wolf that died,
was believed to be almost
two years old. Hargrave, the
ODFW spokesman, said OR-
48 was not the Shamrock
Pack’s breeding male, and
may have been dispersing
from the pack and establish-
ing its own territory, as young
adults do. The incident site
was on the edge of the Sham-
rock Pack’s territory Wallowa
County.
Oregon lawmakers consider limiting biodigester tax credits
By MATEUSZ PERKOWSKI
Capital Press
SALEM — Oregon’s an-
ticipated budget shortfall has
prompted lawmakers to con-
sider limiting tax credits for
processing livestock manure
into energy in biodigesters.
Biodigesters break down
manure, releasing methane
gas which is used to generate
electricity. The remaining sol-
ids have many uses. They are
expensive, and farmers have
used the tax credits to offset
the costs.
Under House Bill 2853, tax
credits would only be avail-
able for manure processed in
biodigesters that were opera-
tional before the end of 2016.
The credit effectively costs
Oregon about $4 million a
Mateusz Perkowski/Capital Press
Steve Smith, a technician for Farm Power Tillamook LLC, explains
the functioning of a dairy biodigester near Tillamook, Ore., in this
Capital Press file photo. Lawmakers are considering limiting tax
credits for biodigesters to facilities operational before 2017.
year in forgone tax revenue
and has the potential to grow
more costly due to the pro-
posed construction of a large
dairy, said Rep. Phil Barnhart,
D-Eugene, during a March 7
hearing on HB 2853.
Barnhart said he’s not
“wedded” to the idea of dis-
qualifying biodigesters that
became operational in 2017
or later from tax credits and
would appreciate alternative
suggestions from the House
Agriculture Committee.
“If we don’t do anything,
this credit is going to increase
significantly over the next
couple years,” he said.
The question pertains to
how Oregon encourages the
adoption of biodigesters, said
Barnhart.
The tax credit is one ap-
proach, but Oregon could
simply require large “confined
animal feeding operations” to
cover the cost instead of us-
ing the general fund, he said.
Lawmakers should con-
sider the extent to which the
tax credit encourages the de-
velopment of new large CA-
FOs, Barnhart said.
“They have a number of
problems associated with
them,” such as air and water
pollution, he said.
Representatives of the
Oregon Dairy Farmers As-
sociation, the Oregon Farm
Bureau and Threemile Can-
yon Farms — a dairy near
Boardman, Ore. — testified
against HB 2853, arguing
the tax credit has promoted
air quality and contributed
to renewable energy devel-
opment.
By relying on regulation
rather than incentives, the
government would effec-
tively impose a new tax on
dairies as well as their cus-
tomers, said Len Bergstein, a
representative of Threemile
Canyon Farms.
“There’s a reason we’ve
decided to go in a different
direction in Oregon,” Berg-
stein said.
By limiting the tax cred-
it, lawmakers would unwit-
tingly be playing into the
anti-dairy agenda of certain
activists who oppose new
facilities in Oregon, he said.
Dairy producers already
made a sacrifice last year,
when they agreed for the tax
credit to be reduced from
$5 per wet ton of manure to
$3.50 in exchange for keep-
ing the incentive until 2021,
Bergstein said.
However, Bergstein said
other options were possible,
such as setting a cap on the
amount of tax credits that
can be earned from biodi-
gesters or reducing the per-
ton credit amount over the
life of a project.
Applications sought for Ag Fest
agricultural education awards
SALEM — Oregon Ag
Fest is soliciting applications
for its fifth annual Agricultur-
al Education Award.
The purpose of the award
is to reward student organi-
zations, nonprofit groups or
classrooms that promote and
educate Oregonians about ag-
riculture and extend the Ore-
gon Ag Fest mission beyond
its annual, two-day, interac-
tive event.
Applications are due
10-1/#8
March 15 and can be down-
loaded from the Oregon Ag
Fest website: http://oragfest.
com/dev/wp-content/up-
loads/2017/02/AgEducation-
AwardForm_2017.pdf.
Cash prizes totaling up to
$2,000 may be awarded to as
many as three winners annu-
ally. Awards will be presented
on stage during Oregon Ag
Fest on April 30. Award priz-
es will depend on quality of
applications submitted.
“As Oregon Ag Fest cel-
ebrates 30 years of growing
awareness for the importance
of agriculture in our commu-
nities, we are proud to contin-
ue to support the agricultural
education outreach efforts of
nonprofit and student organi-
zations this year,” said Tami
Kerr, Oregon Ag Fest chair-
woman, in a press release.
“Oregon Ag Fest is dedicated
to educating the public about
the importance of agriculture,
and we see this award as a
way to encourage and support
student groups that have pro-
grams and activities aimed to
accomplish the same thing.”
Oregon Ag Fest attracts
over 19,000 people who ex-
perience the world of Oregon
agriculture in a fun-filled, fes-
tive environment. For more
information go to www.orag-
fest.com.
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