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April 28, 2017 CapitalPress.com 5 ODFW Commission hears wolf plan testimony By KATY NESBITT For the Capital Press KLAMATH FALLS, Ore. — In the heart of Southern Oregon’s burgeoning wolf territory, the Oregon Fish and Wildlife Commission April 21 took testimony on the state’s draft wolf plan revision. The meeting was domi- nated by input on the Oregon Wolf Conservation and Man- agement Plan’s five-year re- view. Wolf advocates pleaded for stricter conservation mea- sures while ranchers asked for quicker determinations on suspected wolf-caused livestock losses and hunters pushed for controlled hunts when wolf populations threat- en deer and elk populations. Russ Morgan, Oregon’s wolf coordinator, said con- servation remains the focus of the wolf plan, but it also has management flexibility when it comes to problem wolves. “We are using an adaptive approach as originally intend- ed,” Morgan said. Capturing, collaring and monitoring collar data as wolf numbers increase and territo- Katy Nesbitt/For the Capital Press Veril Nelson of Roseburg, the Oregon Cattlemen’s Association Western Oregon wolf committee chairman, testified on behalf of ranchers at the Oregon Fish and Wildlife Commission meeting April 21 in Klamath Falls as Todd Nash, OCA’s Eastern Oregon wolf committee chairman, looks on. ries expand is becoming in- creasingly difficult, Morgan said, and monitoring require- ments in the current plan are potentially unattainable or un- necessary. “We are not getting away from collaring wolves but be- ing more selective,” Morgan said. Bill Nicholson was one Southern Oregon rancher in attendance who said he’s lived with wolves on Wood River Valley ranch for a num- ber of years, but 2016 was what he called the “breakout year” when four calves were confirmed as wolf kills last October. “The only reason they stopped (killing) was because we shipped the cattle.” Nichol- son said. The Rogue pack was blamed for the losses, but a couple weeks ago a lone, col- lared wolf known as OR-25 was detected near his ranch. He said he isn’t into lethal control, but wants more tools to prevent kills. “In a week or two there will be 30,000 head of cattle in the upper (Wood River) valley and I think we are going to have a problem right away,” Nichol- son said. One of the more contro- versial provisions in the wolf plan is the allowance of con- trolled hunts by certified hunters and trappers in cases where deer and elk popula- tions are threatened by wolf predation. Advocates voiced their opposition over any kind of hunting to control wolf populations while members of Oregon Hunters Associa- tion pressed Morgan to keep controlled hunt provisions in the plan. Jim Akenson, the association’s conservation director, said, “Hunting is a critical tool that needs to be integrated.” The number of confirmed wolf-caused livestock kills and injuries that can trigger lethal removal of wolves was also hotly contested. Nick Cady of Eugene’s Cascadia Wildlands said increasing the number of incidences from two to three was an improvement. Under the new proposed rules four of the 11 packs would be eligible to have some of their num- bers killed. Most of the other advocates urged the number of confirmed depredations in- crease beyond three in a year before the state sanctions kill- ing wolves. Rob Klavins, of Oregon Wild, said he was optimis- tic when he read ODFW’s press release concerning the plan, and supports some of the changes. But, he said, the plain wording of the draft fails to match the rhetoric used to describe it. “On balance, we cannot support this draft wolf plan,” he said. “And that’s a big deal. Since 2005, Oregon Wild has supported Oregon’s wolf plan.” Oregon Cattlemen’s Asso- ciation president John O’Keef- fe said he understands wolves are part of the landscape and here to stay, but it’s time to recognize the burden on live- stock producers. “A lot has been asked of Oregon’s livestock produc- ers, mentally, financially and emotionally,” O’Keeffe said. “We want the changes to the plan to reflect these inequi- ties.” O’Keeffe cited research that claims partial pack re- moval is best soon after pre- dation events. “We are told if there are wolves present that don’t prey on livestock leave them alone, but it is equally true with problem wolves,” O’Keeffe said. Bill Gawlowski was the public-at-large representative on the stakeholder team that developed the 2005 wolf plan. He said that in light of fund- ing constraints the wolf advo- cate groups represented at the April commission meeting raise money to offset manage- ment costs. “I’ve counted the mem- berships listed today of these groups and counted their memberships that total 70,000. You might want to put your money where your mouth is,” Gawlowski said. In ‘minor miracle,’ most cull onions Pear growers renew oldest marketing order in Idaho and Oregon disposed of By DAN WHEAT By SEAN ELLIS Capital Press NYSSA, Ore. — The Ida- ho-Oregon onion industry has managed to dispose of virtu- ally all of the estimated 100 million pounds of onions that were lost this winter when dozens of sheds collapsed under the weight of unprece- dented snow and ice. Both states extended their deadlines for disposal of cull onions from March 15 to April 15 this year and most of the onions were properly disposed of before that date, officials in both states said. With the deadline looming last week and a lot of onions still not disposed of, the state of Oregon gave the Lytle Boulevard landfill in Malheur County emergency permis- sion to build another trench to handle the onslaught of culls. “They significantly ramp- ed up (the amount of onions they were taking) and pretty much everything is disposed of at this point,” Lindsay Eng, director of certification pro- grams for the Oregon Depart- ment of Agriculture, said on April 20. The onion maggot, which is frequently found in piles of cull onions, can devastate on- ion and other vegetable crops. Both states require culls to be properly disposed of by March 15 so they don’t spread Sean Ellis/Capital Press Hundreds of thousands of pounds of onions were ruined when this storage shed in Nyssa, Ore., collapsed under the weight of winter snow and ice. Other sheds in the region were similarly damaged. to the new crop. Cull onions can be dis- posed of in landfills or pits, by discing or plowing them into a field, feeding them to livestock or by chopping or shredding and cultivating them into fields. The states’ cull onion rules affect growers and packing sheds in Malheur County, Ore., and Ada, Canyon, Gem, Pay- ette, Owyhee and Washington counties in Idaho. If weather delays disposal, cull onions must be treated with an Environmental Protection Agency-labeled insecticide. Disposing of 100 million pounds of onions was no easy task, said Casey Prentiss, an ODA field operations manager in Ontario who worked closely with the industry. “It’s kind of a minor mira- cle that we were able to get that amount of onions disposed of,” he said. “It’s been quite a feat.” Across the border, the Ida- ho State Department of Agri- culture has investigators in the field following up with growers and processors to ensure they have properly disposed of their culls, ISDA communications director Chanel Tewalt told Capital Press in an email. “Given the extreme weath- er this winter, it was important to provide additional time for onion disposal but that flexibil- ity has to be balanced with the recognition that mitigating pest hatches is a significant con- cern,” she said. “We are work- ing in concert with industry to balance the need for disposal with their ability to dispose of culls due to weather condi- tions.” Violators can be fined up to $10,000 but the ISDA’s goal is to work with the industry to address the issue and avoid an onion maggot outbreak, Tewalt said. Capital Press Northwest pear growers have voted to continue their federal marketing order, the oldest in the country. Some 478 pear growers in Washington and Oregon, representing 90 percent of production volume, voted in the Feb. 15-March 1 referen- dum to renew the Fresh Pear Committee of Marketing Order 927 for six years, ac- cording to USDA. About 97 percent of the growers who voted approved the renewal. The order began in 1939 and now assesses each grow- er 38.5 cents per box for promotions, 3.1 cents for re- search and 3.3 cents for ad- ministration and support of Green d’ Anjou pears at harvest in Washington’s Wenatchee Valley. Northwest pear growers have overwhelmingly extended the oldest marketing order. industry organizations. The assessments generate roughly $8.5 million to $9 million annually. Organic growers have opted out of promotional as- sessments. 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