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.
The order allows the in-
dustry to collect and dis-
tribute vital size, grade and
availability
information
throughout the season.
NEW ITEMS!
1 1 ⁄ 2 QT. BASKETS
and (3) PINT TRAYS
2561 Pringle Rd. SE
Salem, OR
Call for Pricing.
Subject to stock on hand.
Delivery Available
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