June 16, 2017
CapitalPress.com
3
ODFW Commission wrestles with Water rights transaction
fee hike gains traction
questions about wolf management An increase of 16
percent on many
transactions has
cleared a key
subcommittee
By ERIC MORTENSON
Capital Press
By MATEUSZ PERKOWSKI
Capital Press
Courtesy Baker Aircraft/ODFW
After radio-collaring a sub-adult female of the Chesnimnus pack Feb. 23 in Wallowa County, an ODFW
biologist double-checks the fit of the GPS radio collar. As it works to update its management plan, the
Oregon Fish and Wildlife Commission is wrestling with a host of wolf issues.
74 percent of confirmed wolf
depredations occur on private
land.
Michael Finley, the ODFW
Commission chairman, raised
the question. He said it’s a
dichotomy: Private land with
private expectations, and a
public resource — wolves —
is doing damage and costing
owners money.
He wondered out loud
whether wolves on private
or property ought to be man-
aged differently. For example,
require only two confirmed
depredations on private land
instead of three, the uniform
private-public standard.
It’s complicated because
most Oregon land is about
50-50 federal and private,
often butting up against each
other. Wolves go where they
want and ranchers use both,
because grazing is permit-
ted on land managed by the
BLM and Forest Service.
Todd Nash, a Wallowa
County commissioner who
is wolf committee chairman
for the Oregon Cattlemen’s
Association, agreed proper-
ty lines are intermixed and
sometimes unfenced. But he
said cattle are private prop-
erty, and ranchers wouldn’t
allow someone to rustle their
cattle, for instance, no matter
where they were grazing. In-
sert eat for rustle and the point
is made.
The ODFW Commission
wasn’t taking public testi-
mony during the meeting,
but Nash, like Capt. Samu-
els of OSP, was present and
the commission asked him a
question.
The discussion came as
the commission gathers its
thoughts on a draft five-year
wolf management plan. The
commission has held three
public hearings and will adopt
a plan later this year.
The overriding issue may
be local control. Some peo-
ple who follow the process
believe the rules should be
loosened in northeast Oregon,
where most wolves live.
Jim Akenson, conservation
director for the Oregon Hunt-
ers Association, said hunting
and ag groups favor “active
management” in the north-
east corner of the state. Aken-
son, whose wife, Holly, is an
ODFW commissioner, lives
in Wallowa County. He said
wolves should be managed
more like cougars and bears,
with “less caution” on lethal
removal, more consideration
for the impact of wolves on
ag and hunting, and manage-
ment decisions made at the
local or district level rather
than pushed up the chain to
the ODFW director’s office in
Salem.
“The whole process is one
of normalization,” Akenson
said. “That animal is still not
normal; it has special game
status. They’re not kidding
when they say it’s special —
it’s up on a pedestal.”
Akenson agreed with Nash
and others who say some live-
stock producers no longer
notify ODFW when they find
dead cattle.
Jim Bittle, the newest
ODFW commissioner, said
some angry landowners in
northeast Oregon might take
matters into their own hands.
He said a wolf attacking live-
stock on private land is simi-
lar to living in town and hav-
ing a pit bull jump the fence
and kill your dog.
Another tidbit: Oregon
has a moose herd of about 50
animals in northeast Oregon,
again in Wallowa County, in
the Wenaha Wildlife Manage-
ment Unit. It isn’t doing well.
Biologists haven’t yet seen
sign that wolves are wiping
them out, but they are keeping
watch.
SALEM — A key group
of lawmakers has approved
a 16 percent fee hike for Or-
egon water rights transactions
while a more controversial
proposal has languished.
Fees for numerous water
rights transactions adminis-
tered by the Oregon Water
Resources Department would
collectively be raised by
15.88 percent under House
Bill 2295, which averts the
loss of 5.5 full-time staff ded-
icated to processing such re-
quests.
“People would have to
be laid off and transactions
would go through slower,”
said Rachel Snell, executive
director of the Oregon Water
Resources Congress, which
represents irrigation districts.
“You’ve got to have peo-
ple at the department who can
process those pieces of pa-
per,” Snell said.
The bill was scheduled for
a June 16 vote by the Joint
Committee on Ways and
Means after recently clearing
its Natural Resources Sub-
committee with a “do pass”
recommendation, which bol-
sters its chances of approval
by the full Legislature.
If HB 2295 does become
effective, it would mark the
third increase in water rights
transactions fees since 2009,
but if it fails, those fees would
revert to 2009 levels.
Mateusz Perkowski/Capital Press
A linear irrigation system
operates in a corn field in
Oregon’s Willamette Valley.
The OWRD argues the
latest hike is necessary be-
cause of rising salary, benefit
and retirement expenses, and
points out that it’s signficantly
reduced backlogs of various
transaction types in recent
years.
The Oregon Farm Bureau
does not oppose HB 2295 as
long as there are no other new
fee increases that would skew
funding for water rights trans-
actions more heavily toward
irrigators, said Mary Anne
Nash, public policy counsel
for the organization.
Currently, the total cost of
such transactions — which
covers roughly 35 staff po-
sitions — is split evenly be-
tween the general fund and
irrigator fees.
A proposal to impose a new
$100 fee on all existing water
rights in Oregon, House Bill
2706, is also before the Joint
Ways and Means Committee
but it hasn’t been referred to a
subcommittee, which is gen-
erally a necessary first step
toward passage.
While HB 2706 will tech-
nically stay alive through the
end of the 2017 legislative
session, it’s expected to go no
farther this year, said Snell of
OWRC.
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SALEM — A couple of
items emerged June 8 when
the citizen commission that
sets Oregon’s wildlife policy
sat down once again to gnaw
on the state’s plan for manag-
ing wolves.
Among them: There’s a
question about who should
investigate when Oregon
wolves devour livestock. A
“depredation,” as it’s called in
wildlife management-speak.
The Oregon Department of
Fish Wildlife says it could use
some help. Cattle ranchers
would like to see properly cer-
tified local groups involved,
to speed up the process. Dep-
redation investigations are
important because wolves in-
volved in enough of them can
end up dead. “Lethal control”
is the polite term.
Oregon State Police say
no thanks. The OSP Wild-
life Division head, Capt. Jeff
Samuels, said his game offi-
cers would need eight hours
of training each, about 1,000
hours total. That’s expensive.
“I don’t think it fits into
our mission,” Samuels told
the commission members.
“Depredations are not a law
enforcement issue.”
He said OSP is happy to
help ODFW biologists, but
making the call on whether
wolves were responsible for
killing livestock is not its re-
sponsibility.
While Samuels was handy,
ODFW Commissioner Bruce
Buckmaster said the commis-
sion has heard allegations that
wolf poaching has increased.
“There certainly is poach-
ing of wolves,” Samuels re-
sponded. He didn’t provide
more details and the com-
mission didn’t ask for any.
Groups such as Oregon Wild,
Cascadia Wildlands and Cen-
ter for Biological Diversity
maintain wolf poaching is on
the rise.
Another issue: Does the
burden of Oregon’s wolf
management approach weigh
too heavily on private land-
owners? People in northeast
Oregon, especially in Wal-
lowa County and especially
cattle ranchers, would say of
course. Russ Morgan, ODFW
wolf program manager, said
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