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June 16, 2017 CapitalPress.com 5 Ranchers say wolf attacks resume in Washington state No confirmation from WDFW By DON JENKINS Capital Press Two Washington cattle- men said Tuesday that wolves have resumed attacking cattle grazing in the northeast cor- ner of the state, where depre- dations last summer led state wildlife managers to cull a wolfpack. Ferry County, Wash., rancher Arron Scotten said he found the remains of a calf Monday evening that had ap- parently been killed by wolves. He said he found bones nearby of a second calf, but too little of it may remain for a state De- partment of Fish and Wildlife investigator to attribute the at- tack to wolves. The calves belonged to the Diamond M Ranch and were grazing near the boundary be- tween private and Bureau of Courtesy of WDFW A wolf leaves after being captured and collared by the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife in northeast Washington. A range rider found two dead calves Monday in an area that is known for wolf attacks. Land Management lands. They are also near the lo- cation where WDFW last year shot seven wolves from the Profanity Peak pack to stop depredations. Four pack mem- bers survived. Efforts to reach WDFW officials were not immediately successful Tuesday. WDFW has said it will is- sue monthly reports on wolf activities and provide other updates on depredations, but has not committed to reporting depredations within a certain time frame. The attack, if confirmed by WDFW, would be the first official depredation this year, though Diamond M co-owner Justin Hedrick said he believes wolves already have killed four of his cattle, including two on private land a couple of weeks ago. Hedrick said the depreda- tions continue a pattern of at- tacks that began several years ago, though the attacks are be- ginning earlier than in previous grazing seasons. “I honestly thought we were going to have a little bit of a re- prieve this year,” Hedrick said. “As soon as the cattle came back, boom, they were hit.” Hedrick said he believes the wolves have become too numerous and too habituated to eating cattle and have too little prey to be deterred by non-lethal measures. Scotten, who is also a range rider, said he was checking Monday evening on cattle graz- ing in the Lambert Creek area of Ferry County because ra- dio-collar data showed a male wolf was near the livestock. WSDA traps and fits wolves with tracking collars and shares the information with ranchers. “The cattle were acting re- ally strange. They were pretty fidgety,” Scotten said. Scotten said he found the calf bones, walked the area and found the carcass of the second calf nearby. “There was actual- ly quite a bit left that showed lacerations and punctures,” he said. Scotten said he camped out overnight to keep scaven- gers from eating the evidence. WDFW investigators place high importance on finding flesh damage to confirm that an animal was killed by wolves. A WDFW investigator ar- rived early in the morning. According to WDFW poli- cy, investigators will deter- mine whether the calves were killed by wolves. Scotten and Hedrick said the department should allow investigators to tell ranchers at the scene about their conclusions to bolster confidence in the in- vestigations. It’s unclear which pack may have attacked the calves found dead Monday. Scotten said he was checking on radio collar data from a male wolf in the Sherman pack. The pack’s territory, how- ever, adjoins the Profanity Peak pack’s territory. The Sherman pack was formed last year when a fe- male from the Profanity Peak pack began traveling with a male wolf, according to WDFW. According to WDFW, the state shoots wolves to stop pack behavior. WDFW will consider lethal control after three depredations within 30 days or four within 10 months by a wolfpack. Farmers, foresters seek urban allies in Oregon’s Lane County Group hosts events, tours aimed at bridging urban- rural divide By MATEUSZ PERKOWSKI Capital Press With roughly 60 percent of its population living on 1 percent of its land base, Lane County typifies the discon- nect between Oregon’s urban and rural areas. However, residents of the Eugene-Springfield metro- politan area can hardly be blamed for misconceptions they may have about agricul- ture and forestry, said farmer Marie Bowers. “We can’t expect people to learn if we’re not willing to share,” she said. Bowers and others hope to demystify the county’s natural resources industry through Lane Families for Farms and Forests, a non- profit aimed at creating allies across the urban-rural divide. The group organizes events where farmers and foresters can share a meal with members of community organizations and other Lane Mateusz Perkowski/Capital Press Forestland manager Gordon Culbertson speaks about logging operations with farmer Marie Bowers. The two are leaders of Lane Families for Farms and Forests, a nonprofit group aimed at building connections with urban allies. County residents, with the objective of building good- will over the long term. To add some entertain- ment value to education, par- ticipants compete in a natural resource-related trivia con- test. “I was skeptical about how many people would en- joy it, but it was a hit,” said Bowers, the group’s chair- woman. By establishing trust, or- ganizers believe Lane Fam- ilies for Farms and Forests can be more effective in dispelling misapprehensions than by simply reacting to controversies and emergen- cies. “Our goal is to be a re- source for people,” Bowers said. “A go-to group where if people have a question about an issue, they know to call us,” added Gordon Culbert- son, a forestland manager and the group’s vice chair- man. The group plans to host tours of farming and timber operations to explain com- Idaho rivers declining, but flood concerns persist By JOHN O’CONNELL Capital Press BOISE — Idaho water managers say low- and mid-el- evation mountain snowpack has melted throughout the state and many rivers are re- ceding from their peak levels, but flooding concerns still re- main. For irrigators, this sum- mer’s outlook promises pro- longed availability of natu- ral-flow water, which officials say should also lead to strong reservoir carryover into the next season. May was only the second month of the water year — in addition to November — to bring below-normal precipita- tion, ranging from 45 percent of normal in the Upper Snake to 90 percent of normal in the Big Wood. The dry May — coupled with cool spells that followed any periods of hot weather — eased pressure from high flows in communities coping with flooding, according to USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service. Nonetheless, flood-control releases damaged property along the Boise River, and re- cent storms have water levels temporarily on the rise again. Gina Baltrusch, a spokes- woman for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers district based in Walla Walla, Wash., said releases from Lucky Peak Reservoir were reduced by 1,250 cubic feet per second over a 48-hour period through the morning of June 13. She explained a recent shift toward cooler weather slowed the snowmelt enough to ac- commodate reservoir inflows, and with heavy rains arriving on June 12-13, the Corps was concerned about further flood- ing in downstream communi- ties. Even with the reduction mon practices and outline the regulations, such as the Oregon Forest Practices Act, they must follow. The fear of pesticides is common among urbanites, who often don’t understand that farmers and foresters want to save money by re- ducing chemical usage, Bow- ers said. “Immediately they think ‘poison,’” she said. “It’s the dose that makes the poison.” Likewise, major timber companies are often viewed less sympathetically than small woodland owners, but in reality, the larger outfits own sawmills and other nec- essary infrastructure, said Culbertson. “Those big companies are tremendously important to small woodland owners,” he said. While it was once com- mon for Oregon residents to have friends and family in- volved in natural resource in- dustries, they’re now remote for many people, said Scott Dahlman, policy director for the Oregonians for Food and Shelter agribusiness group. “We’ve gotten to a sit- uation where more Oregon citizens don’t have that con- nection to agriculture and for- estry,” he said. Lane Families for Farms and Forests will help rekindle those relationships, Dahlman said. Those connections may turn out to be significant in looming political battles, such as a proposed ballot initiative to ban aerial herbicide spray- ing in Lane County. Support- ers are currently gathering signatures to get the measure before voters in 2018. Such proposals tend to stir up negative emotions over natural resource industries, said Bowers. “Hopefully, we can change the narrative of what’s happening.” People should realize that violations are rare and most farmers and foresters support Oregon’s regulatory oversight of spray applications, said Culbertson. “We live out in the country where we use these things,” said Bowers. Loca l Mone y Working For Loca l Pe op le Contact a Loan Office r Tod ay to Discuss Your Financing Ne e d s! John O’Connell/Capital Press The Big Wood River spills over its banks near Hailey, Idaho, on June 7. Officials say the Big Wood’s peak flows have passed, though there’s been considerable flood damage to property. in flows, the Boise River was still at 8,250 cfs, compared to a flood-stage level of 7,000 cfs. The three reservoirs in the Boise system were 96 percent full on June 13. Baltrusch said emergency managers will soon send let- ters to levee owners inform- ing them of a July 31 deadline to apply with the Corps for assistance toward repairs. The levees must be enrolled in the Corps’ levee safety manage- ment program to be eligible. Extreme flooding also damaged basements and canal infrastructure and forced road closures along the Big Wood River near Hailey. According to the National Weather Ser- vice, the Big Wood recently dropped slightly below flood stage but was predicted to rise again to slightly above flood stage by June 15, due to the rainfall. The National Weather Ser- vice also predicted the Payette River near Emmett would rise just above flood stage follow- ing the rains. Ron Abramovich, Idaho’s NRCS water supply special- ist, said snowpacks are still well above average in the high country, with the Snake River Basin snowpack above Palisades Reservoir at 285 percent of normal. Abramovich said sever- al streams are setting daily records for high flows, with streamflows ranging from average to 125 percent of av- erage in Northern Idaho and 150 to 300 percent of average elsewhere in the state. In the Upper Snake, flows into Palisades Reservoir peaked at 43,600 cfs on June 6 and have begun diminish- ing, dropping to 31,500 cfs by June 13. Tony Olenichak, program manager for the Upper Snake water district, said flood-con- trol releases from Palisades were increased by 2,000 cfs to 24,000 cfs on June 13 because of the storms. With the Upper Snake res- ervoir system at 92.4 percent full, he said water managers should be able to top off the system without any flooding risk. Olenichak added that wa- ter has been spilling past Mil- ner Dam, where it can’t be put to beneficial use, since June 8, bringing a water right for Upper Snake aquifer recharge back into priority. 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