Friday, September 10, 2021
By DON JENKINS
Capital Press
An environmental group is
sticking up for the Washington
Department of Fish and Wild-
life, saying the decision to try
to kill one or two wolves in
the Togo pack serves the long-
term interest of wolf recovery.
Conservation Northwest
said it reviewed efforts to pre-
vent the pack from attack-
ing cattle in the Kettle River
Range in northeast Washing-
ton. The group was convinced
Fish and Wildlife followed
guidance from the depart-
ment’s Wolf Advisory Group.
Conservation Northwest
policy director Paula Swe-
deen helped shape the guid-
ance, which calls for resorting
to lethal control under certain
circumstances, in part to main-
tain the cooperation of ranch-
ers, who are being pressed to
alter their operations to avoid
conflicts with wolves.
“We came away with the
impression that this is how the
protocol is supposed to work,”
Swedeen said. “If we don’t
stand by our word in this situa-
tion, our word isn’t any good.”
Conservation Northwest’s
supportive statement con-
trasted with denunciations by
other environmental groups.
The Center for Biological
Diversity called culling the
pack a tragedy to appease live-
stock owners.
Fish and Wildlife Direc-
tor Kelly Susewind issued the
order Aug. 26 after the pack
had attacked three calves in
the previous 30 days, cross-
ing the threshold for the
department to consider lethal
removal.
The pack has five adults
and four pups, according to
Fish and Wildlife. The depart-
ment hopes that by killing
one or two wolves, the rest
of the pack will stop attack-
ing cattle. The department
has not yet reported remov-
ing any wolves.
This is the fifth time in the
past four years Susewind has
authorized killing Togo pack
wolves. The department has
removed one wolf.
Because of past con-
flicts, Swedeen and other
wolf advocates on the depart-
ment’s advisory board pushed
Fish and Wildlife to focus on
preventing
wolf-livestock
conflicts in the Kettle River
Range.
Range riders hired by
Fish and Wildlife, the Cat-
tle Producers of Washing-
ton and Northeast Washing-
ton Wolf-Cattle Collaborative
have been patrolling the Togo
pack territory this summer.
“They did what we
wanted them to do regarding
the range-riding effort,” Swe-
deen said. “My understand-
ing is the coordination was
really good.”
Fish and Wildlife worked
with ranchers before the
grazing season on deterring
attacks, the department’s wolf
policy lead, Julia Smith, said
in a statement.
The Togo pack has
attacked calves belonging to
three different ranches. None
of the calves belonged to the
Diamond M, the region’s
largest and best-known
ranch.
All three producers who
have had calves attacked
employed range riders and
other non-lethal measures,
Fish and Wildlife said.
“Those communities and
WDFW staff have worked dil-
igently to protect their live-
stock and meet expectations,”
Smith said. “August and Sep-
tember are typically months
in which wolf-livestock con-
flict peaks, so this is not
unexpected.”
Fish
and
Wildlife’s
lethal-control protocol may
be discarded by next grazing
season. At the behest of the
Center for Biological Diver-
sity, Gov. Jay Inslee last year
ordered the department to
write a lethal-control rule to
replace the guidance devel-
oped by the Wolf Advisory
Group.
Risk of large wildfires remains high in parts of West
By BRAD CARLSON
Capital Press
BOISE — The risk of big wild-
fires will remain above normal in
parts of Northern California, Ore-
gon, Washington and the North-
ern Great Basin as fall unfolds, the
National Interagency Fire Center
predicts.
“We are expect-
ing warmer and
drier
conditions
across a good por-
tion of the Western
United States,” Fire
Meteorologist Nick
Nauslar told Capi-
Nick
tal Press.
Nauslar
La
Nina
is
expected to return to the Equato-
rial Pacific. He said this usually
brings slightly cooler, wetter condi-
tions to parts of the Pacific North-
west and into the Northern Rock-
ies. But since areas to the south will
be warmer and drier, rain relief on
those large fires “is forecast to be
delayed until later in the fall.”
Fall brings increased chances
of offshore winds along the West
Coast, Nauslar said. These winds
originate on land and blow toward
Brad Carlson/Capital Press file
La Nina is expected to return to the Equatorial Pacific.
the ocean. Southern California’s
Santa Ana winds, for example, are
strong downslope winds that usu-
ally coincide with low relative
humidity.
While offshore winds are
expected to be normal this fall,
they “still could be an issue given
the amount of fire we have on the
ground, and dry fuels,” he said.
Also this fall, “the jet stream
starts to meander farther south, and
with that comes better chances of
stronger winds across the Western
United States,” Nauslar said. “But
it also comes with a better chance
of cooler temperatures and precip-
itation. This usually results in rel-
atively short-lived dry and windy
conditions.”
NIFC Predictive Services said
in its outlook through year’s end
that the potential for large fires in
Northern California is above nor-
mal through November for areas
west of the Cascade-Sierra Crest,
except for the north coast area.
The potential for big fires is
expected to remain above normal
through September at higher ele-
vations of the Sierra Front and
over portions of southern and west-
ern Idaho, which remain dry. Sig-
nificant drought remains in these
areas, where fuel moisture is below
average.
Above-normal risk will con-
tinue through September in cen-
tral and southwestern Oregon as
well as central Washington, NIFC
reported.
The large-wildfire risk in South-
ern California is expected to be
around normal through December.
Drought remains across more
than 95% of the West, the report
said. Conditions are expected to be
warmer than normal through fall in
much of the continental U.S.
Port of Coos Bay to construct new container terminal
By SIERRA DAWN MCCLAIN
Capital Press
COOS BAY, Ore. — Oregon
International Port of Coos Bay, on
the state’s southern coast, announced
Sept. 1 it will construct a multimodal
container facility to relieve conges-
tion and broaden trade opportunities,
including for agricultural goods.
For the project, the Port of Coos
Bay has partnered with NorthPoint
Development, a Missouri-based
firm. The port and NorthPoint have
entered into a Memorandum of
Understanding. The parties intend to
finalize negotiations and sign a con-
tract by the end of 2021.
The new facility will sit on the
North Spit, a finger of land separat-
ing the bay from the Pacific Ocean.
Once constructed, the facility will
move more than 1 million 40-foot
containers annually through the port.
The new terminal, port officials
say, could have a significant impact
on shipment of farm goods.
“Development of a container ter-
minal here in Coos Bay will truly
be transformational for Coos Bay,
as well as for shippers looking to
get their goods and commodities to
market in an efficient manner,” said
Margaret Barber, the port’s direc-
tor of external affairs and business
development.
Most of Oregon’s export agri-
cultural commodities, Barber said,
are currently being shipped to
ports in Seattle, Tacoma and the
San Francisco Bay. Those ports,
she said, are “experiencing all-
time levels of congestion,” add-
ing “crippling delays,” costs and
emissions.
COVID-19 has further exac-
erbated bottlenecks. Aug. 29, the
ports of Los Angeles and Long
Beach had 47 vessels anchored off-
shore waiting to dock in the harbor.
A new terminal in Coos Bay,
port leaders say, could help relieve
congestion on the West Coast.
Chad Meyer, president and
founding partner of NorthPoint,
said the new facility should improve
logistics, expedite turn-around time
and eliminate anchoring-out for
ships.
“This project will create a new
gateway that will offer quick turn-
around because we don’t have the
same levels of congestion here,”
agreed Barber of the port.
Barber said she believes the ter-
minal will also create “tremendous”
benefits for inland U.S. producers
who rely too heavily on the Missis-
sippi River for barge and ship trans-
portation. The new terminal, she
said, will allow Midwest producers
to ship products westward.
John Burns, the port’s CEO, said
he anticipates the new facility will
also boost the regional economy.
“This project has the potential to
diversify the region’s economy and
create employment opportunities
both for the existing workforce and
for future generations,” said Burns.
Some critics, however, say turn-
ing Coos Bay into a major West
Coast port is a pipe dream because
Coos Bay is surrounded by narrow,
winding roads, has limited access
to trade corridors and must rely on
its rail line.
Recent Coos Bay Rail Line
improvements have cost taxpayers
millions of dollars, according to
legislative records. Some Orego-
nians say the investment is worth
the payoff; others disagree.
Jeff Reimer, an Oregon State
University professor of interna-
tional trade and agricultural eco-
nomics, said railroad develop-
ments have spawned a “huge
amount of controversy.”
“Is it a good use of taxpayer
money? Some say it is, some think
it isn’t,” Reimer told the Capital
Press.
The port is also moving for-
ward with its Channel Modifica-
tion Project, intended to deepen
and widen the channel so larger
ships can pass through.
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