Friday, January 7, 2022
CapitalPress.com 3
Cattle, calves rescued from deep NE Oregon snows
By BILL BRADSHAW
EO Media Group
IMNAHA, Ore. — Res-
cue eff orts are still under-
way to save dozens of cat-
tle stranded in up to 7 feet of
snow on a northeast Oregon
grazing allotment.
The cattle — many of
which had young calves —
were mired in deep snow on
U.S. Forest Service land in
the Upper Imnaha area, Wal-
lowa County Sheriff Joel Fish
confi rmed Dec. 31.
Fish said the sheriff ’s offi ce
is investigating and “assisting
with the retrieval of the cat-
tle on the Forest Service graz-
ing permits on the Marr Flat
C&H Allotment.”
Peter Fargo, public aff airs
offi cer for the Wallowa-Whit-
man National Forest, said
in an email Dec. 31 that the
county, the sheriff ’s offi ce and
volunteers not only had been
rescuing cattle, they “have
been hauling hay and water
with snowmobiles, side-by-
sides and helicopters. The
priority of the operation is
fi rst on everyone’s safety and
then saving as many cattle as
possible.”
He said the Forest Service
instructed the permittee and
ranch manager to remove all
of the cattle in October.
Fargo estimated 70 head
of cattle were still on the allot-
ment Dec. 21 and as of Dec.
30 up to 25 animals were still
unaccounted for.
Numerous
volunteers
were helping in the rescue
eff orts, according to county
commission Chairman Todd
Nash and volunteers with the
county Humane Society.
Social media alert
One of the fi rst wide-
Anna Butterfi eld/Contributed Photo
A snowmobiler rides alongside some cattle stranded in
the Upper Imnaha area.
spread alerts came in a Face-
book post by Craig Stockdale,
who was one of the fi rst to
discover the cattle on the 200
Road south of Salt Creek.
“I just came upon them
snowmobiling,” Stockdale
said Jan. 1.
He said his social media
post mobilized rescuers —
Senators target sheriff ’s cougar policy
By DON JENKINS
Capital Press
OLYMPIA — Two west-
ern Washington state senators
have introduced a bill to stop
Klickitat County Sheriff Bob
Songer from using hounds to
track down cougars.
The legislation would bar
sheriff s from hunting cou-
gars, black bears and bobcats
with dogs to protect people,
livestock and pets.
The bill responds to
Songer deputizing hounds-
men to pursue predators in
his south-central Washington
county.
Songer’s program hasn’t
led to more cougars killed,
according to the Department
of Fish and Wildlife. Never-
theless, the sheriff has dis-
pleased state wildlife offi -
cials and angered wildlife
advocates.
“The motivation comes
from the Klickitat County
sheriff ,” said Sequim Dem-
ocrat Kevin Van De Wege,
who sponsored the bill with
Kitsap County Democrat
Christine Rolfes.
“I’m interested in and
Christine Rolfes is inter-
ested in doing something that
addresses Klickitat County,”
said Van De Wege, chair-
man of the Senate Agricul-
ture and Natural Resources
Committee.
“In my opinion and the
department’s opinion, he is
hunting down cougars that
are not a problem,” said Van
De Wege.
Songer said Thursday that
his offi ce informs Fish and
Wildlife about every cougar
it kills and doesn’t pursue
cougars that aren’t threaten-
ing people or property.
“That is some of the false
narrative they play on,” he
said.
“The bottom line is we’re
not out there killing cou-
gars to be killing cougars,”
Songer said. “My concern is
public safety. That’s number
one, and also protection of
livestock for the ranchers.”
Sportsmen can’t hunt cou-
gars, bears and bobcats with
hounds. The law, however,
allows county, state and fed-
eral offi cials in their offi cial
capacities to pursue them
with dogs.
“I was alerted to it yester-
day by the ranchers who have
been out there trying to save
them,” Reynolds said Dec.
30.
“Some were too weak to
even move,” she said of the
cattle, adding that although
rescuers were able to retrieve
calves, some of the adult cows
had to be euthanized.
Stockdale and Anna But-
terfi eld, who with her hus-
band, Mark, ranches northeast
of Joseph, confi rmed the cattle
are on the Bob Dean Oregon
Ranch managed by B.J. War-
nock. Dean lives out of town,
and Warnock was unavailable
for comment Jan. 1.
both those out fi nding the cat-
tle and those with facilities to
care for the rescued livestock.
On Dec. 29, Kathy Gisler
Reynolds, a volunteer with
the Humane Society, also
shared a post of the cattle.
Photos posted on Facebook
showed a cow up to its neck
in snow and unable to move.
County involved
Nash — who is a rancher
and president of the Oregon
Cattlemen’s Association —
said Dec. 30 information on
the situation was limited.
Grants to expand emergency response
capacity at OSU veterinary diagnostic lab
By GEORGE PLAVEN
Capital Press
A bill introduced in the Washington State Senate would
stop Klickitat County Sheriff Bob Songer from deputiz-
ing houndsmen to pursue troublesome cougars.
The Van De Wege-Rolfes
bill consists entirely of strik-
ing from the law the word
“county.”
Songer said he has been
expecting such legislation
since a judge in August dis-
missed a lawsuit fi led by
wildlife advocates.
“It doesn’t surprise me
they’re taking that approach,”
he said. “I hope cooler heads
will prevail in the Senate and
this will go down in fl ames.”
Van De Wege said he is
reluctant to take authority
away from sheriff s, but that
he did not think the change
in state law would have
much eff ect outside Klicki-
tat County.
“I think (Fish and Wild-
life) has a very good track
record of going after cou-
gars,” he said.
Songer in 2019 announced
that his offi ce would keep
a roster of houndsmen and
be the primary agency in
responding to dangerous ani-
mal calls.
The sheriff cited numer-
ous complaints about cou-
gars in populated areas.
Klickitat County rancher
Keith Kreps said cougars
became more numerous after
an initiative passed in 1996
banning hound hunting.
The cougars, once rare,
now prowl around homes, he
said.
“People just don’t get it,”
Kreps said. “Sooner or later a
cat’s going to eat a kid.”
The sheriff can respond
quicker than Fish and Wild-
life, he said.
“The things we do know
is that this was a Forest Ser-
vice permit for the Upper Big
Sheep Creek and the Upper
Imnaha,” Nash said. “It takes
in a large area — 72,000
acres — known as the Marr
Flat Grazing Allotment. They
had a viable permit to go on
sometime in the spring. They
were supposed to have all cat-
tle removed, according to the
Forest Service permit.
“There is a rescue eff ort
being made right now to try
and rescue as many as possi-
ble. We’ve committed county
resources to it. There’ve been
a number of people who have
volunteered or have contrib-
uted time,” he said. “There’s
been helicopters that have
fl own feed into some that
were extremely isolated and
the rescue continues. Those
are the basic facts that I do
know.”
CORVALLIS, Ore. —
The Oregon Veterinary
Diagnostic Laboratory has
received three federal grants
to strengthen and expand
its role in responding to
large disease outbreaks in
animals across the Pacifi c
Northwest.
The lab is part of Ore-
gon State University’s Carl-
son College of Veterinary
Medicine in Corvallis. It
is primarily responsible
for testing and diagnosing
infectious animal diseases,
including those in livestock
such as pigs, sheep and
cattle.
In the early days of the
coronavirus pandemic, the
lab was also used to test
thousands of human sam-
ples for COVID-19, adding
much-needed emergency
capacity.
What followed was a
stress test of the lab’s sys-
tems and procedures, said
Justin Sanders, an assistant
professor at OSU and sec-
tion head of molecular diag-
nostics at the lab.
“We still needed to main-
tain our veterinary diagnos-
tic mission,” Sanders said.
“Work did not stop in our
veterinary role. That’s really
what these grants are fund-
ing. It’s all related to our
emergency
preparedness
response here for animal
testing.”
Between April 2020 and
June 2021, Sanders said the
lab tested approximately
75,000 samples for COVID-
19, working in partnership
with Willamette Valley Tox-
icology, which provided the
appropriate accreditation for
testing the human samples.
“We had the equip-
ment and the expertise
for molecular diagnos-
tic testing,” Sanders said.
“We’re a high-capacity,
high-throughput diagnostic
lab.”
Maintaining that capac-
ity will be key to quickly
detect and respond to ani-
mal disease outbreaks.
Sanders said diseases
like African swine fever —
a virus deadly to pigs that
has not yet entered the U.S.
but could hurt pork exports
— pose a serious risk to
Oregon’s agricultural econ-
omy and food supply. The
lab is also constantly sur-
veying for the presence of
diseases.
“The ability to rapidly
identify and respond to agri-
culturally important patho-
gens and wildlife pathogens
is critical to the economic
health of the state,” Sand-
ers said.
The grants from the
USDA National Animal
Health Laboratory Net-
work target diff erent fac-
ets of the lab’s emergency
response work. The fi rst
grant, Sanders said, will pay
for interagency drills where
the lab can simulate a dis-
ease outbreak and practice
implementing its plans and
procedures.
INTRODUCING:
NEW AG SHOW IN 2022
MARK YOUR CALENDARS!
1st Ever High Desert Ag Show
March 26 - 27, 2022
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Deschutes County Fair & Expo Center
Redmond, OR
Trade Show Help Needed
Our lineup of Ag events in the Northwest is growing! The inaugural Central
Oregon Agricultural Show will be held March 26 & 27 at the Deschutes County
Fairgrounds in Redmond, Oregon, with mul�ple large buildings for exhibitors
and a�endees to spread out. Classroom space is available to host and a�end
educa�onal events.
We are seeking temporary employees for the Northwest Ag Show January 12-14, 2022 at
the Oregon State Fairgrounds & Expo in Salem.
The job duties include and are not limited to: greeting people at the door as they enter and exit,
handing out swag bags and general vendor assistance.
Dates and times are:
Tuesday, Jan. 11: orientation and training, times vary
We are looking for exhibitors and sponsors. Please inquire for more details, call
503-506-8014 or email events@eomediagroup.com.
Wednesday, Jan. 12: 8:30 a.m. until 5:00 p.m.
Thursday, Jan. 13: 8:30 a.m. until 5:00 p.m.
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Friday, Jan. 14: 8:30 a.m. until 2:00 p.m.
$100 completion bonus for those who work all shifts.
The Central Oregon Ag Show will be a great place to spend the day with friends
and family in a picturesque se�ng. The dates and loca�on also coincide with
the High Desert Stampede, a Pro Rodeo tour stop, scheduled for March 24 - 26,
bringing addi�onal foot traffic to the fairgrounds and evening entertainment!
Go here to apply: https://www.applicantpro.com/openings/eomediagroup/jobs/2139921-429357
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