The Baker County press., January 01, 2016, Page 7, Image 7

FRIDAY, JANUARY 1, 2016
THE BAKER COUNTY PRESS — 7
Outdoor Rec / Local
ODFW coordination meeting held Wednesday
BY TODD ARRIOLA
Todd@TheBakerCountyPress.com
The Baker County
Board of Commission-
ers were joined by Nick
Myatt, District Manager,
and Brian Ratliff, District
Wildlife Biologist, both of
the Oregon Department of
Fish and Wildlife (ODFW)
on Wednesday, December
30, 2015, at 9 a.m., for a
government-to-government
coordination meeting,
which included, among
other topics, ODFW lands
in Baker County, threat-
ened and endangered
species, and deer and elk
management.
Present from the Board
were Commission Chair
Bill Harvey, Commission-
ers Mark Bennett and Tim
Kerns, and Executive As-
sistant Heidi Martin.
Attendance also included
Baker County Emergency
Manager Jason Yencopal,
Baker County Natural
Resource Advisory Com-
mittee (NRAC) Coordina-
tor Eric Wuntz, Tork and
Wanda Ballard, John and
Ramona Creighton, and
Alice Knapp.
Harvey, after introducing
the Commissioners and
guests, explained to those
present that the meet-
ing would be an informal
discussion, and, while no
public comments would
be received at the time,
they could be expressed at
the next regular Commis-
sion meeting, scheduled
for Wednesday, January 6,
2015, at 9 a.m.
Myatt spoke about
the agency structure of
ODFW, explaining that
the management of the
state is divided into east
and west regions on either
side of the Cascades,
noting that Bruce Eddy,
Myatt’s boss, is the East
Region Manager, his of-
fice located in La Grande.
In the east region, of the
four watershed districts,
Baker County is part of the
Grande Ronde District, he
said. Myatt mentioned that
a large portion of ODFW
funding comes from the
sales of fishing and hunting
licenses.
A significant segment of
the meeting was devoted
to discussing the top-
ics of grey wolf, cougar,
sage grouse, elk and deer
management, during which
Myatt mentioned ODFW
Wolf Program Coordinator
Russ Morgan, based in La
Grande.
Delisting of the wolf,
under the state Endangered
Species Act (ESA), hap-
pened in November, the
result of which is delisting
under both the federal and
state ESAs, in the eastern
side of the state.
However, as Harvey
mentioned, there is basi-
cally no change in the east-
ern management of wolves
under the Wolf Conserva-
tion and Management Plan,
which provides ESA-like
protections.
Myatt said that the Wolf
Plan, which ODFW is in
the process of revising, is
in Phase 2, with more man-
agement tools available to
ODFW, and, with Phase
3 implemented in Janu-
ary 2017, under certain
criteria, controlled hunt-
ing could be a possibility.
Harvey said that Idaho,
which allows controlled
hunts, and is also a source
of this state’s wolf popu-
lations, is seeing a wolf
population explosion, and
he hopes that ODFW will
use management tools
properly, including utiliz-
ing controlled hunts.
Wolf depredation was
discussed, and Harvey
asked about the level
Todd Arriola / The Baker County Press
Nick Myatt, District Manager, and Brian Ratliff, District Wildlife Biologist, both of the Oregon Department of
Fish and Wildlife.
of proof for confirmed
depredation, and Ratliff
responded that there are
different levels, and that a
quicker response time of
ODFW to suspected wolf
depredation means a better
chance of determining,
through a rigorous investi-
gation, the cause. Some-
times, this can take days,
said Myatt. Ratliff said it’s
very difficult to confirm
wolf depredation.
Ratliff said that the popu-
lations of elk in the county
are growing, while the
populations of mule deer
are showing a decline.
In response to Harvey’s
question about the possibil-
ity of deer depredation due
to wolves, Ratliff stated
that elk are their primary
prey, though elk numbers
are increasing, and it’s
difficult to tell what effect
wolves are having on the
numbers of elk.
Myatt said that, on
Thursday of this week, a
GPS-collaring program
was expected to have
begun, involving 144 mule
deer, in order to track
movements, and improve
management strategies.
The group discussed cou-
gar management, which
included Bennett’s and
Harvey’s comments that
there is a large increase in
the population of cougars,
coupled with the obser-
vation that cougars are
appearing closer to human
residences. Myatt said
that since state legislation
passed in 1994 to eliminate
the use of hounds for cou-
gar hunting, there’s been
a loss of effective man-
agement, since the use of
hounds is the best method,
and cougars are difficult
to hunt, with most being
taken by chance.
Myatt provided some
details about what lands
ODFW manages in the
county, including the
Anthony Creek elk feed
site and viewpoint, west of
North Powder, the Auburn
feed site, between Baker
City and Phillips Reser-
voir, the Muddy Creek site
and Hunt Mountain site,
west of Haines, and several
fishing ponds, including
Pond 203, just east of the
Medical Springs exit, north
of Baker City.
The state of the Greater
Sage Grouse in the county
was discussed, including
confusion as to a base-
line population number,
which would be needed
to assess whether the
claimed decline, over 70%,
is accurate, and what the
causes are. Bennett said
that the effects of preda-
tors, a big factor, weren’t
properly considered, and
Harvey said that with other
agencies, sometimes, the
tendency is to quickly
blame grazing for the
Sage Grouse’s decline, for
example, when it’s been
shown that agriculture
and the Sage Grouse can
co-exist, and be beneficial
to each other. Myatt said
he hopes to get a meeting
scheduled in February, in
order to bring together a
cooperative of individuals
from the Bureau of Land
Management (BLM),
Natural Resource Conser-
vation Service (NRCS),
Oregon Department of
Forestry (ODF), private
landowners, and others, in
order to address these and
other issues.
During a discussion
about potential listings,
reintroductions, etc., of
Threatened and Endan-
gered species under the
ESA, Harvey said that
there must be assurances
the species is native to
Baker County.
He said that there are
issues with reintroducing
species to an area in which
they can’t survive.