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A3 THE DAILY ASTORIAN • MONDAY, DECEMBER 31, 2018 Confi rmed wolf attacks double in Washington state State is better at documentation By DON JENKINS Capital Press The number of confi rmed wolf attacks on cattle in Washington state in 2018 was more than double any previous year, according to state Department of Fish and Wildlife reports. At least 31 cows or calves were killed or injured, top- ping the previous high of 15 in 2016. The count does not include missing cattle or suspected depredations in which scavengers picked the bones and ate evidence of wolf bites. Cattle Producers of Washington President Scott Nielsen said the number of attacks is increasing, but attributed the large jump in confi rmed depredations to better documentation . “I don’t think there was a big increase. I think it has been a slow, steady growth,” he said. “It’s not way worse now. They’re just admitting it.” The Department of Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife Wolf attacks on livestock are up this year. Fish and Wildlife has not announced a fi nal count for the year, and the depart- ment’s periodic reports on wolf activities often lag weeks behind events. As in the past, most dep- redations took place in Ferry and Stevens counties during the summer and fall graz- ing season. The Old Profan- ity Territory pack in Ferry County was blamed for 16 attacks. Cattle, however, were attacked in more parts of the state and over more months than usual. Attacks started in May and continued into late fall. In southeast Washing- ton, the Grouse Flats pack has attacked at least three cattle since late August. In north-central Washington, one wolf took down a 400- pound calf in Okanogan County, where wolves are still federally protected. The calf was killed in the Department of Fish and Wildlife’s Sinlahekin Wildlife Area, where cat- tle gather in the fall before moving from public sum- mer grazing grounds to pri- vate pastures for the winter. No cattle had been attacked by wolves there before, according to the depart- ment. Unlike in the east- ern one-third of Washing- ton, the department can’t lethally remove wolves to stop attacks on livestock. “We need to get out from that (federal) listing,” Okan- ogan County rancher Vic Stokes said. “There’s no doubt we’re going to have wolves. We ranchers have to understand that there are a lot of wolves in northeast Washington, and they are going to disperse. “We’re trying to prepare for them the best we can,” he said. The Department of Fish and Wildlife has docu- mented wolf attacks on live- stock every year since 2012. The high-water mark for depredations remains 2014, when a wolfpack ravaged a fl ock of sheep in Stevens County. The department confi rmed that wolves killed at least 28 sheep and injured six others. The department shot four wolves in three packs to stop attacks on livestock in 2018. Nielsen credited new Fish and Wildlife Direc- tor Kelly Susewind with wanting to get a more accu- rate accounting of livestock losses. He said the number of confi rmed depredations should motivate the depart- ment to collar more wolves to better follow packs. Efforts to obtain com- ment from the Department of Fish and Wildlife were unsuccessful. Nielsen also said a wild- life deputy hired by Ste- vens and Ferry counties has helped to fi nd downed calves and cows before the scavengers do. The coun- ty’s role has given depart- ment investigations more credence among ranchers, he said. “There’s been some oversight,” he said. In southeast Washing- ton, the Grouse Flats wolf- pack straddles the Wash- ington-Oregon border. The pack attacked cattle owned by three different ranchers between Aug. 23 and Oct. 28, according to the Depart- ment of Fish and Wildlife. One attack took place in a fenced private pasture and one on a U.S. Forest Service grazing allotment. In the other attack, wolves chased a 600-pound calf off a For- est Service allotment and killed it in an adjacent pri- vate pasture. Washington court: Fish and Wildlife can regulate land to protect fi sh By DON JENKINS Capital Press Washington’s Depart- ment of Fish and Wild- life can regulate construc- tion on dry land if the agency decides fi sh may be affected, the state Supreme Court ruled unanimously in December . The court rejected a law- suit by fi ve counties that alleged the department was overstepping its authority by requiring local governments to get permits from the agency to build and main- tain bridges that span but do not touch water. More broadly, the deci- sion affi rms the Department of Fish and Wildlife’s juris- diction over a host of activ- ities on public and private land, such as clearing brush, maintaining dikes and sta- bilizing riverbanks. Critics, including some farm and landowner groups, say the department’s reach threatens the use of private property. “The jurisdiction has become unlimited,” Cindy Alia, a lobbyist for Citizens Alliance for Property Rights, said. “Fish and Wildlife’s jurisdiction can go clear to the mountaintop.” The lawsuit stemmed from rules the Fish and Wildlife Commission adopted in 2015 to enforce the state’s h ydraulic c ode, a 75-year-old law that directs the agency to police con- struction to protect salmon and fi sh habitat. Counties argued the rules unlawfully extended the department’s authority beyond the water’s edge. The counties warned, in court documents, that the rules could justify stop- ping projects based on con- siderations such as climate change. More prosaically, the counties said they didn’t want to have to obtain a per- mit from the department every time they repaved a bridge, repaired a guardrail or repainted white lines. The Department of Fish and Wildlife argued that lawmakers directed them to protect fi sh and that proj- ects on land could remove stream-protecting veg- etation, and put chemi- cals and sediment in water. The department said the law and other regulations limit its authority to block construction. The court agreed with the department’s more expan- sive application of the law. Writing for the court, Jus- tice Susan Owens said the Department of Fish and Wildlife can require per- mits for upland projects and doesn’t have to be abso- lutely certain the project will affect fi sh, only reason- ably certain. “And we defer to the department’s expertise in determining which proj- ects meet that standard,” she wrote. The law says the depart- ment must approve projects that “will” alter waterways. Owens said the word means the same as “may.” Justices Sheryl Gordon McCloud and Steven Gon- zalez agreed that the depart- ment should regulate proj- ects on land. But they wrote a separate opinion stat- ing they couldn’t agree that “will” is synonymous with “may.” Several Indian tribes sup- ported the Department of Fish and Wildlife’s position by submitting written argu- ments to the Supreme Court. The tribes argued that over- turning the department’s rules would end the state’s longstanding regulation of construction projects to pro- tect fi sh. In recent years, the Leg- islature has considered but never passed bills to limit the Department of Fish and Wildlife’s authority over projects that touch water. In 2017, the Republican-con- trolled state Senate passed a bill to create a task force to study the issue. The bill did not move in the Democrat- ic-controlled House. Demo- crats will control both cham- bers during the 2019 session. “There’s no realistic chance they will make a change we could support,” said Tom Davis, the direc- tor of government relations for the Washington Farm Bureau . Department of Fish and Wildlife biologists have generally done a good job of applying the hydraulic code, but the Supreme Court ruling may encourage more restric- tions, particularly with the push to increase fi sh runs to feed orcas, Davis said. “To WANTED Pierce and Spokane counties brought the challenge to the Supreme Court. Divorce need not be expensive. We help you get the paperwork right and provide mediation to help you divide your assets. Christy Shoop Brian G. 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