Page 10A
OFF PAGE ONE
East Oregonian
Friday, August 25, 2017
WOLVES: Meacham pack believed to have at least four pups this year
Continued from 1A
wolves in Umatilla and
Wallowa counties have
been controversial on both
sides of the debate, for very
different reasons. Conser-
vation groups criticize
ODFW for signing off on
kill orders while at the same
time lacking transparency
and dragging its feet on a
long overdue update of the
state’s Wolf Management
and Conservation Plan.
Ranchers, on the other
hand, want to see ODFW
kill entire packs that are
causing them trouble on the
range.
ODFW was asked to
remove the entire Meacham
pack, which had seven
members at the end of 2016.
Instead, the agency has
opted for a more conserva-
tive, incremental approach.
“I am authorizing only
incremental take in an
effort to take as few wolves
as possible while still
addressing wolf-livestock
confl ict,” Melcher said.
“Following these actions,
the situation will be reas-
sessed to see if the goal of
reducing depredations has
been achieved.”
The Meacham pack was
fi rst identifi ed in 2014 and
is believed to have at least
four pups this year. No pups
will be killed as part of this
order.
ODFW staff may kill
Timeline of recent livestock attacks
East Oregonian
Two wolves from the Meacham pack will be killed after
preying on livestock four times in the last eight days in
Umatilla County. All attacks were confi rmed on the same
private timbered pasture near Meacham, located east of
Pendleton along Interstate 84.
• Aug. 13 — The Oregon Department of Fish & Wildlife
is called to investigate a dead 550-pound calf in the pasture,
which is estimated to have died on or about the evening of
Aug. 11. Wolf scat and tracks were found within 75 feet of
the carcass. The number, location, size and spacing of bites
and scrapes were also characteristic of wolf attacks.
• Aug. 16 — ODFW investigates an injured 550-pound
calf in the pasture, with parallel scrapes on the backs of
both rear legs and an open wound on the rear left leg. Wolf
tracks were found nearby, along with muscle tissue lying
on the ground, providing clear evidence of a wolf attack.
• Aug. 17 — The livestock producer fi nds another
injured 6-month-old calf while rounding up cattle in the
area. Bite marks and injuries were again consistent with a
wolf attack. Wolf tracks were also found in the area.
• Aug. 19 — The most recent confi rmed attack, with
a 500-pound calf discovered mostly eaten except for
the vertebrae with attached ribs, pelvis and tail. Wildlife
managers identifi ed a 150-foot chase scene, with wolf
tracks also spotted.
the wolves, or the livestock
producer has also been
issued what’s known as a
“limited duration wolf kill
permit.” That permit allows
the producer to kill two
adult or sub-adult wolves
without having to fi rst catch
the predators in the act of
biting, wounding or killing
cattle — in other words,
they can be shot on sight.
The permit is limited
to the 4,000-acre timbered
pasture where livestock
predation has occurred. It
still requires the producer
to use non-lethal deterrents
and remove all attractants
such as bone piles.
Roblyn Brown, ODFW
acting wolf coordinator,
said the producer has
already spent years imple-
menting extensive non-le-
thal controls and working
to deter wolves on the
landscape.
“We believe lethal control is warranted in
this situation, but this action will only be in
place as long as cattle are still at risk. We
will use incremental removal and lethal
control activities will be stopped as soon as
the cattle are removed from the pasture.”
—Roblyn Brown, ODFW acting wolf coordinator
“Unfortunately, this year
their increasing preventa-
tive efforts have not been
successful in limiting wolf
depredation,” Brown said.
“We believe lethal control is
warranted in this situation,
but this action will only be
in place as long as cattle
are still at risk. We will use
incremental removal and
lethal control activities will
be stopped as soon as the
cattle are removed from the
pasture.”
Normally, the pasture
would be used until October.
However, 90 percent of the
cattle have already been
moved, according to ODFW.
The producer has also acted
quickly to remove dead
livestock or weak animals
that could attract wolves,
and employed a range rider
fi ve days a week to monitor
the pasture.
Finally, for the past
two years, the producer
has chosen not to use their
sheep grazing allotment on
national forestland adjacent
to the pasture to avoid
potential wolf confl icts.
Todd
Nash,
wolf
committee chairman for the
Oregon Cattlemen’s Associ-
ation and a Wallowa County
rancher, said ODFW is
being disingenuous about
resolving wolf attacks by
only killing only a few
wolves, and not the entire
pack.
“In order to be effective,
you have to take out at least
half the pack population,
and in most cases the entire
pack will need to be taken
out,” Nash said.
Nash added that the
increased density of wolves
in northeast Oregon means
that certain non-lethal tools
are no longer effective,
since ranchers cannot haze
wolves away from one area
without pushing them into
another pack’s territory
where they are not welcome.
“There
are
places
wolves are not going to be
successful, and this is prob-
ably one of them,” he said.
ODFW noted it has
documented four new wolf
pairs raising pups in north-
east Oregon this summer,
including one new pair
south of Interstate 84 in the
Starkey and Ukiah wildlife
management units.
However, conservation
groups are quick to point
out Oregon’s overall wolf
population of 112 known
animals at the end of 2016,
which was largely stagnant
over the previous year.
Amaroq Weiss, West
Coast wolf advocate for
the Center for Biological
Diversity, blasted ODFW’s
plan to kill wolves from the
Meacham pack, even after
most of the affected cattle
have been moved off the
pasture.
“That doesn’t sound like a
decision to conserve wolves
or protect livestock,” Weiss
said. “That just sounds like
revenge.”
Sean Stevens, director of
Oregon Wild, said ODFW
has no business killing
wolves while working under
an outdated wolf plan. He
also said the agency is
lacking transparency and
clarity when it comes to
decisions on lethal take.
“In this instance, the
livestock owner could be
doing everything possible,
but we just don’t know,”
Stevens said. “I think it’s a
bad omen for Oregon wolf
recovery.”
———
Contact George Plaven
at gplaven@eastoregonian.
com or 541-966-0825.
DOWNTOWN: Revitalizing downtown has been a top goal of the city for years
Continued from 1A
Hermiston Avenue sits
Julissa’s Meat Market, which
is just down the street from
Feelingstone Gifts, a block
from the Maxwell Siding
Event Center — all of which
opened their doors within the
last six months.
Traner recently purchased
the re-purposed house that
holds Veg Out and Creations
with Santana, and said there
is still a room available in the
building to lease for offi ce
space. Traner said she envi-
sions the whole building as
a place where entrepreneurs
can get their start and build
up a clientele before risking a
lease on a larger, more visible
space.
“I feel really sad when I
see other small businesses
close their doors,” she said.
“I just think, what does that
say to our young people who
want to be entrepreneurs?
Dream your dream, but not in
Hermiston?”
Santana Layton, who
opened Creations with
Santana on Third Street
three weeks ago, said she has
wanted to open her own store
for years but startup money
was always an issue. After
she decided to start going
after her goal in earnest she
saw a post on Facebook
by Traner advertising the
space next to Veg Out and
responded.
“It’s hard to fi nd some-
thing affordable when you’re
starting out and don’t really
have money,” she said.
Her
boutique
sells
makeup, skincare products
and clothing for women.
Although
her
offi cial
hours are Tuesday through
Saturday, 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.,
she’s a single mother of
three working two jobs, so
she said it’s always a good
idea to check the Creations
with Santana Facebook
Staff photo by E.J. Harris
Julissa’s Meat Market is a recent addition to the West
Third Street business boom in Hermiston.
- EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY -
Administrative Support / Inside Sales
Staff photo by E.J. Harris
Veg Out co-owner Jaclyn Crowder cuts lettuce during the lunch rush Wednesday at
her restaurant in Hermiston.
page before coming in for
unscheduled closures.
Layton said she hopes that
people will start realizing
that the neighborhood around
Bi-Mart is a good place to get
out and do some shopping.
“I like the location,” she
said. “I wish there was more
traffi c, obviously, and I’m
hoping people will fi nd out
about the area, because it is
growing.”
Traner is doing her part to
help the area grow. She has
taken it upon herself to help
market the commercially
zoned house next to the
mercantile and an old bank
building on Third Street, both
of which are up for sale. She
said she hopes both spaces
are used for something like a
bistro, wedding supply store
or bakery.
“Growth is good, but you
still want to hold onto those
smalltown, mom and pop
businesses with that small-
town customer service,” she
said.
The growth the neighbor-
hood is experiencing does
help fuel a larger cycle. On
Tuesday a couple of people
came into C and R Mercan-
tile and remarked that they
were waiting on salads at Veg
Out and had decided to come
across the street and check
out Traner’s business.
Traner plans to start a
side business called History
Reclaimed using another
space on Third Street to store
antique doors, light fi xtures
and other items that local
contractors have removed
from homes during remodels
but would be of interest
to others going for a more
vintage feel.
Revitalizing downtown
has been a top goal of the city
for years now, and the city did
include parts of Hermiston
Avenue and Third Street west
of the tracks when it drew
the boundaries for the urban
renewal district four years
ago. Economic development
and increased property
values in those areas leads to
more money available for the
whole district, as illustrated
by the boom provided by the
opening of the Holiday Inn
Express in late 2016.
Some of the district’s
planned projects, like a
festival street next to city
hall, focus on the east side of
Highway 395, but assistant
city manager Mark Morgan
pointed out that several of
the district’s façade grants
have gone west of the tracks,
including grants for the
Holiday Inn Express, Julissa’s
Meat Market and attorney
John Ballard’s offi ce on Third
Street. The city also provided
developer Mitch Meyers
with a $10,000 grant out of
its community enhancement
fund for the landscaping and
parking improvements next
to the Maxwell Siding Event
Center, and Morgan said the
city would like to continue
collaborating with devel-
opers on projects in that area.
———
Contact Jade McDowell
at
jmcdowell@eastorego-
nian.com or 541-564-4536.
LIFEWAYS: Oregon has 8.7 psychiatric beds per 100K people
Continued from 1A
proposed in Wilsonville, and
Unity Center for Behavioral
Health in Portland faced
legal issues or opposition
to certifi cation that pushed
back Lifeways’ application.
NEWCO’s application was
denied in February.
A press release from the
Oregon Health Authority
notes that the review
will evaluate whether the
project is effective to the
area it proposes to serve,
and whether it’s fi nancially
viable.
When it was fi rst
announced, the project was
estimated at a construction
cost of about $4.3 million,
with an annual operating
cost of $2.8 million. George
said those numbers should
remain roughly the same,
despite the delay.
Staff photo by Jayati Ramakrishnan
The partially constructed Springs Hospital is located
at 1212 W. Linda Ave. The hospital will be reviewed by
the Oregon Health Authority by November of this year.
He said the public
hearing will take place in
late September or early
October in Hermiston, and
will allow them to fi nalize
their application.
If the application is
approved, George said,
there are several other steps
Lifeways has to take in order
to open the hospital, such as
getting a Medicare license.
“The fi nal opening date is
still being worked out,” he
said.
He said construction
on the facility should be
completed by Nov. 1.
Currently,
Hermiston
is home to McNary Place,
which provides mental
health care and hospital-level
crisis care. But a psychiatric
hospital would take care a
step further.
As of 2014, Oregon had
8.7 psychiatric beds per
100,00 people — the fourth
fewest in the United States.
Eastern Oregonians are
often sent across the state for
treatment because there are
inadequate beds nearby. The
aim of a hospital like Aspen
Springs would be to treat
more people closer to where
they live.
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