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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (April 21, 2022)
NORTHWEST East Oregonian A2 Thursday, April 21, 2022 Oregon wolf population growth slows; mortalities rise By GEORGE PLAVEN Capital Press SALEM — Oregon’s wolf population increased by just two individuals in 2021, according to the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, while the number of wolf deaths was the high- est yet in a single year. ODFW released its annual wolf report on Tues- day, April 19, documenting 175 wolves compared to 173 in 2020. The count is a mini- mum estimate based on veri- fied evidence, such as wolf sightings, tracks and remote camera photographs. A total of 26 wolves died in 2021, including 21 killed by humans. Of those, four were hit by vehicles, eight were illegally poisoned, one was legally shot by a rancher on private property and another eight were killed by ODFW after habitually preying on livestock. Roblyn Brown, ODFW wolf program coordinator, said last year’s rise in mortal- ities “certainly played a role” in the latest population survey remaining mostly flat. “Despite this, we are confident in the continued health of the state’s wolf population as they expand in distribution across the state and show a strong upward population trend,” Brown said in a statement. Environmental groups Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife/Contributed Photo The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife on Tuesday, April 19, 2022, released its annual wolf report and found 175 wolves lived in the state in 2021, just two more than in 2020. not adequately addressing threats like poaching. “This year’s report is a call to action for agencies like (ODFW) and Oregon State Police to recognize the sever- ity of poaching incidents and take additional steps to protect Oregon’s vulnerable wolves,” Hanley said. John Williams, wolf committee co-chairman for the Oregon Cattlemen’s Association based in Enter- prise, said he was surprised by the wolf population being mostly unchanged, consid- ering ranchers are seeing wolves in areas where they’ve argued the report shows Oregon’s wolf population is in crisis due to poaching and other human-caused mortal- ity. Danielle Moser, wild- life program coordinator for Oregon Wild, said the deaths reported by ODFW are “only known mortalities and there are certainly many more unaccounted for deaths and poaching of uncollared wolves.” Zoe Hanley, Nor th- west representative for Defenders of Wildlife, said the group is concerned Oregon’s wolf recovery is Forecast for Pendleton Area TODAY FRIDAY | Go to AccuWeather.com SATURDAY SUNDAY MONDAY never seen them before. “We know their areas are expanding. We know the numbers are expanding,” Williams said. Most wolves in Oregon in habit the far nor th- east corner of the state, though they are branching into new territory. ODFW established four new areas of resident wolf activity in 2021, covering parts of Grant, Jefferson, Klamath and Union counties. The state now has 21 known wolf packs — 16 of which qualify as breeding pairs — in addition to eight Missing Enterprise man found dead in submerged vehicle in Wallowa Lake Wallowa County Chieftain Mostly cloudy with a shower Considerable cloudiness Mostly sunny Partly sunny Mostly cloudy PENDLETON TEMPERATURE FORECAST 58° 36° 59° 41° 61° 40° 67° 43° 67° 45° HERMISTON TEMPERATURE FORECAST 64° 37° 65° 44° 66° 41° 69° 45° OREGON FORECAST 69° 48° ALMANAC Shown is today’s weather. Temperatures are today’s highs and tonight’s lows. PENDLETON through 3 p.m. yest. HIGH LOW TEMP. Seattle Olympia 53/42 52/33 59/32 Longview Kennewick Walla Walla 58/38 Lewiston 55/39 64/37 Astoria 53/41 Pullman Yakima 59/33 53/38 57/38 Portland Hermiston 56/42 The Dalles 64/37 Salem Corvallis 55/38 Yesterday Normals Records La Grande 52/32 PRECIPITATION John Day Eugene Bend 57/40 54/32 53/29 Ontario 60/41 Caldwell Burns 59° 31° 68° 39° 90° (1934) 22° (1931) 24 hours ending 3 p.m. Month to date Normal month to date Year to date Last year to date Normal year to date Albany 56/38 Today Boardman Pendleton Medford 57/41 Fri. WSW 7-14 W 7-14 WSW 4-8 W 7-14 SUN AND MOON Klamath Falls 48/29 Forecasts and graphics provided by AccuWeather, Inc. ©2022 Sunrise today Sunset tonight Moonrise today Moonset today 5:59 a.m. 7:49 p.m. 1:16 a.m. 9:25 a.m. Last New First Full Apr 23 Apr 30 May 8 May 15 NATIONAL EXTREMES Yesterday’s National Extremes: (for the 48 contiguous states) High 100° in Vernon, Texas Low 9° in Northome, Minn. WALLOWA LAKE — A 26-year-old Enterprise man was found dead in his vehicle — which had been recovered from Wallowa Lake — on Friday, April 15. The body of Devin Nelson Woempner-Velarde was found in the passenger area of a gold-colored 1999 Toyota Camry, according to a Wallowa County Sheriff’s Office press release April 18. Woempner-Velarde — and his vehicle — had been reported missing since April 11. The Camry’s location was reported to Wallowa County dispatch shortly after noon on April 15. A Trace 1.08" 0.52" 3.03" 1.73" 3.29" WINDS (in mph) 59/39 52/27 Trace 0.95" 0.89" 4.55" 3.34" 4.96" through 3 p.m. yest. HIGH LOW TEMP. Pendleton 51/28 57/41 24 hours ending 3 p.m. Month to date Normal month to date Year to date Last year to date Normal year to date HERMISTON Enterprise 58/36 63/40 59° 31° 64° 40° 92° (1934) 18° (1927) PRECIPITATION Moses Lake 53/37 Aberdeen 52/33 52/36 Tacoma Yesterday Normals Records Spokane Wenatchee 53/40 NATIONAL WEATHER TODAY other groups of two or three wolves. Wolves also continued to prey on livestock in 2021. ODFW confirmed 49 cases of wolf depredation, up from 31 in 2020. In all, wolves killed or injured 95 animals, including six cows, 44 calves, 17 ewes, 11 lambs, 14 goats and three guard dogs. The vast majority, 92%, of those depredations occurred between July and November, with 86% on private land and 14% on public land. Williams said wolves are becoming an increasing problem for ranchers across the state, with the impacts extending beyond killed or injured livestock to lower birth rates for cows and lower birth weights for calves. He urged the state to take a more proactive approach to managing the predators. “The rancher is taking the brunt of it,” Williams said. “It is becoming one of the major expenses for the producer.” Between August and October, ODFW killed eight members of the Look- out Mountain pack in Baker County after wolves repeat- edly attacked cattle. Under Phase III of the Oregon Wolf Management Plan, wolves can be killed east of highways 395, 78 and 95 if they meet the state’s “ch ron ic depred at ion” threshold of two confirmed depredations in nine months. Ranchers must first be using nonlethal deterrents and remove all potential wolf attractants in order for an incident to qualify toward lethal removal. Western Oregon wolves were restored to the federal endangered species list following a court ruling earlier this year. The Oregon Department of Agriculture’s wolf compen- sation program awarded $130,814 in grants to 10 counties in 2021, which helps pay for nonlethal deterrents and provides direct payment for ranchers covering dead and missing livestock. caller reported the vehicle was in the lake at Wallowa Lake State Park off the boat ramp, the sheriff’s office reported. The Wallowa County Sheriff’s Office and Oregon State Police responded, and, with the help of state park staff and an underwater camera, found the vehicle submerged roughly 40 feet from the boat ramp. Wallowa County Sher- iff Joel Fish said April 19 it appears Woempner-Ve- larde drove off the ramp, and likely before April 15. The boat ramp was “covered with snow” that was reported as not having tracks in it when the vehicle was located. “The ignition was on and the car was in drive,” Fish said. “It looks like he drove off.” The sheriff added the cause of death, “appears to be drowning, (but) the medi- cal examiner hasn’t finished a death certificate yet.” Fish said park rangers reported seeing a gold-col- ored car at the park April 11 or 12, but were not certain if it was Woempner-Velarde’s vehicle. More members of WCSO, along with the Umatilla County Sheriff’s Office, responded to help remove the vehicle from the lake with the use of a tow truck. Joseph Fire and Wallowa Memorial Hospital EMS also responded. IN BRIEF Baker Tower to provide short-term rental housing BAKER CITY — The owner of the Baker Tower, also known as Hotel Baker, plans to turn unused office space on the fifth floor of the 10-story structure into short-term rental housing. Patrick Rhea, who owns the historic build- ing at the northwest corner of Main Street and Auburn Avenue, said he’s renovating the space to meet residential standards. Rhea said he’s aware a recent post on a local Facebook group, along with comments to it, raised the question of whether the space would be used as housing for homeless resi- dents. That’s not the case, Rhea said, but the confusion seems to have stemmed from the term “transient lodging,” which is in his application to the Baker City/County Plan- ning Department, which department staff approved. Transient is sometimes used as a synonym for homeless, but the word, when used to describe a type of housing or lodging, also means temporary quarters, including motel rooms. The tax that guests in motels, bed and breakfasts and vacation rental homes pay is Ian Crawford/Baker City Herald Patrick Rhea, who owns the Baker Tower, plans to transform unused office space on the fifth floor of the 10-story building into short-term rental housing. called the “transient lodging tax” in many jurisdictions, including Baker County. The planning department approved Rhea’s general proposal with a two-year timeline during which he would need to obtain a build- ing permit and pay for city inspections before renting the residential spaces. — EO Media Group Shown are noon positions of weather systems and precipitation. Temperature bands are highs for the day. -10s -0s 0s showers t-storms 10s rain 20s flurries 30s snow 40s ice 50s 60s cold front E AST O REGONIAN — Founded Oct. 16, 1875 — 70s East Oregonian (USPS 164-980) is published Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday, by the EO Media Group, 211 S.E. Byers Ave. Pendleton, OR 97801. Periodicals postage paid at Pendleton, OR. 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