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About Wallowa County chieftain. (Enterprise, Wallowa County, Or.) 1943-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 4, 2015)
Wallowa County Chieftain TOUR Continued from Page A1 “Forest collaboratives are something I’ve viewed with a certain degree of skepti- cism, borne out of the fact that I wasn’t sure the state of Oregon should be spend- ing money to do work I think the Forest service should be doing,” Johnson said. “After listening to people say the collaboratives may be the last best chance to put people to work, get money for local counties and reduce ¿re dan- ger, I decided we shouldn’t let the perfect get in the way of the good.” The event included a par- tial trip down Redmond grade to visit Troy for a ¿rsthand look at some of the devas- COUGAR Continued from Page A1 Wildlife Services State Director David Williams said the agency had “great cer- tainty that the Canby cougar responsible was taken by the livestock producer.” It was a healthy, 126-pound male. age 3-4. In response to the incident and subsequent cougar sight- ings, the west side of the state began to take a keener interest in the growing cougar popu- lation. An Oct. 20 Oregonian editorial revisited the idea of counties opting out of the ban on hunting cougars with dogs – revitalizing the discussion. Four bills in the legislature that would allow this have already been Àoated – with identical wording, according to Brandon Pursinger, legis- lative director for Sen. Bill Hansell, R-Athena. Sen. Hansell introduced News wallowa.com tation caused by the Grizzly %ear Comple[ ¿re. Roberts stopped the journey about halfway down the grade, where the group got a clear view of some of the ¿re, in- cluding one home and prop- erty that bore the remnants of ¿re retardant. Chelsea 0at- thews, wife of rancher Buck 0atthews, gave a compelling account of the family’s expe- rience with the ¿re, and how two of their cowdogs were mauled by wolves in the after- math of the blaze. The tour traveled to Sheep Creek Hill, east of Joseph, where area ranchers expressed their frustration with wolves and getting the Oregon De- partment of Fish and Wildlife to con¿rm wolf depredations. Johnson described the trip as an eye-opener. “I enjoyed the trip enormously, found it his bill (SB 126) last session. Other replica bills that have been introduced include those of Sen. Fred Girod, R- Stay- ton, (SB 453), Rep. Wayne Krieger, R-Gold Beach (HB2050) and the House Committee for Natural Re- sources (HB 2181). The wording of the bills allows counties to exempt themselves from the ban if the county passes a measure al- lowing the hunting of cougar with dogs. The bills originally stalled because they went counter to the state ban, but the opt- out provision that applied to 0easure 1, the law to allow the sale and use of medical marijuana, set a precedent that is now being tested in other areas. State lawmakers may only introduce two bills each in the upcoming short session, and Sen. Hansell is committed to his two bills on management of wolves and compensation LalouSalon UNDER NEW OWNERSHIP! 541-432-HAIR Courtesy of Cynthia Warnock Local cattleman Rod Childers holds forth on the problem of wolves at Sheep Creek Hill. Bruce Dunn of the Natural Resource Advisory Council towed a portable toilet for members of the delegation. informative, and preparations on the ground were terri¿c,” Johnson said. “A lot of people took a lot of time to help us understand the issues.” Johnson also said that after listening to ranchers express their frustration about their lack of options if they dis- agreed with the ODFW about a questionable wolf depreda- tion, she was in favor of cre- ating a separate and neutral adjudicating body as an ap- peal avenue for ranchers. She also said she favored more for ranchers suffering wolf predation. He has a third bill related to human safety with regard to wolf conÀict on his plate as well. However, if the state Fish and Wildlife Commis- sion withdraws Endangered Species Act protections for wolves during its Nov. meeting, as recommended by the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, Sen. Hansell may be able to switch gears and reintroduce the opt- out bill on cougar hunting. “It’s possible one of these bills can be reintroduced in the short session, but we won’t know until December,” said Pursinger. Hansell said that if the wolf is delisted animal ac- tivist groups most likely will ¿le suit against ODFW and he will have to defend his stance, making it unlikely he will be able to put the cougar hunting ban on his short list of bills to present. Wildlife Service of¿cials are allowed to use dogs to hunt cougars that prey on domestic animals or stray too near to human habita- tion because the practice is 11/2/15- 12/11/15 Hours: Monday - Friday 7:00am to 7:00pm Saturday 9:00am to 1:00pm 603 Medical Parkway Enterprise, OR 97828 state money being furnished to ranchers for nonlethal wolf deterrents and for depreda- tion compensation. The bus returned to En- terprise in late afternoon, when politicians attended a meeting with environmental groups at the county exten- sion of¿ce. 0embers of the media were barred from the meeting at the request of the groups. Dunn, of the Natural Re- source Advisory Council, de- scribed the trip as a success. “It’s one of the best of this type of trip I’ve been on,” Dunn said. “The legislators asked questions, and it was a dialogue between people, not one-sided like some trips.” Commissioner Roberts echoed the sentiment. “The legislators asked very good and pointed questions whether it was the forest, ¿res or wolves,” Roberts said. “They engaged with the peo- ple of our county. In my opin- ion, it was more effective than some others we’ve done.” Sen. Hansell, who initiated the event, said he was pleased with the results. “I heard nothing but very positive responses of my col- leagues, about what they saw and who they met,” Hansell said. “They had questions answered and were already talking among themselves, asking what they could do legislatively to help.” Hansell also said he was glad that several state depart- ments sent key personnel as representatives. “They’re the nuts and bolts who will implement the pol- icies we hope to legislate,” Hansell said. more successful. According to ODFW statistics 56,000 cou- gar tags were sold in 2014 but only 20 hunters successfully ¿lled their tags. This is partly because 41,000 cougar tags were part of the Sport Pac, along with upland bird and waterfowl, spring turkey, gen- eral and controlled buck deer and elk and general or con- trolled bear hunting. 0any hunters have no ¿rm plans to hunt all of the animals in the Sport Pac, but want to be pre- pared if an opportunity pres- ents itself. Editor’s note: A previous version of this article greatly underestimated the number of cougar tags distributed by the state each year. 6 months $26.00 1year * $40.00 1year, online $40.00 Subscribe Today! 541-426-4567 • wallowa.com * $40.00 is the in county price, $57.00 for out of county subscribers. The Wallowa County Chieftain Thank you to the sponsors of the William Bart Singley Memorial Golf Tournament Winding Waters Clinic Brian Park, MD A9 STILL RUNNING OUT TO FETCH THE PAPER? 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