News
Blue Mountain Eagle
Wednesday, January 20, 2016
A9
Oregon bills seek to ratify wolf delisting
By Mateusz Perkowski
Capital Bureau
State snow report
already beats 2015
Warmer, drier
weather forecast
for NE Oregon
By George Plaven
EO Media Group
Oregon started off 2016
with more snow than at any
point during last year’s his-
torically dry winter, though
more is needed to ¿ll streams
and reservoirs heading into
next summer.
The Natural Resources
Conservation Service issued
its ¿rst water supply outlook
report of the new year, and
the numbers are promising:
on Jan. 1, snowpack was 138
percent of normal across the
state compared to just 53
percent a year ago.
Snowpack in the John
Day Basin was 159 percent
of normal compared to 95
percent last year. December
precipitation was 174 per-
cent of average, and precip-
itation from October through
December was 117 percent
of average.
NRCS summer stream-
Àow forecasts in the basin
range from 113 percent to
137 percent of average. If
conditions remain similar,
water supplies are projected
to be near normal to above
normal this summer, the
NRCS reports.
However, the long-range
forecast is iffy at best. A
strong El Niño in the Pacif-
ic Ocean will likely linger
into spring, and the National
Weather Service is calling
for warmer, drier weather in
northeast Oregon over the
next three months.
Melissa Webb, snow hy-
drologist with the NRCS in
Portland, said that could de-
rail snowpack in a hurry. In
fact, Webb said snowpack
has already dipped from 149
percent to 105 percent in the
Umatilla Basin since Christ-
mas Eve, showing just how
quickly things can change.
“A couple inches, plus or
minus, is a pretty big deal,”
she said. “We really need
to have pretty consistent
storms.”
December undoubtedly
delivered, with Jan. 1 mark-
ing the highest snowpack to
start a year since 2011. But
the effects of recent drought
years are cumulative, Webb
said. Simply put, it’s going
to take more than a month of
cold and snow to complete
the turnaround.
Data from the National
Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration shows that
2015 was Oregon’s warm-
est year on record, and the
NRCS already reported last
winter yielded the lowest
snowpack on record. Those
factors combined mean East-
ern Oregon is still in moder-
ate to severe drought.
Agriculture,
¿sheries
and recreation were all hit
hard by the 2015 drought.
Without enough snow melt
to recharge streams, some
irrigation districts were
forced to shut off water
early. Low Àows and high
water temperatures killed
off certain populations of
¿sh, prompting the state to
impose an unprecedented
afternoon ban on ¿shing for
trout, salmon, steelhead and
sturgeon.
Wild¿re season was also
roughly three weeks longer
in northeast Oregon, with-
out snow cover to keep fuels
from drying out early.
“We’re very excited to
have a good start to the year
after the drought last year,”
Webb said. “We want to
make sure we keep building
our snowpack to get close to
normal water supplies.”
Webb said she hopes the
three-month forecast proves
wrong. History has proven
there are many different pos-
sibilities when starting out
with a great season like this,
she said.
“We are de¿nitely in
wait-and-see,” Webb said.
“We’ve had our share of low
snowpack winters in recent
years. I’d like to see us buck
that trend.”
SALEM — Two Oregon
lawmakers plan to introduce
bills that would ratify the deci-
sion by state wildlife of¿cials to
delist wolves as an endangered
species.
The proposals, which will
be considered during the up-
coming legislative session in
February, are planned by Sen.
Bill Hansell, R-Athena, and
Rep. Greg Barreto, R-Cove, in
reaction to a lawsuit ¿led by en-
vironmental groups.
In November 2015, the Ore-
gon Fish and Wildlife Commis-
sion voted to delist the wolves
under the state’s version of the
Endangered Species Act after
several criteria for their recov-
ery had been met.
Under a management plan
for wolves ¿rst created in 2005,
the species could be delisted
after having established four
breeding pairs for three years
and no longer facing a sub-
stantial risk of extinction in a
signi¿cant portion of its range,
among other criteria.
Wolves were delisted by the
federal government in the east-
ernmost portion of the state, but
remain protected in the rest. Or-
egon wildlife of¿cials have the
jurisdiction over those wolves
under the state ESA.
However, Oregon Wild,
Cascadia Wildlands and the
Center for Biological Diversity
recently challenged the state’s
delisting decision in court, ar-
guing the decision unlawfully
ignored the best available sci-
ence about wolf recovery.
The bills, which will be in-
troduced in the House and Sen-
ate, will provide the Oregon
Department of Fish and Wild-
life — which is overseen by the
commission — more ammuni-
tion in defending itself in court,
Barreto said.
“We’re shoring up what the
commission has already de-
cided,” he said during a Jan.
14 hearing before the House
Committee on Agriculture and
Natural Resources.
Oregon has 81 documented
wolves, but the actual popu-
lation is likely in the range of
100-120 animals and a delisting
is necessary for the ODFW to
eventually manage the species,
said Sen. Hansell.
Such management could
involve hunting to keep popu-
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541.575.3533
112 NW Valley View Drive, John Day, OR 97845
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lations in check
Ranchers in Oregon have
abided by restrictions on wolf
management for the past 10
years, so now that the criteria
for delisting have been met, the
state government should up-
hold the wolf plan’s credibility,
said Rocky Dallum, political
advocate for the Oregon Cattle-
men’s Association.
“The goal was to strike a
balance between reestablishing
wolves in Oregon and meeting
the needs of those producers,”
he said.
During the decade that the
plan has been in place, ranchers
have felt a great deal of “heart-
burn” as state wildlife of¿cials
have refused to remove wolves
that repeatedly prey on live-
stock, said Todd Nash, a ranch-
er and chairman of the OCA’s
wolf committee.
Grant County
Chamber Members
Advertise Here
Contact the Grant
County Chamber for
more information
541-575-0547
Are you lonely?
Time to get some help?
Move into Valley View today. Experience great food,
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for medication or personal care (bathing, dressing,
laundry, incontinence services) if needed.
Courtesy of ODFW
OR-3, a 3-year-old male
wolf from the Imnaha
pack, is seen in 2011.
JFranklin@easternoregonrealty.net
The wolf plan should be fol-
lowed as planned rather than al-
lowing the courts to take over the
process, he said. “I want to bring
some sanity to this and let the
scientists and wildlife managers
manage, instead of some conser-
vation groups and a judge.”
Environmental groups op-
pose the proposed legislation,
claiming that it will unnecessar-
ily interfere with the authority
of the Oregon Fish and Wildlife
Commission.
Oregon has fewer than 90
wolves, but the state could sus-
tain up to 1,400 of them, said
Sean Stevens, executive direc-
tor of Oregon Wild.
Currently, the species oc-
cupies only 12 percent of its
potential habitat, he said. “The
status of wolves in Oregon is
still tenuous.”
In the past year, wolves have
only been con¿rmed to have
killed four cows, while the state
has more than 1.3 billion cattle,
he said. The cattle industry gen-
eratied more than $1 billion in
revenues, making it Oregon’s
top agricultural sector.
“The industry’s growth has
not been stymied by the arrival
of wolves,” Stevens said.
The proposed bills would
set a dangerous precedent of
the legislature inserting itself
into delisting decisions on a
species-by-species basis, said
Quinn Read, Northwest repre-
sentative of the Defenders of
Wildlife environmental group.
“We’re concerned by initia-
tives that would circumvent the
(wolf) plan,” she said.
Scott Beckstead, state di-
rector for the Humane Society
of the United States, an animal
rights group, said he’s worried
about the possibility of trophy
hunting of wolves in Oregon.
Hunters in Idaho, where
such hunting is allowed, have
demonstrated a “cruelty and
depravity” in killing wolves
that wouldn’t be tolerated by
the public in Oregon, he said.
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Highly trained service personnel at AGCO Parts make it all come together,
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Grant County Chamber
Monthly Newsletter
First and foremost, all of the board and
members of the Chamber of Commerce would
like to give a very special “thank you” to Ruth
Harris and Delores Bagett, who for many years
have been actively involved with the board
and volunteered their time and energy
working on many worthwhile projects to help
promote the Chamber, businesses and all the
communities within Grant County. We wish
them both the best in their retirement.
We also want to welcome Caleb Sturgil as a
new board member. Caleb was raised here in
Grant County and is now working for the
Oregon State University Extension Office. We
look forward to working with him. With new
ideas and a new generation of members, we
encourage more young people to get involved
and help make a difference in the future of
Grant County.
The Grant County Greenbacks program
continues to grow. Over $10,000 worth of
bucks have been purchased and are now
circulating within the county. Many businesses
have benefited from the program, which is
intended to help keep local dollars here in
Grant County. They can be purchased at the
Chamber office and make excellent gifts.
I bumped into John Bastian and I asked him
how the snowmobiling is going this year. He
stated that there are four plus feet at
Huddleston Park and that they have two
groomers operating. He said they have over
300 miles of trails open and that it is turning
out to be one of the best snow years in quite
some time, so get those sleds gassed up and
enjoy our beautiful mountains.
Our open business meetings these past few
months have been well attended and we have
had some very interesting guest speakers. Our
next open meeting will be Jan. 21, 2016, at
12:00 p.m. at the Outpost. Our special guest
speaker will be Megan Brandsma, who is the
chairman of the Grant County Library
Foundation. She will be giving us an update
and more information on the progress of the
new library. We hope that everyone will
attend and hear what she has to say while also
getting caught up on what’s going on with
the Chamber and other business owners.
As always, we are very thankful and
appreciate our many volunteers who have
been so helpful in manning our office. They
are an important part of our county presence.
Jerry Franklin
President
JOHN DAY
AUTO NAPA
721 W. Main St.
John Day, OR
541-575-1850
Grant County
Chamber Members
Advertise Here
Contact the Grant
County Chamber for
more information
541-575-0547
03340