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About The Blue Mountain eagle. (John Day, Or.) 1972-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 30, 2016)
A8 Region Blue Mountain Eagle Wednesday, November 30, 2016 Hunting stops growth in Idaho’s wolf population BSU survey shows broad support in Idaho for hunts By Sean Ellis EO Media Group As hunting is resulting in a slow but steady decline of Idaho’s wolf population, a Boise State University poll taken earlier this year showed strong statewide support for the hunting of wolves. Idaho’s minimum, docu- mented wolf population has been on a steady decline since the state began allowing hunt- ers to kill the animals. It peaked at 856 in 2009, the first year Idaho allowed hunters to take wolves, before a lawsuit that resulted in the animals being put back on the endangered species list halted that hunting season. Since wolves were perma- nently delisted and hunting resumed in 2011, the popula- tion has slowly declined and was 786 at the end of 2015. “The overall wolf popula- tion has stabilized since state management [and hunting] began in 2011,” said Ida- ho Department of Fish and Game spokesman Mike Ke- ckler. “That’s when that 30-40 percent population increase we were seeing annually stopped.” A poll taken in January shows support for the hunts. “Our ... survey showed it’s not popular to be a wolf in Idaho,” said Corey Cook, dean of BSU’s School of Pub- lic Service, which conduct- New EPA grant tightens oversight to prevent another What’s Upstream By Don Jenkins EO Media Group The Environmental Pro- tection Agency has award- ed Western Washington tribes another $25 million for Puget Sound projects, but with stronger instructions to collaborate with others, a re- sponse to congressional com- plaints that one tribe misspent EPA funds to malign farmers. The new grant to the 20-tribe Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission ex- tends for five years a federal program that financed What’s Upstream, a media campaign directed by the Swinomish Indian tribe portraying farm- ers as careless and unregulat- ed polluters. EPA staff members had concerns about the project’s tone and accuracy, but the EPA’s Northwest administra- tor, Dennis McLerran, stated in a letter in May to a lawmak- er that the agency couldn’t control the grant-funded cam- paign. The EPA did, how- ever, sever ties with What’s Upstream when confronted on the national level by angry federal lawmakers. Moving forward, the EPA will have 30 days to preview plans by individual tribes and also require projects to be peer reviewed, according to the agency’s agreement with the fisheries commission. The stipulations were not in the $18 million grant agreement the EPA signed with the fish- eries commission in late 2010. The EPA has always in- tended for its grants to foster cooperation between tribes and other groups, an agency spokesman said. The new agreement is more explicit, he said. The preview of proj- ects addresses “internal and congressional concerns and provide more clarity on the collaborative nature of the program and the ability to proactively intervene,” the EPA spokesman said in an email. The EPA and fisheries commission signed the agree- ment Sept. 30. It was made available last week at the re- quest of the Capital Press. The EPA’s new award comes as the agency’s Of- fice of Inspector General is still auditing whether the fisheries commission and Swinomish tribe misappro- priated the 2010 grant to lobby lawmakers. Contributed photo/U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service A gray wolf. Idaho’s minimum, documented wolf population has been on a steady decline since the state began allowing hunters to kill the animals. the results — strong support for wolf hunting — were the same. The poll results showed that 72 percent of people sur- veyed supported wolf hunting ed the poll. “People didn’t express a lot of support for wolves.” The phone survey of 1,000 Idahoans was conducted in all regions of the state and while 22 percent opposed it. Fifty-one percent of re- spondents strongly supported wolf hunting compared with 13 percent who strongly op- posed it. Even in Boise, Idaho’s main urban area, 64 percent of respondents favored allowing hunters to take wolves while 28 percent opposed that. The poll results show that Idahoans understand hunting is an important wolf manage- ment tool, said Idaho Farm Bureau Federation spokes- man John Thompson. “It certainly is a good thing to hear,” he said. “You cer- tainly wouldn’t expect to find that (support) in some of the other states that wolves are moving into.” After wolves were re-in- troduced into Idaho in 1994 and 1995, the animal’s popu- lation grew rapidly, expand- ing at a rate of 30-40 percent annually. Hunting has stopped that growth. “We’re getting over the honeymoon period (and) peo- ple see hunting as a good tool in the management toolbox,” Thompson said. While wolf hunting has been successful in controlling the animal’s population in Idaho, IDFG numbers show that wolves are getting smart- er when it comes to avoiding hunters. During the 2010-2011 hunting season, Idaho’s first full year of wolf hunting, 181 wolves were killed by hunt- ers. That number rose to 376 the next year but has declined each year since then, to 319 and then 303 and 249 last year. Umatilla Indian Reservation grapples with pipelines By George Plaven EO Media Group The explosion shook the ground beneath the Umatilla In- dian Reservation and unleashed a massive fireball that roared up to 500 feet into the air. On Jan. 2, 1999, a natural gas pipeline ruptured about a mile south of Cayuse at the base of the Blue Mountains, trigger- ing the blast that left behind a large crater and sent shrapnel flying hundreds of feet. “It sounded like a jet en- gine had crashed,” remembers Chuck Sams, now the commu- nications director for the Con- federated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation. Fortunately, no one was hurt and no homes damaged in the accident, but for tribal officials it underscored the potential danger of fossil fuel pipelines criss-crossing the landscape where American Indians live, hunt and retain cultural resourc- es. Now as protesters clash with police over the Dakota Access Pipeline on the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation in North Dakota, Sams said the CTUIR knows firsthand that some util- ities simply are not capable of protecting tribal resources and treaty rights. “For the Standing Rock Reservation, that’s what they’re EO Media Group/E.J. Harris Markers denote the path of the Tesoro Logistics pipeline at the point where it crosses underneath the Umatilla River south of Cayuse. trying to do,” Sams said. There are actually two un- derground pipelines that run underneath the Umatilla Indian Reservation — neither of which were originally negotiated by the CTUIR. The Northwest Pipeline, owned and operated by the Williams Companies, is what blew up on the reservation nearly 18 years ago. The entire line spans 4,000 miles over six western states, with the capaci- ty to carry 3.9 million dekath- erms of Rocky Mountain natu- ral gas per day. The other line is owned by Tesoro Corporation, an inde- pendent refiner and marketer of petroleum products based in San Antonio. Its Northwest Products System pipeline stretches 760 miles from Salt Lake City to Spokane, Wash- ington. It transports gasoline, diesel and jet fuel. Both lines converge on the reservation east of Pendleton, and were essentially inherit- ed by the tribes. The right-of- way for each was settled in the 1950s by the Bureau of Indian Affairs. At the time the CTUIR government was not developed to the point where it could pro- vide much technical or legal analysis. It wasn’t until President Gerald Ford signed the Indian Self-Determination and Educa- tion Assistance Act of 1975 that tribes, including the CTUIR, assumed greater control over their own welfare. The legis- lation also authorized the gov- ernment to deal directly with federally recognized tribes. “Those were the beginning days of the tribes developing government infrastructure to take over these rights-of-way with the natural gas compa- nies,” said longtime CTUIR attorney Dan Hester. “If there is a problem with the pipeline, we know who to call, and they know who to call.” The Tesoro line, through the BIA, was granted a permanent easement in 1970, Hester said. The original six-inch line was built in 1950, but has not been used for the past 20 years. An- other eight-inch line was built in 1957, running parallel to the first line, which is what carries petroleum products today. Company spokesman Bren- dan Smith said spills of any volume are unacceptable, and Tesoro conducts roughly 30 spill response drills annually across the system. In North Dakota, protesters have raised concerns over the Dakota Access Pipeline poten- tially spilling crude oil into the Missouri River, which is the reservation’s primary source of drinking water. Energy Trans- fer Partners is the developer of that project, reaching from the Bakken oil fields into Illinois. Gift certificates & live Christmas trees available! Call to make an appointment first. E ICAT ERTIF oms C T F o GI B l s ter B et G arde C n ity & John { & rairie 20-3329 een P __ Betw ay • 541-8 ____ D ____ ____ ____ ___ ____ ____ or:__ ____ F _ _ t _ if A G ____ ___ ____ ____ ____ ____ _ _ _ :_ _ ___ _ From ____ ____ ____ ount: _ m _ _ A _ ___ Value ____ m. ture: 30 p. Signa . m. - 5: R TOBE RU OC IL TH N APR a. Sat : 9:00 losed Hours - Fri. • C Sun. OPE Better Blooms & Gardens Between John Day & Prairie City • 541-820-3329 04867 Please join us on . for our annual Light up a Life event. Baker City 2830 10th St. 541-524-0122 We take this time to remember those in our community who have passed away, but continue to live on in our memories and hearts. We would like to invite you to include your loved one in this memorial service. Please bring a picture of your loved one to our office, or email a picture and plan to join us on December 6th, at Donations are accepted, but there is no cost for participating in this memorial service. 541-575-1648 mgibson@bluemountainhospital.org Every other Monday in John Day 170 Ford Rd. 541-575-1311 04834
