NEWS
Blue Mountain Eagle
Wolves
Continued from Page A1
New administration
and lawsuit
Mellgren said that both
Democrat and Republican
administrations have tried to
delist wolves over the years,
and they have failed every
time. He said the most recent
attempt to delist wolves came
out during the Obama years.
“Even with the change in
administration, we don’t think
there’s going to be much of a
change in policy as it relates
to wolves,” he said.
Mellgren said the group
knows they have allies in
Congress who are supportive
of their efforts.
“We need the judge to
resolve the case,” he said.
“We’re not relying on any
help.”
Smith
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Tyler Smith.”
In a Dec. 4, 2019, letter
to Olson, Carpenter said he
looked at the contents of the
extraction but “was not will-
ing to provide the flash drive
to the Sheriff or any other
local agency” and deleted the
contents.
Smith claims in the lawsuit
that Carpenter provided access
to, or described the contents
of, the extraction — includ-
ing sexual content and Smith’s
intent to report Abigail Mob-
ley to the DOJ — to others,
including Palmer.
“Carpenter provided access
to Screenshots of portions of
Olson’s phone to Palmer,” the
suit states. “Sheriff Palmer
showed intimate pictures of
(Smith) and Olson to mem-
bers of the community. The
Mobley Defendants likewise
obtained access to intimate
Mellgren said his grand-
father was a cattle rancher in
Kansas and that he spent his
summers on his cattle ranch
helping out.
“I certainly appreci-
ate what it’s like to be a cat-
tle producer and the impacts
from having carnivores on the
landscape,” he said.
He said reimbursement
programs pay for the value of
lost livestock, and many pro-
grams exist to help livestock
producers install deterrent
measures.
“We’re very supportive
of the programs to reimburse
livestock producers who have
lost livestock and injured
livestock and are very open
to continuing those conversa-
tions,” he said.
Mellgren said there is also
a philosophical divide about
whether or not the federal
or state government should
reintroduce wolves. He said
his group’s perspective is
that wolves are a natural part
of the landscape, and they
belong.
“We should find a way to
coexist with them on the land-
scape,” he said.
photos of (Smith) and Olson
from Palmer and/or Carpen-
ter’s copy of the phone.”
Olson has also filed a fed-
eral lawsuit against Grant
County, Palmer and Carpenter
that is pending. Carpenter did
not respond to emailed ques-
tions about that lawsuit, but
his attorney has filed a motion
to dismiss the lawsuit on pro-
cedural grounds. Palmer’s
attorney said the sheriff “never
possessed or reviewed any of
the material” Olson alleges,
and he has filed a counter-
claim for slander against her.
Grant County’s attorney said
“the County Court had no
involvement with any of the
salacious allegations at issue in
the lawsuit.”
The arrest
Smith claims in the new
lawsuit that Palmer informed
him he was being investigated
in late March 2019 because
his business card was found
in Olson’s vehicle and that it
could lead to his termination.
Wednesday, January 27, 2021
Oregon
Cattlemen’s
Association Wolf Commit-
tee Co-Chair Roger Huff-
man said the toll on livestock
producers is extreme, even if
they do not have wolves kill-
ing one of their animals. In
addition to the mental toll on
producers, he said, there is a
cost to set up the non-lethal
protections.
He said producers still
take a hit even if their cattle
do not get killed. Huffman
said cattle shed weight from
being pushed around the
pasture and trying to avoid
the wolves.
“Less healthy animals and
less gain per day, which is a
small incremental cost, but
when you have a couple of
hundred head of cattle, that’s
significant over that grazing
period,” Huffman said.
Huffman said, while the
programs do help, more
often than not, there is never
enough, and those programs
typically end up spreading
themselves thin throughout
the counties.
Huffman said, as far as
deterrents, the most reli-
able are heavy-duty electric
fences, which are incredibly
costly. He said that the envi-
ronmental groups should put
money toward non-lethal
deterrents as the association
has.
“All of the non-lethal mea-
sures costs money and time,”
he said. “And every one of
the producers would certainly
not like to have that stress and
that cost, but they’re here.”
Nash said he took part in
setting up some of the com-
pensation programs, and they
are not as “onerous” to apply
for as some might think.
However, he told the Eagle
the state does require addi-
tional forms that are more
“burdensome.” He said that
was disappointing.
The compensation pro-
grams, he said, are managed
at the county level, and those
committees should have more
autonomy to work through
those processes.
“The state has decided to
get involved in a larger way,”
he said. “And so it’s going
to be tougher than it has
been in the past, but I would
encourage people to hang
in there and apply for those
losses.”
In late March or early April
2019, Smith said he told Car-
penter he wished to speak with
DOJ regarding the criminal
investigation of Abigail Mob-
ley, and Carpenter told Smith
he would have DOJ contact
him, according to the suit.
Several weeks later, in April
or May 2019, Smith claims in
the suit, Carpenter told Smith
to be patient when Smith
informed him again that he had
information to report regarding
Abigail Mobley.
Smith claims Palmer
learned he was going to report
Abigail Mobley before June
2019.
“On June 20, 2019, Defen-
dant Palmer met with (Smith)
and berated him for his plan to
discuss Deputy (Abigail) Mob-
ley with DOJ,” the suit states.
“...Defendant Palmer asked
(Smith) if he was running his
own drug team or actively
investigating Deputy (Abigail)
Mobley. Deputy Smith said he
was doing neither.”
Palmer met with Zach and
Abigail Mobley in June 2020,
Smith claims in the suit.
“Defendant
Palmer
instructed (the Mobleys) to
destroy all evidence they had
in their possession regard-
ing Olson or regarding Dep-
uty (Abigail) Mobley’s mis-
conduct and that they were ‘on
their own’ regarding her con-
duct,” the suit states. On July
29, 2019, Smith again told
Carpenter he needed to speak
to DOJ regarding Abigail
Mobley, and he was finally
interviewed July 31, 2019,
and provided “information
regarding Deputy (Abigail)
Mobley’s criminal activities,”
according to the suit.
On Aug. 9, 2019, Smith
was placed on administrative
leave “for unidentified ‘pol-
icy violations involving ethi-
cal issues,’” according to the
suit. Carpenter said Smith
had been placed on leave “for
issues related to the perfor-
mance of his duties as a sher-
iff’s deputy.”
Smith remained on admin-
istrative leave until he was dis-
charged. Smith claims in the
suit that Palmer and the Mob-
leys “orchestrated” a plan
around August 2019 to get
him arrested and forced out of
the sheriff’s office.
“The Mobley Defendants
told (Smith’s spouse), falsely,
that (Smith) was going to try
to get full custody of their
children if she didn’t do
something about it imme-
diately,” the suit states. “In
response, his wife promptly
filed for divorce, emptied
her and (Smith’s) joint bank
account and, in early Sep-
tember 2019, lodged a crimi-
nal complaint against (Smith)
for attempted rape. Both the
lodging of the criminal com-
plaint and the draining of
the bank accounts was done
at the recommendation of
Grant County employees,
including the Mobleys.”
On Sept. 9, Smith was
arrested based on his wife’s
complaint. The trial is set to
begin April 5.
Livestock concerns
Police
Continued from Page A1
ways with everything we’re
talking about,” Councilor
Gregg Habberly said, refer-
ring to other city projects.
Green said in an interview
on Jan. 22 that the best way
to pay for services is to have
the city healthy and growing
with new development. This
would add more money to the
general fund through the state
shared revenue and property
tax increases.
“We’re just now seeing the
benefits of that, but it’s com-
ing at the end of 30 years of
decline,” Green said.
Green said there are
Department of Homeland
Security grants that could
help offset the costs, but the
money is not guaranteed every
year. He added that this is not
an easy conversation to have
because the department is
always busy and does a lot in
the community.
“They’re busy all the
time,” Green said. “It’s tough
because you want the offi-
cers to know how much you
value them. Just having a con-
versation about how we bud-
get appropriately, you want
to make sure they know how
meaningful they are to the city
and the residents.”
This council discussed
making this a temporary
option while the economy in
the city continues to rebound
with the completion of proj-
ects and growth in residents.
The council made no deci-
sion on Jan. 22, and council
members said it was import-
ant to get feedback from the
community, through a survey
or questionnaire from the city,
regarding the future structure
of the department.
“Give people the informa-
tion and allow them to speak
their mind and see where that
starts us,” Councilor Elliot
Sky said.
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