NEWS
MyEagleNews.com
Wednesday, May 18, 2022
A5
Ranchers frustrated by wolf kills
By BILL BRADSHAW
Wallowa County Chieftain
Submitted Photo
Tony DeBone has held his seat on the Deschutes County
Commission since 2011.
Emergency training
center planned
Bulletin staff report
REDMOND
—
Deschutes County Com-
missioner Tony DeBone
will be the fi rst chairman
of a steering team that will
work to develop a regional
emergency training center.
The project, known as
CORE3, is planned for 300
acres near the Redmond
Airport.
“The pandemic and
recent catastrophic wild-
fi res taught many of us in
Central Oregon that we all
need to be better equipped
for emergency situations,
especially
government
agencies,” DeBone said in
a news release. “Central
Oregon has a critical lack
of training facilities for
emergency service person-
nel and desperately needs a
central hub for emergency
operations if a major disas-
ter strikes.”
The multi-agency steer-
ing team is made up of 25
people overseeing the proj-
ect. Bend Police Chief
Mike Krantz will be vice
chair.
The current plan for
CORE3 is to create a train-
ing center for law enforce-
ment, fi re, paramedics and
other emergency person-
nel, at a cost of roughly
$41 million. It will include
an indoor gun range and
burn building for fi refi ghter
training. The project will
also function as an emer-
gency coordination center,
during major regional or
statewide disasters.
The complete buildout
of CORE3 is estimated to
cost approximately $116
million over the next 30-50
years, according to the
Central Oregon Intergov-
ernmental Council, a lead
agency involved in the
steering team.
WALLOWA COUNTY — Wolf kills of
livestock are becoming more frustrating to
Wallowa County ranchers and livestock offi -
cials when they see how those depredations
are handled by the Oregon Department of
Fish and Wildlife.
Crow Creek rancher Tom Birkmaier, who
is the president of the Wallowa County Stock-
growers Association, runs about 500 cows,
most of which have calves. He lost a half-
dozen animals to wolves of the Chesnimnus
Pack in late April and early May.
Birkmaier said he asked ODFW to
“remove” the pack — meaning to kill them.
In response, ODFW issued a kill permit
April 29. The permit, good through May 24,
allows Birkmaier or an agent on his behalf to
kill two wolves in Dorrance Pasture or Trap
Canyon Pasture, where the depredations on
cattle occurred, he said.
One of Birkmaier’s agents killed a year-
ling male on Tuesday, May 3, said John Wil-
liams of Enterprise, co-chairman of the wolf
committee for the Oregon Cattlemen’s Asso-
ciation. Birkmaier declined to identify who
took the wolf in an interview on May 9.
“I don’t want him to get threatened” by
wolf proponents, Birkmaier said.
He said that at the time of the killing, the
wolf was not actively attacking cattle, but
was in Dorrance Pasture along Crow Creek.
A targeted wolf does not legally have to be in
the act of attacking livestock, it just has to be
in an area where depredations have occurred,
he said.
Eff ective management?
Todd Nash, president of the OCA, a Wal-
lowa County Commissioner and a local
rancher, said that the state conservation and
wolf-management plan has two main parts.
“They’ve done one but not the other,” he
said. “They’ve been highly critical of poach-
ing, and I’m not defending that, but they need
to step up to the plate when it’s appropriate
for them to take lethal action, and they have
not done so.”
He emphasized that he doesn’t mean
elimination of wolves as a species.
“We’re not talking about total eradication
of wolves,” he said. “When wolves get to be
chronic depredators of livestock, then you
have to be eff ective managers.”
But the kill permit issued to Birkmaier
allows what is already legal in Oregon’s
eastside cattle country, where wolves were
removed from the state’s endangered spe-
cies list in 2015. State law allows a rancher
to eliminate wolves after two confi rmed kills
of cattle.
“We already have permitless take in
that anybody on this side of the state where
wolves are chasing, biting, killing their live-
stock, they have the authority to go ahead
and kill the wolves,” he said. “So the permit
they gave was not much diff erent than what
we already have available to us.”
Nash said the ODFW issuance of a kill
permit wasn’t eff ective wolf management.
“Their response was to give two kill per-
mits for a given area. In that area, it’s restric-
tive,” Nash said. “I’m going to use the exam-
ple of if (serial killer) Ted Bundy moved out
of one apartment and into another, you’d just
say, ‘Oh, he’s moved now. You can’t arrest
him.’ … Instead of the whole pack, they’ve
restricted the area down.”
Nash showed photographs of sheep that
were killed April 29 in the Elk Mountain area
of Wallowa County. Three lambs and two
ewes were killed and the report blamed the
depredation on coyotes, offi cially calling the
responsibility “other.”
He showed photos of fresh wolf tracks
nearby and a dog track to compare for size.
He also decried what the ODFW said was a
coyote attack.
“Those (wolf) tracks were right next to
where the sheep were killed,” he said. “And
they’re calling it a coyote? But there wasn’t
a fresh coyote track out there. There were
some old ones.”
Williams also was on the scene of the
attack on the sheep. He agreed it was a wolf
attack and not coyotes.
Nash said he went right to the top of the
agency.
“They’re absolutely wrong on this one,”
he said. “I talked to the director and asked
for a review, that they take a keen look at this
because they’re just wrong.”
Like Birkmaier about his agent who
shot a wolf, the owner of the sheep wanted
to remain anonymous. Both hope to keep a
good relationship with the ODFW.
Birkmaier said the local ODFW agents
have off ered to help tend his cattle.
Agency report
The most recent livestock kills in Wal-
lowa County reported on ODFW’s wolf dep-
redation report were on April 30. Three more
attacks were listed in Baker County on May
5.
Birkmaier said he’s lost a couple more
calves this month and he’s spending time
treating a calf that he’s not sure will survive.
“I’m spending an hour a day doctoring
the other one,” he said. “I can’t get ahead of
the infection.”
He said he understands it takes a while
for the agency to complete investigations and
list the depredations, but wolves don’t wait
around for agency paperwork.
“Generally, they take great deal of time
when time is of the essence,” Williams said.
Dennehy said determinations of reported
wolf kills are generally reported within 48
hours of a producer’s report. When the agen-
cy’s determination is considered unsatis-
factory to the producer, a review process is
available.
COPS AND COURTS
Circuit Court
May 5: Dakota Charles Stout,
24, of John Day was found guilty
of being a felon in possession of
a restricted weapon in connec-
tion with an incident on March 1.
He was sentenced to three years of
supervised probation and ordered
to complete the Harney County
Treatment Court program. A charge
of carrying a concealed weapon
was dismissed.
May 5: Dakota Charles Stout,
24, of John Day pleaded guilty to
fi rst-degree criminal trespass, sec-
ond-degree criminal mischief and
harassment, all misdemeanors, in
connection with an incident that
occurred on Oct. 4. A count of
interfering with making a report
was dismissed. Stout was sen-
tenced to three years of supervised
probation and was ordered to com-
plete the Harney County Treatment
Court program.
May 5: Based on guilty pleas
he entered at a previous hearing in
March, Dakota Charles Stout, 24,
of John Day was sentenced on two
counts of delivery of methamphet-
amine and one count of unlawful
possession of methamphetamine
stemming from an incident in July
2020. Stout was sentenced to three
years of supervised probation and
was ordered to complete the Grant
County Treatment Court program.
May 10: Ty Brandon Prusak,
23, of Bend pleaded guilty of fail-
ure to appear on a criminal cita-
tion for missing a court hearing
on a probation violation charge in
December 2020. He was sentenced
to 30 days in jail.
Oregon State Police
April 26
10:41 a.m.: Trooper responded
to a crash on Highway 26 near
milepost 164. It was determined
that a Ford Explorer had pulled off
the highway onto the eastbound
shoulder and was preparing to turn
left into the westbound lane. As an
eastbound farm truck approached,
the Explorer pulled into the east-
bound lane and stopped in the
truck’s path. The truck swerved
and went into a sideways slide,
striking the Explorer. No injuries
were reported. The driver of the
Explorer, Terri Denise Pine, 57, of
Baker City, was cited for failure to
yield. Both vehicles were driven
from the scene.
April 28
8:17 a.m.: Trooper responded to
the scene of a single-vehicle crash
on Highway 26 near milepost 54, in
Wheeler County. A red Chevrolet
Silverado pickup heading west on
the highway had gone off the road
and down an embankment. Evi-
dence suggested the driver commit-
ted suicide inside the truck after the
crash. The wreck was discovered
by a passing Oregon Department
of Transportation worker, likely a
day after the incident. The driver
has been identifi ed as a 54-year-
old Prineville man. The death is
being investigated by the Wheeler
County Sheriff ’s Offi ce.
May 1
3:08 p.m.: Trooper stopped to
investigate a disabled vehicle on
Highway 26 near milepost 138.
The trooper recognized one of the
vehicle occupants as having an out-
standing arrest warrant and took
him into custody. Dakota Charles
Stout, 24, of John Day was taken to
the Grant County Jail and booked
on three warrants.
May 8
8 a.m.: Trooper responded to a
single-vehicle crash on Highway 7
near milepost 7. A Chevrolet HHR
had gone off the road, apparently
the night before, and rolled down
the bank, coming to rest on the pas-
senger side. No one was found in
or around the vehicle. There was no
sign of airbag deployment or bleed-
ing injury. The Oregon Department
of Transportation, John Day Ambu-
lance and Grant County Sheriff ’s
Offi ce responded to the scene. The
driver of the vehicle is unknown
and the registered owner could not
be contacted.
11:53 a.m.: Trooper responded
to a single-vehicle crash on High-
way 26 near milepost 190. A Toy-
ota Sequoia driven by a 44-year-
old Springfi eld woman struck and
killed a deer that was crossing the
road. The vehicle was damaged but
drivable. No injuries to the driver
were reported.
May 9
9:43 p.m.: Trooper responded
to Highway 26 near milepost 176
for a single-vehicle crash. A Cadil-
lac Escalade was heading east
when it struck and killed a calf on
the roadway, damaging the vehicle.
The driver, a 50-year-old John Day
man, was not injured.
Grant County Sheriff
The Grant County Sheriff ’s
Offi ce reported the following for
the week ending May 11:
Concealed handgun licenses: 8
Average inmates: 9
Bookings: 10
Releases: 18
Arrests: 1
Citations: 2
Fingerprints: 1
Civil papers:
Warrants processed: 15
Assist/welfare check: 2
Search and rescue: 0
Dispatch
Grant County dispatch worked
161 calls during the week ending
May 11, including:
• Oregon State Police
May 5
1:03 p.m.: Responded with
Grant County Sheriff ’s Offi ce to
Highway 26 near milepost 172 for
a driving complaint.
May 6
7:52 p.m.: Advised of an out-
of-gas motorist on Highway 26
near milepost 165.
May 7
7:11 a.m.: Advised of a vehi-
cle vs. deer collision on Highway
395 North near milepost 106B. No
injuries reported.
May 8
11:49 a.m.: Advised of a vehi-
cle vs. deer collision on Highway
26 near milepost 149. No injuries
reported.
12:40 p.m.: Advised of a driv-
ing complaint on Highway 26 near
milepost 166.
8:31 p.m.: Advised of a dis-
abled vehicle on Highway 26 near
milepost 166.
May 9
7:34 a.m.: Advised of cows on
the roadway on Highway 26 near
Dayville.
8:26 p.m.: Advised of cows on
the roadway on Highway 26 near
milepost 165.
8:45 p.m.: Advised of cows on
Highway 26 near Dayville.
9:36 p.m.: Advised of a vehicle
vs. cow collision on Highway 26
near Prairie City.
• Grant County Sheriff
May 5
10:11 a.m.: Advised of suspi-
cious vehicle on Northeast Third
Avenue east of the county fair-
grounds, John Day.
12:03 p.m.: Responded to
Highway 395 south of Grant Union
High School, John Day, for an ani-
mal complaint.
3:05 p.m.: Responded to Gran-
ite for a subject with mental health
issues.
3:38 p.m.: Responded to Sil-
vers Lane, Mt. Vernon, for a wel-
fare check.
5:16 p.m.: Received a report of
a burglary at an address on High-
way 395 South in Canyon City.
7:52 p.m.: Responded to West
Main Street, John Day, for a suspi-
cious person.
May 6
8:22 a.m.: Responded to Sil-
vers Lane, Mt. Vernon, for a release
agreement violation.
9:04 a.m.: Responded with
Oregon State Police to Spray for a
driving complaint.
10:32 a.m.: Responded to Prai-
rie City Park for a criminal mis-
chief complaint.
9:17 p.m.: Responded to Les
Schwab, John Day, for a burglar
alarm.
10:18 p.m.: Responded to
North Johnson Street, Prairie City,
for a suspicious vehicle.
May 7
8:18 a.m.: Responded to Can-
yon Creek Lane, south of Canyon
City, for a welfare check.
10:39 a.m.: Responded to
McHaley Street, Prairie City, for a
civil problem.
11:04 a.m.: Responded to West
Main Street, John Day, for a dis-
pute report.
12:27 p.m.: Responded to the
Sinclair station, John Day, for a
report of shots fi red within the city
limits or urban growth boundary.
5:15 p.m.: Responded to High-
way 26 near milepost 175 to assist
a motorist.
May 8
8:59 a.m.: Responded to Ingle
Creek to deliver an emergency
message.
10:37 a.m.: Responded to North
McHaley Avenue, Prairie City, for
a civil problem.
Noon: Responded to Depot
Park, Prairie City, for a juvenile
problem.
2:51 p.m.: Responded to North
McHaley Avenue, Prairie City, for
a civil problem.
4:56 p.m.: Responded to Les
Schwab, John Day, for a burglar
alarm.
5:19 p.m.: Responded to Cou-
gar Crossing Road, Canyon City,
for a welfare check.
6:42 p.m.: Responded to High-
way 26 near milepost 160 for a
livestock complaint.
10:25 p.m.: Received a parking
and noise complaint from Fourth
Street, Prairie City.
May 9
12:36 p.m.: Responded to
Maple Street, Granite, for a wel-
fare check.
1:44 p.m.: Responded to Elk-
horn Motel, John Day, for a wel-
fare check.
4:59 p.m.: Responded to Les
Schwab, John Day, for suspicious
circumstances.
6:24 p.m.: Responded to River-
side Mobile Home Park, John Day,
for an animal complaint.
10:43 p.m.: Responded to
Southwest Brent Street, John Day,
for a 911 call with a dispute in
the background; caller had mental
health issues and was in distress.
May 10
1:02 p.m.:
Responded
to
Bumpy Road, John Day, for an ani-
mal complaint.
2:52 p.m.: Responded to
Chester’s Market, John Day, for a
theft report.
8:13 p.m.: Responded to
Highway 26 near milepost 159 to
check on parked vehicle. Cynthia
Anne Pacifi co, 53, of San Diego
cited on charges of open container
and driving while suspended.
11:12 p.m.: Responded to Elk-
horn Motel, John Day, to follow
up on a theft report. Kassidy lee
Williams, 21, of John Day cited.
May 11
8:14 a.m.: Responded to
Bumpy Road, John Day, for a
barking dog complaint.
10:27 a.m.: Responded to
Southwest Seventh Avenue, John
Day, for a civil issue.
2:22 p.m.: Responded to Sil-
vers Lane, Mt. Vernon, for war-
rant service. Storm L. Mensch,
23, of Mt. Vernon arrested on
three outstanding warrants.
2:25 p.m.: Responded to West
Franklin Street, Dayville, for a
welfare check.
• John Day Ambulance
May 4
8:02 p.m.: Dispatched to
South Main Street, Prairie City,
for an 88-year-old male with loss
of appetite and weakness.
May 5
5:14 p.m.: Dispatched to
North Main Street, Prairie City,
for a 65-year-old female with dif-
fi culty breathing.
May 6
1:14 p.m.: Dispatched to Han-
son Lane, Mt. Vernon, for an
unresponsive 95-year-old female.
May 7
1:53 a.m.: Patient transfer at
the airport.
3:19 p.m.: Patient transfer at
the airport.
4:02 p.m.: Dispatched to Val-
ley View Assisted Living for an
82-year-old male with a medical
issue.
5:10 p.m.: Patient trans-
port from Valley View Assisted
Living.
May 8
1:03 a.m.: Dispatched to
South Main Street, Prairie City,
for an 88-year-old male with
weakness and confusion.
7:11 a.m.: Dispatched to
Highway 7 near milepost 7 for a
motor vehicle crash.
4:49 p.m.: Dispatched to
Screech Alley Loop for a 64-year-
old male with fl u-like symptoms.
May 9
8:04 a.m.: Patient transport,
Burns.
11:14 a.m.: Dispatched to Val-
ley View Assisted Living for an
87-year-old male with a medical
issue.
12:45 p.m.: Dispatched to
Harper Creek Road, Mt. Vernon,
for an 80-year-old female with
seizures.
May 11
10:44 a.m.: Dispatched to
West Main Street for a 70-year-
old female with a fall injury.
1:24 pm.: Dispatched to
West Main Street for a 55-year-
old female requesting medical
transport.
4:32 p.m.: Dispatched to
North Dayton Street for a 78-year-
old male in need of a list assist.
• Seneca Ambulance
May 4
6:46 p.m.: Dispatched to B
Avenue for a 62-year-old male with
a fall injury. John Day Ambulance
also responded.
• John Day Fire
May 7
3:36 a.m.: Responded to Dog
Patch Lane for a brush fi re.
• Dayville Fire
May 6
8:55 a.m.:
Dispatched
to Thompson Avenue for an
86-year-old male with a fall
injury. John Day Ambulance also
responded.
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