Wolf management could cost state
government up to $500,000 annually
Bessie Wetzell Newspaper Libran
University of Oregon
Eugene, OR 97403
By David Sykes
M a n a g in g O r­
egon's growing grey w olf
population could end up
costing state governm ent
up to half a million dollars
a year, according to a bud­
get report on the Oregon
D epartm ent o f Fish and
Wildlife (ODFW) website.
The cost to taxpay­
ers, and hunters to some
degree, to fund state efforts
reintroducing wolves into
Oregon also came up during
a program o f the Morrow
County Livestock Growers
annual meeting last week in
Heppner.
Rod Childers, Or­
egon Cattleman’s Associa­
tion (OCA) Wolf Commit­
tee Chair, told a group o f lo­
cal cattlemen that, counting
local biologists’ salaries,
the state is actually spend­
ing closer to $608,000 dur­
ing the current biennium on
wolf management. Childers
said the m ajority o f that
money is coming from the
federal governm ent, but
that $53,000 to $55,000 is
actually coming from tag
and license fees charged to
Oregon hunters.
A ccording to the
ODFW website, projecting
out into the future, “Oregon
expects to have to spend
an estimated $400,000 to
$500,000 annually to man­
age this species.”
C h ild e rs sp e n t
Morrow County, Heppner, Oregon most of his time at the lo­
cal c a ttle m e n ’s m eeting
talking about the best way
for cattlemen to handle the
com ing influx o f w olves
into Morrow County. Hav­
ing lived and ranched in
Wallowa County, Childers
knows first-hand about the
effect o f w olves on the
cattle business, and what
to do when there is a wolf
kill. Wallowa County has
recorded 22 livestock kills
since May o f 2010.
“The first thing to
do if you suspect one o f
your cows (or other ani-
50 «?
VOL. 131
NO. 3 8 Pages
Wednesday, January 18, 2012
Town and Country Awards
winners announced
The H ep p n er
C h am b er o f C om m erce
Town and Country Com ­
munity Awards event, spon­
sored by CenturyLink, was
held at the Morrow County
Fairgrounds on Thursday,
January 12. This y e a r ’s
them e was “ People, the
Shining Light o f Our Com­
m unities.” The following
awards were given out:
Y outh R e c o g n i­
tion, Zechariah Hintz; Busi­
ness o f the Year, H ow e’s
About Pizza; Woman o f the
Year, Judy
B uschke;
M an o f the
Year, Chuck
Bailey; Cit­
izen-Educa­
tor o f Year,
Sherry Mat-
Zech Hintz
te s o n ; and
L i fe t i m e
mals) was killed by a wolf
is to call your local sheriff,”
Childers said. He said the
sheriff will treat the kill
just like a crime scene, call
the appropriate people from
ODFW and the federal Fish
& Wildlife, and determine
if the kill was by a wolf.
C hilders said docum ent­
ing w olf kills will not only
get the rancher reparations
but also determ ine if the
w olf might be taken out.
The state has authorized
$100,000 in reparations
money to be paid to ranch­
ers who lose cattle.
“ Don’t be driving
around and letting the dogs
run all over the place if
you come upon a suspect­
ed kill,” Childers told the
ranchers. “Stay out o f the
area and call the sheriff.”
F ie ld b io lo g is t
Russ M organ (N R S3) is
the state o f Oregon Wolf
Coordinator; his proposed
budget on the ODFW web
site is broken down as fol­
lows:
Table X -l. Potential Line Item Coats Associated with Implementation of the Wolf
Conservation and Management Plan
Estimated Cost
Comments
Line Item
S99.59C)
A n n u a l salary p lu s b e n e fits.
Field biologist (NRS 3)
$ 5 6 ,5 4 0
Field biologist assistant(NRS 1) A n n u a l salary p lu s b e n e fits.
Tim Collins and daughter Maggie provided entertainment
for the 2012 Town and Country Awards last Thursday. -Photo
by David Sykes
Achievement, Randall Pe­
terson.
The 2011 Youth
Recognition Award recipi­
ent is Zech Hintz. Hintz,
a senior at Heppner High
School, is involved with
student council. FFA, 4-H,
choir, drama and the RDI
Ford Leadership program.
He is a student representa­
tive on the com m unity’s
-See TOWN & COUNTRY/
PAGE THREE
New bakery gives sweet
touch to Main Street
By A ndrea Di Salvo
Heppner shoppers
who were out early on Mon­
day may have noticed the
sm ell o f baking w afting
down Main Street.
T h a t ’s b e c a u s e
Lisa Larsen, known as The
Pastry Peddler, has opened
a new bakery in conjunction
with Sweet Productions and
The Victorian Rose in Hep­
pner. The Pastry Peddler,
which had its opening on
January 16, will provide
baked goodies like turn­
overs, doughnuts, cinna­
mon rolls, muffins, Danish,
cookies and more.
The hours of opera­
tion will be the same as the
V ictorian Rose: M onday
through Friday from 8:30
a.m. to 5:30 p.m. and Sat­
urday from 9:30 a.m. to 3
p.m., with Early Bird morn­
ing openings o f 6:30 a.m.
on M onday, W ednesday
and Friday. During the early
morning openings, Lisa will
offer biscuits and gravy in
addition to her selection of
sweets.
F o rty -n in e -y e a r-
old L arsen w as born in
Albany, OR; their family
This photo of a wolf as compared to a coyote was passed around
at the Morrow County Cattleman's Association meeting last
Thursday to illustrate the large size of wolves. -Contributed
photo
W o u ld a s sist p r o je c t m a n a g e r
w ith ra d io tr a c k in g a n d
c o lla rin g .
Vehicle/mileage
Radio collar, receivers, and
related equipment
GPS radio collar and related
equipment
A n n u a l c o s t.
C o s t p e r c o lla r is $ 4 0 0 . In itia l
$ 1 9 ,0 0 0
1 $ 6 ,0 0 0
p u r c h a s e o f 10 co llars.
C o s t p e r c o lla r is S3,OCX).
$ 1 8 ,0 0 0
E x p e c te d p u r c h a s e o f six
c o lla rs.
Sampling equipment and lab
fee
Training
Office supplies and equipment
Wildlife Services assistance
Flight time (for capture and
radio tracking)
Public information officer
A n n u a l c o s t f o r b lo o d te s ts , etc.
$ 4 ,0 0 0
A n n u a l c o s t a n d as n e e d e d .
SI, 5 0 0
C o m p u te r , p r in te r, p h o n e , etc.
$ 1 0 ,0 0 0
A n n u a l c o s t.
$ 1 2 5 ,0 0 0
A n n u a l c o s t f o r 1 50 h o u r s a t
$ 3 7 ,5 0 0
$ 2 5 0 /h r .
A n n u a l c o s t. L ikely w o u ld b e
S 2 5 .0 0 0
S5 0 ,OCX)
0 .2 5 - 0 .5 0 F T E p lu s a s s o c ia te d
b e n e f its , s u p p lie s a n d tra v e l.
Outreach materials
A n n u a l c o s ts f o r p r in tin g a n d
d e s ig n . C o s ts c o u ld d e c re a s e
Research
C o s t w ill d e p e n d o n re s e a rc h
S15.0CX)
o v e r tim e.
S 2 5 0 .0 0 0
to p ic s , c o o p e r a to r s a n d s ta te
ro le .
Lisa Larsen (center) joins mom, Marti (left), of the Victorian
Rose and sister, Jodi (right), of Sweet Productions. The Pastry
Peddler, will offer baked goods through Sweet Productions six
days a week. - Photo by Andrea Di Salvo
had a farm near Labanon,
OR. She says her family
m oved quite a bit when
she was young, throughout
Alaska and the Northwest,
but she grad u ated from
West Albany High School.
She then continued on to
Linn-Benton Com m unity
College, where she studied
accounting and business
management. That took her
on the path to becoming a
full-charge bookkeeper, an
occupation in which she
continued for the next 30
years.
L a rse n says she
also moved around as an
adult. She was married in
Washington and lived there
and in C alifornia before
returning to Oregon to raise
her daughter, Jenipher. Lar­
sen and her daughter are not
strangers to Heppner. They
lived here for a time and
Jenipher, now 23, had the
chance to attend Heppner
High School, playing junior
-See PASTRY PEDDLER/
PAGE FIVE
Heppner’s law enforcement
services meeting Jan. 24
A public meeting to discuss law enforcement services provided to the city o f
Heppner by the Morrow County Sheriff’s Office will be held at Heppner City Hall on
Tuesday, January 24 from 6-7 p.m.
»
Experts have said
wolves are either already
in Morrow County or are
very close, and C hilders
spent quite a bit o f time
telling local ranchers what
he and other cattlemen have
learned living with wolves
in Wallowa County.
“ C all the sh e riff
department if there is a kill.
The key is to get all people
(sheriff, ODFW and DFW)
on site at the same time,”
Childers said. “There needs
to be cooperation between
all three, especially if ev­
eryone knows each other.”
Childers said all three agen­
cies need to agree that the
kill was from a w olf before
it is official.
Childers said there
are some things ranchers
can do when confronted
w ith w o lv es, and som e
things they cannot do. One
th in g they cannot do is
harm the wolf, even if the
anim al is harassing their
livestock.
“Landowners may
scare aw ay a w o lf seen
chasing or in close prox­
imity to livestock,” local
O D FW b io lo g is t Steve
Cherry told the group. He
said the US Fish & Wildlife
Service does “not have the
legal ability to allow harass­
ment o f wolves that may
cause bodily harm to the
animal or allow landowners
to use lethal control.”
C h i l d e r s said
ranchers should use non-
lethal methods, also, such
as rem o v in g bone piles
around calving areas, put­
ting up flagging and using
noise and strobe lights that
activate when a collared
w olf comes into the area.
The device picks up the
signal from a GPS-powered
radio collar but not a VHS
collar.
“But you have to
remember,” he said, “not all
wolves are collared.”
He said flagging is
practical on a small acreage,
“but you cannot flag 11,000
acres.” He said the pack in
W allowa C ounty has an
official roam ing range o f
640 acres.
As part o f the w olf
program, each county with
a pack will have a commit­
tee set up consisting o f one
commissioner, two m em ­
bers who own or manage
livestock in the county, and
two members who support
w o lf conservation. That
group will then pick two
business members from the
community, and this seven-
m em ber com m ittee will
-See WOLVES'PAGE SIX
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