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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