Written by Karl Puckett
Tribune Staff Writer
The Montana Livestock Loss Board has received a $170,000 grant from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and $100,000 will be earmarked for projects designed to deter wolf attacks on domestic animals.
“Right now our board is trying to really get started on this effort because we’ve never had substantial funding where we could fund projects before,” said George Edwards, executive secretary of the board.
The remaining $70,000 will go to reimburse livestock producers that lose animals to wolves.
The board was originally formed in 2007 to compensate livestock producers and fund prevention efforts as the recovered wolf population grew. To date, however, most of the funding has gone toward reimbursements.
Edwards said the state can now look at ways to prevent losses from happening.
“This is really new for the board trying to figure out how to distribute this money,” he said.
That board needs to figure out whether to fund a few large projects or several smaller projects.
One idea that board members are interested in is livestock carcass removal. A carcass removal effort has been successful in the Blackfoot Valley, Edwards said. That effort was organized by a group called the Blackfoot Challenge. In that program, cattle carcasses are picked up and brought to a state Department of Transportation maintenance facility, where they are composted.
“What the board has said in the past, when and if they get the money, they want to make sure the projects are proven effective,” Edwards said.
Individuals or groups will be able to apply for funding, but to receive money they will have to provide a 50 percent match, Edwards said. Members of the Livestock Loss Board will meet at 10 a.m. at the Stage Stop Inn in Choteau Friday. Funding preventative projects will be on the agenda.
So far in 2013, wolves have killed 76 domestic animals: 44 cattle, 31 sheep and one goat. The Livestock Loss Board was created as the Livestock Loss Reduction and Mitigation Board in 2007. The name was later shortened.
On Oct. 1, the board will also be funding grizzly bear loss prevention work and loss claims.