By MITCH LIES
Capital Press
ONTARIO, Ore. — Wallowa County ranchers chose not to submit compensation requests for dozens of missing cattle in the first round of awards from the state’s wolf compensation program.
“We chose not to this time around because we wanted to make sure we had the program set up right in our county,” said Rod Childers, chair of the Oregon Cattlemen’s Association’s Wolf Committee and a Wallowa County rancher.
And, he said: “We would have broke the fund.”
Ranchers reported 27 missing head of cattle in the vicinity of the Imnaha wolf pack last year, Childers said. The pack has killed more than 20 head of livestock in recent years.
Ranchers estimate a missing steer is worth between $850 and $1,300.
Childers’ comments came May 31 during a presentation on the wolf compensation program to the state Board of Agriculture.
Lauren Henderson, assistant director for the Oregon Department of Agriculture, told the board the state divvied up just under $83,000 among eight counties this year.
About $66,000 went to try and deter wolf-livestock conflicts through nonlethal management.
Ranchers with missing livestock are eligible for compensation under certain conditions.
Losses in weight gain and conception rates are not eligible for compensation, despite evidence showing cattle in areas with wolves are shown to have lower conception rates and less weight gain than cattle in wolf-free areas.
The Oregon Legislature budgeted $100,000 for the compensation fund for the 2011-13 biennium.
This year’s award leaves just $17,000 for the remainder of the biennium.
The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife is seeking a $25,000 federal grant that could be used to supplement the fund, Henderson said.
Under the program, counties form committees that submit grant requests to the state.
Counties requested more than $145,000.
Wallowa County, site of most of Oregon’s wolf activity, received the bulk of the funds, obtaining $13,320 to cover direct losses to wolves and $25,405 for nonlethal prevention of future wolf-livestock conflicts.