Plan to deal with wolves that kill livestock must be in place by Feb. 15
By Jennifer Jenks
Burns Times-Herald
Being given just a month to come up with a plan for the Oregon Department of Agriculture’s (ODA) Wolf Depredation Compensation and Financial Assistance Grant Program, the Harney County Court elected to form a Harney County Advisory Wolf Committee at their meeting Jan. 18. The application process opened Jan. 12 and closes Feb. 15.
“This is a nightmare that’s been dropped in our laps very suddenly by ODA,” County Judge Steve Grasty said, “and now this committee has to come up with a plan by Feb. 15.” Grasty added that if a plan is not in place by that date and wolves kill livestock here, the owners will not be compensated.
The ODA requires the committee to be made up of one county commissioner, two members who manage or own livestock and two members who advocate wolf conservation or wolf co-existence with ranchers. The committee must then choose two business members from the community, making a total of seven committee members.
With the deadline approaching so quickly, Grasty advised the only option would be to form the committee, have them look at Wallowa County’s plan (which is the only county that has one done) and come up with a plan based on that.
Commissioner Dan Nichols agreed to be the county court representative. The board discussed other possible committee members and came up with some possibilities to contact. The board passed a motion to appoint the named individuals if they are willing to serve and gave Nichols authority to fill any vacancies with anyone he feels appropriate, in the interest of time. They agreed to revisit committee membership and set the terms of the committee after the Feb. 15 deadline.
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