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0 of 3 Premium Clicks used this month SUBSCRIBE Print + Online Subscriber Activation | Register x Forgot Password | Need an Account? e-edition | subscribe | newsletter | deals Classifieds Jobs Autos Real Estate FEATURED » NEWS NOW Serious crime down in Medford ... Critter craze ... Surveillance video set to music gets leads and laughs ... Serious crime down in Medford ... Critter craze ... Surveillance video set to music gets leads and laughs ... WOLVES Jackson County looks at compensation for wolf kills Seven wolves now believed to be in Southern Oregon Comment By Vickie Aldous Mail Tribune MailTribune.com By Vickie Aldous Mail Tribune Posted Feb. 3, 2015 at 12:01 AM Updated Feb 3, 2015 at 12:17 AM By Vickie Aldous Mail Tribune Posted Feb. 3, 2015 at 12:01 AM Updated Feb 3, 2015 at 12:17 AM » RELATED CONTENT --> What do you think?Have an opinion on this story? Send a letter to the editor at www.mailtribune.com/sendletter. » Read more X What do you think? Have an opinion on this story? Send a letter to the editor at www.mailtribune.com/sendletter . • Jackson County won't set up wolf kill compensation program » Social News With at least seven wolves now known to be living in the area, Jackson County is looking at whether ranchers should be compensated for livestock killed by the predators. The county would need to set up a wolf depredation committee in order to qualify for state grants that help cover livestock losses and prevention measures to keep wolves away from cows, sheep and other livestock. In Oregon, 11 counties already have such committees. Jackson County would be the first county west of the Cascades to create one. The county's Natural Resources Advisory Committee has already recommended the Jackson County Board of Commissioners create a wolf depredation committee. Commissioners will discuss the issue during a work session at 9 a.m. Thursday in Room 301 of the Jackson County Courthouse, 10 S. Oakdale Ave. Canadian wolves were trapped and released in Idaho and Yellowstone National Park in the 1990s, but have since spread to Oregon. Most are concentrated in northeast Oregon, but the famous wandering wolf OR-7, along with his mate and three pups — collectively known as the Rogue Pack — are known to roam northeast of Medford near the Sky Lakes Wilderness, in an area straddling the Jackson and Klamath County border, according to the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife. Two more wolves have been discovered in an area southeast of Medford in the Keno Unit, which also straddles the border of the two counties, according to ODFW. Local rancher Dalton Straus said his grandfather was always on the lookout for wolves and would try to shoot them because of the damage they did to livestock. They were eradicated from Oregon in the 1940s. "They are the most devastating, meanest, orneriest animal on the planet. They kill to eat and also kill to play," said Straus, who runs cattle in Jackson, Josephine, Klamath and Douglas counties in Oregon and Siskiyou County in California. He doubts a wolf depredation committee in Jackson County would do much good for ranchers. A rancher would have to take time to go out with a fish and wildlife biologist to investigate the scene where a wolf is suspected of killing a cow. Most of the time, he said, cattle out on the open range would simply disappear and never be seen again. "If they are attacked by wolves, you wouldn't know until you start bringing them in," Straus said. Ranchers also point to other, non-lethal damage caused by wolves. Cattle near wolves often don't gain as much weight and have lower birth rates. There would be no compensation for that type of loss. Rob Klavins, wildlife advocate for the conservation group Oregon Wild, said wolf depredation committees have their pros and cons. "Some people feel they are a great tool to assuage concerns and address legitimate concerns so no individuals are suffering disproportionately," he said. "But there are concerns about whose responsibility is it to protect livestock from wolves. Is it a public responsibility to pay livestock operators out of taxpayer dollars?" He said thousands of cattle are killed each year by weather, disease, birthing problems and other predators, such as dogs, cougars and bears. But a relatively small number of livestock are killed by wolves, Klavins said. "Why are wolves in this separate category? Wolf depredation committees should be a transitional tool to help ranchers return to a reality of wolves on the landscape," he said. Approximately $110,000 in grants will be available in 2015 to compensate livestock owners for losses in 2014 and help them prevent wolf predation this year, according to the Oregon Department of Agriculture. In 2014, 18 sheep and four cattle were confirmed killed by wolves in Oregon. Other livestock were confirmed to have been injured by wolves, according to state figures. The Oregon Department of Agriculture awarded $150,830 in 2014 to eight counties east of the Cascades to cover livestock losses and injuries due to wolves, pay for depredation prevention and help counties administer their wolf depredation committee programs. At $134,860, Wallowa, Umatilla and Baker counties in northeast Oregon received the bulk of the money. Only $16,964 went to cover confirmed or probable livestock losses due to wolves. Most funding went for preventative measures to reduce conflicts between wolves and livestock. Those counties have experienced the most wolf predation on livestock. In 2009, two wolves killed 28 sheep, one calf and a goat in Baker County alone, according to ODFW. Tactics for discouraging wolves from killing livestock include burying cow bone piles, installing fences and alarm systems, sending range riders out on horseback or ATVs and changing calving times. Range riders are not only effective at scaring off wolves, they also deter cattle rustlers, said Rodger Huffman, a rancher and program manager for predator control and animal identification with the Oregon Department of Agriculture. The collars of collared wolves can emit signals that set off loud security alarms installed by ranchers, he said. "The concept is to spook them away," Huffman said. Ranchers who sign up for notification programs can receive phone calls, text messages or emails alerting them to wolves in the area, according to the department. Huffman said he breeds his cows so they give birth earlier in the year. He turns his cattle out into mountain pastures later, giving the calves more time to grow. "My calves are much larger and more likely to survive a wolf encounter," he said. "It's what I've had to do to minimize my risk. The only way to ensure no depredation is to have no wolves and cows together in the same area." Feeding cows at night can make them more likely to give birth during the day, when they are more safe from night-prowling wolves, according to Huffman. Although effective against coyotes, guard dogs are often killed by wolves, who view them as competitors for territory, he said. Oregon's wolf compensation program also compensates livestock owners for guard dogs killed by wolves. So far, there is no proof the Rogue Pack or the more recently discovered Keno Unit wolves have been killing livestock. In October 2014, state and federal fish and wildlife agency investigators examined a dead cow in a pasture outside Prospect. Readings from OR-7's collar showed he had been in the area and wolf tracks were observed in the area of the carcass. Something had been eating the cow. However, investigators found no bite marks inflicted while the cow was still alive and no signs of a chase, struggle or kill scene, according to a livestock depredation investigative report. The cow's owner did not qualify for compensation, which requires a finding that a death or injury was probably caused by a wolf or was confirmed to have been caused by a wolf. "The cause of this cow's death is unknown," the report concluded. Staff reporter Vickie Aldous can be reached at 541-776-4486 or [email protected] . Follow her on Twitter at www.twitter.com/VickieAldous .       By Vickie Aldous Mail Tribune MailTribune.com By Vickie Aldous Mail Tribune Posted Feb. 3, 2015 at 12:01 AM Updated Feb 3, 2015 at 12:17 AM » Comment or view comments Reader Reaction » STAY INFORMED Email NewsLetter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. 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