BAKER CITY, Ore. — The Baker County Wolf Depredation Compensation Committee has approved $87,000 in payments to ranchers whose cattle were killed by wolves last year, who have missing cattle, or as compensation for work they have done to deter wolves.

The committee received requests from about 10 ranchers, mostly in the eastern part of the county.

Wolves from the Lookout Mountain pack killed at least nine head of cattle and injured three others from July through September 2021. Those repeated attacks prompted Curt Melcher, director of the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife to authorize state employees to kill eight wolves from the pack.

Committee members are Baker County Commissioner Mark Bennett, Curt Jacobs, Tom Van Diepen, Evan Kaseberg, Levi Bunch, Cindy Birko and Shella DelCurto.

Birko and DelCurto were absent from the Jan. 19 meeting.

The committee approved compensation for these ranchers who had animals killed or injured by wolves last year:

• Deven Thompson, one calf, $850 (full amount requested).

• Phillips Cattle Co., $3,120 for three dead calves (full amount).

• Glenora Wright, $2,509.15 for two steer calves (full amount).

• Carlton Anderson, $850 for one calf (full amount).

At its Jan. 19 meeting, the committee also awarded money to several ranchers who reported lost or missing cattle that they believe were killed by wolves, or loss of weight due to possible wolf harassment.

• Lee Wright, $27,980 for loss of value of cattle that didn’t gain as much weight as expected. He applied for 50 pounds of lost potential weight on 400 head. This is full amount requested.

• Deven Thompson, $20,400 for four missing calves, 10 missing cows and one missing bull (full amount).

• Stan Gulick, $13,200 for 17 missing dry cows and 12 calves (full amount).

• Lee Wright, $2,320 for two heiferettes, each about 860 pounds, found dead, but not confirmed as wolf kills (full amount).

• Carlton Andersen, $2,550 for three missing calves (full amount).

The committee also had $13,500 for work designed to deter wolves, money that the county has to spend by Jan. 31, 2022, or return to the state (30% of the county’s allotment from the state must go to nonlethal prevention activities).

The committee approved the following amounts, all for hiring “range riders” — employees who travel in areas where cattle are grazing to try to deter wolves.

• Deward and Kathy Thompson, $9,800 (requested $18,775). The Thompsons’ cattle were attacked multiple times by Lookout Mountain wolves last year.

• Barry and Shella DelCurto, $1,450 (requested $10,975).

• Deven Thompson, $1,400.

• Colby Thompson, $500 (requested $1,425).

• Warnock Ranches (Jeanne Warnock), $350 (requested $720).

In addition to awarding money for 2021, the committee agreed to use money from its current year allocation to buy four radio receivers, at an estimated cost of $5,000 to $6,000, that would allow ranchers to keep track of the movements of wolves that ODFW has fitted with tracking collars.

The committee also decided to allocate $30,000 for range rider deployments.

Both county and state officials have advocated for the state to give counties more money to compensate ranchers for wolf-related losses.

Rep. Bobby Levy, a Republican from Echo, in Umatilla County, plans to introduce a bill, when the Legislature convenes Feb. 1, allocating $1 million for the compensation program for the next two-year budget cycle.

During 2020 the Oregon Department of Agriculture, which administers the wolf compensation program, distributed $130,164 among 12 counties, including Baker. That was just 37% of the amount requested. In 2019 the state awarded $251,529, or 58% of requests.

Bennett said last fall that he “wholeheartedly” supports Levy’s bill.

Biologist gives update

Brian Ratliff, district wildlife biologist at ODFW’s Baker City office, gave the committee an update on wolf packs around Baker County.

“The Pine Creek pack is no more,” Ratliff said, referring to a pack in eastern Baker County that killed four head of cattle and injured seven others in the Halfway and Pine Valley area during the spring of 2018.

He said some wolves from that pack had migrated to Idaho, where there is sport hunting of wolves, unlike in Oregon. Just a few wolves have been confirmed recently in that part of Baker County, and not on a regular basis.

“The Pine Creek Pack that caused a bunch of problems in years past are not there,” Ratliff said.

In that pack’s absence, the Cornucopia pack is still active in that area.

The Keating pack, which consists of at least 10 wolves, has four wolves fitted with tracking collars.

Ratliff said he’s targeted pups for collars because they stay longer with the pack, so their location is a better indication of where the bulk of the pack is roaming.

The Keating pack killed a herding dog in the Keating Valley earlier this month.

Ratliff said the Lookout Mountain pack, following the killing of eight wolves last year, is officially down to two wolves. He has had reports from people who saw a third wolf in the area, but that hasn’t been confirmed.