BEND, OR -- Deschutes County is forming a new Wolf Depredation And Financial Assistance Committee, in response to last year’s declaration by ODFW that this is an “area of known wolf activity.” But the group is short one critical member before it can get to work. 

County Commissioner Phil Chang says the committee is needed to disperse state and federal funding for projects that could prevent wolf attacks on livestock, "There’s some really simple things that livestock owners can do to reduce the likelihood that wolves are going to be attracted to and harm their animals." They’ll also help compensate ranchers whose animals are killed. He tells KBND News, "They’re not set up to exterminate wolves from your community, they’re not set up to let wolves run amok in your community. They’re set up to try to strike the balance between having a state and federally listed species in your community, with certain protections, but also to provide as much protection as possible for livestock owners against losses."

The committee will eventually have seven members. It needs two livestock owners or managers and two representatives from the conservation side. Once those four are in place, one County Commissioner will be assigned and the group will select two additional business representatives. But so far, only one rancher is on board with two people who support co-existence. Commissioner Chang would like to see a hobby farmer involved, "We got an application from a commercial-scale livestock operation and it might be very useful to have a small farm owner with a couple of animals, who’s thinking about how other small farm owners with a couple of animals are or are not impacted by wolves."

Chang says other counties have had such committees in place for years. But wolves have become a concern in Deschutes County only recently, "We’ve had wolves travel through in the past. But now there are wolves that are taking up residence, having puppies and are going to establish what appear to be permanent packs of wolves. And that increases concerns about the potential for depredation on livestock." 

Applications are due by February 24th and can be submitted on the county’s website. 

Image: Trail camera photo of an adult wolf with five pups photographed on July 4, 2022 in the Upper Deschutes wildlife management unit in Klamath County. Courtesy ODFW