For the week of March 5 - 11, 2003

State program to pay for unconfirmed wolf kills

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By GREG STAHL
Express Staff Writer

A new Idaho program will offer compensation to ranchers who lose livestock to preying wolves but can’t prove it.

An agreement between the Idaho Office of Species Conservation and six central Idaho counties spells out details for the Idaho Wolf Depredation Compensation Program, which will compensate ranchers for livestock losses that were not confirmed to have resulted because of wolves.

"This is a key and important piece of business that contributes to a well rounded wolf management program," said Office of Species Conservation director James Caswell.

Funding for the program will come from $100,000 in federal funds approved at the request of Idaho Republican Sen. Larry Craig and the Idaho Cattle Association. The amount of compensation to each rancher will be determined by a review committee. The committee will consider site-specific information regarding actual losses as documented in an application filed by a rancher.

Ranchers from throughout Idaho can apply, but will need to document the number of animals lost before wolf reintroduction compared with losses following reintroduction.

Defenders of Wildlife will continue to pay ranchers for 100 percent of the value of livestock "confirmed" to be killed by wolves. The group will pay 50 percent of the value of "probable" wolf kills.

"Wolf-caused mortalities are difficult to detect in range livestock areas," the plan states. "Heavy cover, large pastures, great topographical variation and complete carcass consumption by wolves lend increasing degrees of difficulty to timely detection of wolf kills…The Idaho Wolf Depredation Compensation Fund is designed to compensate for documented losses that are not covered by Defenders or any other sources.

The plan comes as a relief to those in the livestock industry.

"This Idaho Wolf Compensation Program will fairly reimburse a number of ranch families who have suffered major, sometimes devastating losses of income," said Idaho Cattle Association president Ted Hoffman. "This compensation program was developed by ranchers with the cooperation of state and local government, and it is a major step toward solving this problem."

Applications will be accepted for depredations that occurred from Jan. 1, 2000, through the present. Applicants will be eligible for compensation if applications and documents are submitted by April 20, 2003.

"Ranchers have been suffering for eight years because no payment is made if no dead calf is found," said Lemhi County Commission chairman Robert Cope. "In fact, the best estimate we have is that for every confirmed calf kill, between five and seven other calves simply disappear as wolf food. This program is late in coming, but at least we can finally get some compensation for the ranchers who have been paying personally for wolf reintroduction."

For information, log on to the Internet and go to www.accessidaho.org/species/index.html.

 

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