Union County Receives $81,000 in Wolf Depredation Funds
By Garrett Christensen on Friday, May 12th, 2023 in More Top Stories Northeastern Oregon News
UNION COUNTY – Spring may be a time of rain and sunshine, but it’s also a time for funding and planning. As of May 11, Union County has received $81,000 in wolf depredation funds from the state legislature.
According to Union County Commissioner Donna Beverage, a portion of the funds will be used to reimburse local livestock owners who experienced confirmed losses due to wolf depredations last year. The other portion of funding will go toward long term non-lethal deterrence and removal methods such as guard dogs, flags and range riders.
“We’re pretty happy about it. It’s the most we’ve ever gotten, for unfortunate reasons of course,” Beverage noted. “Union County has the highest wolf population of anybody in Oregon. Even though we haven’t had as many predations as other counties, we have the highest population of wolves.”
The funding itself is not representative of a one-off bill but is continually reapplied for, and individually approved, each year. As stated by Beverage:
“It’s been going on for several years, the predation, but they do have to approve a specific amount of money. It’s not like we just continue to get that money, so our representatives and senators are definitely fighting for that. But it’s kind of a bill that’s been in the works for many years. Whether it gets renewed every year, that’s always in question.”
