County approves compensation fund for livestock losses due to wolves

An Oregon county has approved a compensation fund for ranchers who lose livestock to wolves in the northeastern corner of the state, next to Idaho and Washington. The Community Alliance Livestock Fund, or CALF, was approved unanimously on Monday by Wallowa County commissioners, who hope it can serve as a statewide model for Oregon, The East Oregonian newspaper in Pendleton reported. The fund was proposed to commissioners last in by Dennis Sheehy, a rancher who grazes cattle in the heart of the Imnaha wolf pack’s territory in northeastern Oregon. CALF will begin as a community-based program accepting donations from people, businesses and nonprofits, but the long-term goal is to receive state and, or, federal funding, either through U.S. Fish and Wildlife, Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife or possibly through the federal farm bill, said Rod Childers, wolf committee chairman for the Oregon Cattlemen’s Association. Without a statewide plan, Oregon cannot receive federal funds for compensation — as Idaho and Montana do, Childers said...more