Wolves hot topic at Western Montana Stockmen's Association Meeting
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POLSON — Wolves were a major topic at the business meeting of the Western Montana Stockmen’s Association on Jan. 29 at the KwaTaqNuk Resort and Casino.
Western District supervisor of Wildlife Services Kraig Glazier answered questions from the group. Glazier and wildlife specialist Ted North respond to livestock producers who suspect wolf predation. If the predation takes place off the reservation, Glazier and North refer ranchers to their counterparts. For predation on tribal land, they notify Dale Becker or Stacy Courville with the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Wildlife Program, get their input and “go from there.”
Wildlife Services receives 72 percent of its funding from the federal government and the rest from producers, Glazier said. A $1,500 donation from an anonymous source, plus money raised from a handgun raffle, allowed the WMSA to add $5,000 to Glazier’s budget at the evening’s banquet.
Glazier added that 151 wolves were killed in Montana last year and the number of cattle depredations went up in 2010.
“Hunted wolves didn’t reduce the number of depredation,” Glazier noted. “Now, wolves are back on the endangered species list.”
The wolves are spreading, too. Glazier said there was a wolf predation in Fergus County, and sheep producers down near Great Falls have wolves. A depredation north of Helena netted a six-year collared wolf from Cody, Wyo.
“Stick a pin in a map and draw a circle 550 miles around,” Glazier said, explaining that’s how far wolves can travel. “They find a place to make a living.”
Becker talked about the CSKT Gray Wolf Management Plan.
“We’re back in listed land,” Becker said. “... You can’t go out legally and shoot wolves harassing stock.”
As far as wolf numbers, Becker said based on Fish Wildlife and Parks flights, “We have a minimum of 30 to 35 wolves on the reservation.”
CSKT Wildlife Management “is trying to get a transmitter (on a wolf) in each pack.”
“Transmitters give us handle on finding them — number of pups, group size, etc.”
An attendee asked a question about whether there was any crossover of wolf packs from the Condon area. Becker answered that there “definitely could be” crossover from wolves in that area.
Natural resources director for Montana Stockgrowers Jay Bodner updated the group on Montana legislative action. Bodner said senate and house leadership are very open to ag folks. Already 635 bills have been introduced and 2,200 are waiting in the wings. The Agricultural Coalition, of which Bodner is a member, sit down once a week and “talk bills.”
Bodner’s coalition offers a twice-weekly email or a newsletter to keep agricultural people up to speed on legislative issues.
Two issues Bodner mentioned were funding for Yellowstone area ranchers for brucellosis testing and confidentiality for those producers, whose names ended up on the front page of newspapers.
Also bison are a big hot issue, Bodner said. The first group of bison coming out of quarantine for brucellosis went to the Ted Turner ranch. The state of Montana also purchased a ranch near Avon as a potential site for more bison relocation, and “the neighbors aren’t happy” since brucellosis is highly contagious.
Nationally, Bodner said Representative Denny Rehberg introduced HR 509, an effort to delist wolves nationally.
A Polson landowner in the audience asked if the group was aware of a group buying ranches in the Malta area.
Bodner answered that the World Wildlife Fund, a large well-funded group, has a subsidiary called the American Prairie Foundation. Apparently the APF’s goal is to control three million acres on the Great Plains and restore it to “an American Serenghetti.” The group has already purchased 12 ranches near Malta and stocked them with 200 to 250 bison. They intend to grow the herd, Bodner said. Director of the Bureau of Land Management Bob Abbey already has gone to a meeting in Malta.
After Bodner’s presentation, other business included:
• CSKT Extension officer Christina Schwend presented information on noxious weeds and weed control grants
• John Swenson, representing Citizens Acting for Liberty, spoke to the group
• the voting body approved the election of board members Paul Guenzler and Dusty Smith and elected two more at-large board members, Greg Gardner and Destry Torgison.
Then the meeting adjourned, and the folks went straight to the cocktail hour and then the banquet at 6:30 p.m.
After a roast beef buffet, steak for some, Ted Odle, who is co-owner of the Montana Livestock Auction in Ramsay, Mont., spoke on the state of the cattle industry. Although China killed a million head of livestock infected with hoof and mouth in the last 10 days, riots in Egypt are connected to food costs and corn and wheat acres are going up, Odle said, so things look really good for the cow industry.
“The cow and calf man owns the factory,” Odle said, “and that’s a good position to be in.”
Odle urged caution and patience for livestock producers. Use caution because Eastern Livestock, one of the largest order-buying firms, went broke, he said. Know who you’re dealing with, Odle said and be on top of where the cattle are going. Use patience because buyers might have to buy cattle closer to delivery time.
Odle also cautioned agriculture people to pay attention to a national bill, the Food Safety Bill, which calls for a revamp of the Environmental Protection Agency and would place more restrictions on farmers and ranchers.
After Odle’s presentation, the WMSA honored rancher Dan Jackson with the lifetime achievement award before the speeches ended and the dancing began to band “Hard Cash.”
