Ten States Allocated Funding to Offset Compensation Costs

Jess Edberg, Information Services Director — International Wolf Center, 04/13/2010

A new demonstration program designed to help livestock producers implement proactive, non-lethal tools to prevent wolf depredation on their animals was created not only to reduce the risk of livestock loss from wolf predation, but also to foster tolerance and positive coexistence between wolves and humans.

The Wolf Compensation and Prevention Program is part of the Omnibus Public Lands Management Act of 2009, with $1 million in funding approved by Congress as part of the 2010 fiscal year Interior and Related Agencies appropriation.

The intent of the program was outlined in a press release from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) on April 1: “The Wolf Compensation and Prevention Program, as described in P.L. 111-11, provides funding to states and tribes, with federal cost-share not to exceed 50 percent. Funds will be expended between proactive and compensatory activities. States and tribes will be able to use the funds to support qualifying non-lethal projects that reduce the risk of livestock loss from predation by wolves, or to compensate livestock producers for livestock losses caused by wolves. Tribal funding for the program will be announced at a later date.”

These federal funds will reimburse selected states up to 50 percent of the cost of compensating livestock producers for livestock losses from wolves and fund proactive activities to reduce wolf-related losses.

Grant monies will be provided to Arizona, Idaho, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, New Mexico, Oregon, Washington, Wisconsin and Wyoming. Funds will be allocated by state based on wolf population size and depredation levels and be distributed within the states on a state-determined priority basis.

Depredation compensation funding has long been a point of contention among wolf management interest groups and this event will likely bring the controversy to the surface once again. What is new to the issue is that this funding program also supports non-lethal depredation prevention tools and activities.

“Wolf populations are expanding in several parts of the nation, and this grant program gives us another tool to help states minimize conflict where wolves and human activities overlap,” said Rowan Gould, acting director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. “The true value of the program lies in its ability to both provide compensation to producers and support non-lethal activities to minimize their livestock-losses from wolves.”

The selected states will be responsible for notifying the USFWS of intended participation through an application and for insuring funds are distributed appropriately.

For example, program funding in Minnesota will be used to offset the costs of the compensation program administered by the state’s Department of Agriculture.

Read Full Post »