Confederated Umatilla Journal - Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla ...

Hungry elk descend on wheat fields
MISSION – An abundance of elk seeking
greener pastures below the snow line
this winter, the Oregon Fish and Wildlife
Department had to do more hazing than
normal, according to Greg Rimbach at
ODFW.
“In all that January snow, wintering
elk in the upper foothills came down to
valley floor and found winter wheat,”
Rimbach said. “Once they started it was
hard to get them to not utilize the wheat
for forage.”
Rimbach said ODFW watched the
elk, which numbered as high as 5,000
in the foothills between Pendleton and
Interstate 84 during the coldest stretches
this winter. That number had dwindled
to about 1,500 by mid-February.
“Every time you’d think they were
heading into the upper foothills for
bunchgrass and cheat grass, they came
back to the wheat. The wheat is vulnerable.
Sometimes it’s okay when the ground
is solid, but if it’s mud each plant can be
ruined, and the action could introduce
root diseases,” Rimbach said.
Furthermore, the wheat is not good
for the elk. It’s high in protein and the
elk have trouble digesting it.
ODFW said hazing the elk is a delicate
and difficult process that requires
patience.
“We have to have a place to push
them,” Rimbach said. “If conditions are
poor, if we have eight inches of snow,
we won’t haze them. If they don’t have
somewhere to go we’ll leave them until
conditions improve.”
Hazing was conducted three times
in February, using four-wheelers and
helicopters. Most of the work is done at
night, Rimbach said, adding that hazing
does not occur on trust land unless a
Tribal member requests it.
Helicopters, he said, have met with
limited short-term success. Usually it’s
done by a private landowner who coordinates
with ODFW and gets a hazing
permit.
Even with the helicopters, there is
great care taken to move the elk slowly,
especially when movement includes
fences.
“It’s a difficult position in addressing
private property, tempering what elk can
handle and what they can’t handle. It’s
difficult not to respond to a landowner
with 1,000 acres he needs to feed his family
and elk are in his fields every single
night eating his livelihood,” Rimbach
said.
Most of the elk that could be seen south
of Mission in the lowlands have returned
east up the North Fork of McKay Creek,
about 4.5 miles from Motanic Road.
A smaller group of about 60-80 elk
have taken up residence in McKay Reservoir,
a protected area where ODFW can’t
haze the animals out.
Additionally, Rimbach said, ODFW
was called to address elk that have come
nearly into the city limits of Pilot Rock.
“They were a few hundred yards from
the city limits. They looked lost when we
headed them up McKay Creek,” he said.
Happy 20th Birthday Mom
Hugs & Kisses,
With all my love - Tato Rain
Happy Birthday Ck!
20 on March 8
Love, your GMa, GPa,
Ol’ Mom, Ajiah, Jackson,
Sweet Tato Rain
March 2011
Confederated Umatilla Journal
37