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| ![]              | **Montana Livestock Loss Reduction & Mitigation   |
| (media/image1.jp | Board**                                           |
| eg){width="1.624 |                                                   |
| 3055555555554in" | **Livestock Loss Reduction & Mitigation Program** |
| hei              |                                                   |
| ght="0.86875in"} | **PO Box 202005**                                 |
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|                  | **Helena MT 59620**                               |
|                  |                                                   |
|                  | **(406) 444-5609**                                |
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**GEORGE EDWARDS\
LIVESTOCK LOSS MITIGATION COORDINATOR**

**MONTANA DEPARTMENT OF LIVESTOCK**

**\
BEFORE THE**

**UNITED STATES SENATE**

**COMMITTEE ON ENERGY AND NATURAL RESOURCES\
JULY 9, 2008\
**

**REGARDING**

**GRAY WOLF LIVESTOCK LOSS MITIGATION ACT OF 2008**

**\
**Mr. Chairman and members of the Committee, thank you for the
opportunity to testify before you today.

The Gray Wolf Livestock Loss Mitigation Act of 2008 is similar to
Montana\'s Livestock Loss Reduction and Mitigation program. Through our
program, we are looking for ways to fund prevention efforts and
livestock losses due to gray wolves in our state. Montana law also
contains a provision so that we will be able to include Montana Indian
Tribes provided that they have adopted a wolf management plan that is
consistent with Montana\'s state wolf management plan.

In 2005, Montana entered a memorandum of understanding (MOU) that
allowed the state to implement it\'s approved plan within federal law
and guidelines in place at the time. The MOU allowed Montana and the
Indian Tribes to lead wolf conservation and management activities within
their respective boundaries. In its 2007 Annual Report, Montana reported
over 420 wolves in about 73 packs and 39 breeding pairs, with
demonstrated distribution among Montana\'s portion of all three Northern
Rocky Mountain subpopulations.

In keeping with Montana's tradition of broad-based citizen participation
in wolf conservation and management, a diverse, 30-member working group
met 4 times in 2005. The working group was comprised of private
citizens, representatives from non --governmental organizations, and
representatives from state and federal agencies. A smaller subcommittee
continued to meet in 2006. This group finalized a framework which became
the basis for legislation in the 2007 Montana Legislature.

During the 2007 Montana Legislative session, a bill to establish the
framework of the working group was introduced and passed (HB364). The
legislation created the Livestock Loss Reduction and Mitigation Board to
administer programs for the mitigation and reimbursement of livestock
losses by wolves. It also established the quasi-judicial board, its
purpose, membership, powers and duties, and reporting requirements. The
Board is administratively attached to the

Montana Department of Livestock, but its role and duties are wholly
independent from Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks and the Montana Board
of Livestock.

Late in 2007, the Governor appointed the Board. The legislation also
codified much of the actual draft framework in state law. It directed
the Board to establish a program to cost-share with livestock producers
who are interested in implementing measures to decrease the risk of wolf
predation on livestock. It also directed the Board to establish and
administer a program to reimburse livestock producers for losses caused
by wolves. While some details of the grant program (loss reduction) and
the reimbursement program (loss mitigation) are established in statute,
the Board is in the process of establishing additional details through a
rule-making process, which will include public comment opportunities.

Board makeup consists of seven members appointed by our Governor. Three
members were selected from a pool of names recommended by the Montana
Department of Livestock, another three members were recommended by
Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks and one member from the general public.

Gray wolves are firmly established in Montana. The long term presence of
wolves is dependent upon comprehensive programs that carefully balance
complex biological, social, economic and political aspects of wolf
management. One challenge that must be addressed in seeking this balance
is that gray wolf recovery has and will continue to result in the loss
of personal property and income to livestock owners.

Our mission is to help support Montana livestock communities by reducing
the economic impacts of wolves on individual producers by reimbursing
their confirmed and probable wolf-caused losses and helping to reduce
their losses by approving projects and funding programs that will
discourage wolves from killing livestock.

Our programs purpose is to acknowledge the importance of economic
viability and sustainability of individual livestock owners in Montana
who are negatively affected by wolf recovery and to ensure a viable,
well distributed gray wolf population that meets recovery goals and is
managed similar to that of other large carnivores. The program was
created to fulfill a compensation provision of Montana\'s Gray Wolf
Conservation and Management Plan.

More specifically, the purpose of the loss reduction and mitigation
programs are:

-   to proactively apply prevention tools and incentives to decrease
    risks of wolf-caused losses;

-   to provide financial reimbursements to livestock owners for losses

caused by wolves.

The program is based on the belief that both government and livestock
owners want to take reasonable and cost effective measures to reduce
losses, the acknowledgement that it is not possible to prevent all
losses, and that livestock producers should not incur disproportionate
impacts as a result of recovery of Montana\'s gray wolf population.

To help fund this program, Montana legislators created a trust fund that
may collect up to five million dollars. The livestock loss reduction and
mitigation trust fund is to be funded with gifts, grants,
appropriations, or allocations from any source.

In designing this program legislators envisioned using a trust fund,
private donations, state appropriations and federal appropriations to
provide loss reduction grants and payments for losses and mitigation
efforts.

The Montana legislation creating this program provided \$60,000
appropriation from the general fund in fiscal year 2008 for one full
time employee, operating expenses to establish the board and board
activities. Another \$60,000 is appropriated for FY 2009. \$30,000 was
placed into a fund for fiscal year 2008 for our program to begin loss
payments. Currently, there are no funds appropriated in our trust fund.

We began to process claims as of April 15th and pay 100% of the market
value for confirmed and probable losses. All confirmed and probable
losses are verified by USDA Wildlife Services personnel. Prior to
beginning our claims process, a private organization, Defenders of
Wildlife, had been paying 100% for confirmed losses and 50% for probable
losses.

Defenders of Wildlife has made a donation of \$50,000 in April 2008 and
has pledged to donate another \$50,000 in 2009. Without this donation we
would be unable to pay claims for livestock losses as of July 1, 2008.

The loss reduction element is intended to minimize losses proactively by
reducing risk of loss through prevention tools such as night pens,
guarding animals, or increasing human presence with range riders and
herders.

The fiscal note for the legislation creating our program estimated
losses caused by wolves to be \$200,000 annually. Since this legislation
was originally drafted in 2006, the number of wolves in Montana has
increased by 34%. Actual confirmed and probable livestock losses have
more than doubled since this legislation was introduced. Only a small
fraction of predator-killed livestock are ever found. Loss figures in
USDA Wildlife Services reports only reflect a fraction of predator
related losses because no entity is able to verify all causes of
livestock loss. As wolf populations increase, wolf/human conflicts are
expanding on private land, other lands and across jurisdictions. The
number of gray wolves is significantly increasing. Losses are occurring
at a rapid pace and the importance of being able to fund prevention
efforts becomes more vital to our livestock industry.

As with this bill, Montana\'s program covers cattle, swine, horses,
mules, sheep, goats, and livestock guard animals.

The Montana Livestock Loss Reduction & Mitigation Program covers losses
due to gray wolves. Losses due to coyotes, grizzly bears, black bears,
mountain lions and red fox are not currently part of our program.

The following is a breakdown of animals killed in Montana by wolves
since 2006:

  ----------------- ----------------- ----------------- -----------------
  YEAR              2006              2007              2008

  CATTLE            32                75                74

  HORSE                                                 1

  SHEEP             4                 27                99

  GOATS                                                 14

  GUARD ANIMAL      4                 3                 1

  TOTALS            40                105               189
  ----------------- ----------------- ----------------- -----------------

Loss numbers are supplied by USDA Wildlife Services. 2008 numbers
reflect only an eight month long timeframe. This is very early in the
summer and most livestock are just going to summer range where a lot of
predator related losses historically occur.

Our program offers a transparent approach to our operations. All
livestock loss claims begin when a livestock owner calls USDA Wildlife
Services to investigate a loss. When it has been determined that the
loss is caused by wolves, Wildlife Services personnel send the livestock
owner an investigative report and our loss reimbursement application.
The livestock owner then has the option of submitting a claim to our
office. We use a weekly USDA market report to determine livestock values
for commercial livestock. Registered livestock values are determined by
sales receipts of similar age and sex at public or private sales for
that registered breed.

The livestock owners of Montana, Wyoming and Idaho are shouldering an
economic burden beyond their control. This legislation will address
funding of livestock losses and activities to reduce predation. At the
present time we don\'t have the necessary funding to offer preventative
programs. Prevention programs in this legislation are critical to our
livestock industry and we want to be able to implement them. Livestock
losses are occurring at a rapid pace and we are having great
difficulties in raising funds to keep up. Hopefully being able to fund
preventative methods will reduce the financial and emotional toll to our
livestock owners.

Benefits to the general public are immeasurable. Our three state regions
offer the ability for our children and future generations to see wolves
in their natural habitat.

We also need to keep our nations agricultural producers economically
sound. Programs like Montana\'s Livestock Loss Reduction & Mitigation
Program with help from federal funding will allow wolves and livestock
to co-exist. Help me help them and thank you for your support.

George Edwards

Livestock Loss Mitigation Coordinator

Montana Department of Livestock

\(406\) 444-5609

<gedwards@mt.gov>

**ADDITIONAL INFORMATION**

Livestock damage verified by USDA APHIS Wildlife Services in Montana so
far in Federal Fiscal Year 2008 (October 1, 2007 through June 20, 2008)

**[Gray Wolves - total damage = \$187,920]{.underline}**

Adult cattle 12 killed 3 injured

Calves 62 killed 2 injured

Adult sheep 63 killed 30 injured

Lambs 36 killed -

Adult goats 14 killed -

Adult horses 1 killed 3 injured

Foals 1 injured

Llamas 1 killed -

Sheep herding dog 1 killed -

Pet dog 1 killed -

**[Coyotes - total damage = \$162,368]{.underline}**

Calves 172 killed 1 injured

Adult sheep 87 killed -

Lambs 392 killed 8 injured

Adult goats 11 killed -

Kid goats 19 killed -

Chickens 80 killed -

Geese 9 killed -

Turkeys 2 killed -

Pet dogs 9 killed 1 injured

Fences 3 damaged (verified that coyotes chased livestock through fences)

**[Grizzly bears - total damage = \$106,717]{.underline}**

Adult sheep 25 -

Lambs 34 killed -

Chickens 24 killed -

Ducks 2 killed -

Human - 1 injured (estimated doctor bills = \$100,000)

**[Mountain Lions -- total damage = \$16,350]{.underline}**

Calves 2 killed -

Adult sheep 17 killed -

Lambs 11 killed -

Adult goats 9 killed -

Foals 1 killed -

Chickens 8 killed -

**[Black bears -- total damage = \$11,406]{.underline}**

Calves 1 killed 3 injured

Adult sheep 1 killed -

Lambs 4 killed -

Adult horse - 1 injured

Adult swine - 1 injured

Piglets 1 killed -

Chickens - 1 injured

Ducks 1 killed -

Beehives 32 damaged -

**[Red fox - total damage = \$1,798]{.underline}**

Lambs 17 killed -

Guinea fowl 11 killed -

This is very early in the summer. Most livestock is just going to summer
range where a lot of predator losses occur. It has been estimated that
less than 10% of all predator killed livestock is ever found. Therefore
these verified losses represent a small fraction of the actual predator
damage to livestock in Montana.

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