by Patty Dorroh
for Burns Times-Herald

The Harney County Wolf Advisory Committee is turning to AlertSense, the county’s emergency notification system, as a way of communicating wolf sightings in Harney County. This collaborative concept will provide local ranchers and livestock producers with notifications of confirmed wolf sightings in the area, so they can track movement and make decisions for protective actions. Special thanks to Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW) and Suzanne Settle, Harney County Dispatch, for developing the process.

Sign-up sheets are available in the Harney County Court administrative office in the courthouse. Sign-up sheets will also be available at the Search and Rescue table during the Harney County Fair, Rodeo, and Race Meet, Sept. 3-8.

Wolves have been frequent visitors to parts of Harney County and may become established in the near future. Producers should assume that wolves could be present at any time in most of the county and not rely solely on AlertSense notifications. Nevertheless, in addition to using game cameras and other forms of surveillance, utilizing AlertSense will provide ranchers a leg up in the area of livestock protection by sending participating producers information about dispersing or transient wolf sightings. This will allow ranchers to put extra patrol on their livestock and allow for normal wolf movement through an area while protecting our community’s livestock, working animals, and livelihoods.

How the system will work

Those interested in being notified will provide a phone number (cellphone, home phone, or both) and an email address if they want. While there is no charge for this service, you may incur message charges from your carrier if you don’t have unlimited service, or have reached your service limit.

ODFW information on relevant wolf sightings in or near Harney County will be disseminated via AlertSense messages. The type of wolf sighting information will be limited to:

• sightings within or near Harney County;

• recent confirmed or other highly reliable sightings and evidence; and

• collared wolf locations.

Wolf locations provided will be general in nature, but detailed enough for producers to understand where the sighting took place and what was seen. For example: “One gray wolf on game camera, one mile north of Snow Mountain in Grant County, Oregon.”

When information on a wolf has been received, an AlertSense message will be sent out to the emails/phones provided. If it’s going to a residential or business landline, the recipient will receive a computerized voice message. Cellphones and email will receive a text message. Additional messages will be sent as new/updated information is received.

If wolves become established locally and an Area of Known Wolf Activity (AKWA) is created, wolf activity within the AKWA may not be reported, as wolves are generally considered to always be present in these areas. AKWA maps are posted at https://dfw.state.or.us/wolves/, and producers can sign up for email updates from ODFW.

For further information, please contact Harney County Commissioner Patty Dorroh at patty.dorroh@co.harney.or.us or 541-573-8199.