A resolution for a predator control program was on the agenda Wednesday at the Cascade County Work Session.
Action on the item will be taken on January 22 by the Commission at the next meeting.
This predator control program was brought forward by Merrill McKamey through a petition passed around to many cattle producers in the county.
For the petition to pass, 51 percent of the cattle in Cascade County had to be signed up by their owners.
This quota was met, but many cattle producers in Cascade County are still unaware of the petition and could still sign the petition to be involved with the predatory control program.
Since the quota was met, a motion will be taken at the next Commissioner’s meeting on January 22 to pass the resolution. Two County Commissioners need to be present for the motion to be passed.
Each cattle producer who signs the petition must pay 50 cents per head of cattle that are over 11 months old that they own.
The money will be put towards the Department of Livestock, which helps control predators with their helicopters.
The predators mainly include coyotes, but also could be bears, wolves or mountain lions.
Cascade County Commissioner James Larson said, “There’s really no way to control the wild animals that are causing the problem other than hunting or this predator control. Our concern was that the word wasn’t out within all of the producers and I think the people putting the petition out would agree to that.”
The money strictly goes towards predator control, and if any cattle is lost, the cattle producers will not get any money back.
Larson said this assessment could possibly go on the next tax roll in June, but likely not until next November.
As a cattle owner who wants to sign this petition and get on board with helping pay for predatory control, you can get in contact with the head of the petition, Merrill McKamey, by calling the Cascade County Commissioner’s Office at (406) 454-6810.
