County Commissioners Address Pest Issue

On Tuesday the 21st of January, the Phillips County Commissioners, Richard Dunbar and John Carnahan met in the Commissioner’s office to discuss pest control. Present at the meeting were Lynnel LaBrie, Clerk and Recorder, Marko Manoukian, and Jesse and Troy Blunt. Manoukian and the Blunt’s have a vested interest in the topic as livestock owners, specifically cattle. As of 2024, there were approximately 61,000 cattle in the county.

Manoukian also have a valid interest in the sheep industry, which currently has a pool of funds, which are owner-generated, to pay for pest control. As per records at the Department of Revenue at the Court House, there are 2,530 sheep calling Phillips County their home.

The purpose of the meeting was to discuss whether to tax cattle for predator control and assess $1 per head to go toward a fund to pay for services of a pilot of an airplane to assist in controlling the predators, mainly coyotes. Currently there is a plane and helicopter in Turner, Montana, and the pilot provides access and the trapper hunts the carnivore animals.

A rancher from south Phillips County stated this week that he has eliminated nearly 30 that have wandered into the ranch yard. In the Content community, Dennis Oxarart has eradicated 38 of them, son Kooper has tallied 14 and Wes Marquis lays claim to 33.

In the northern part of the county, Jett Anderson, who lives five miles south of the Canadian border said, “Since Dec. 1st I have shot 45 coyotes, most of them this month; all of them being within one mile from our house. I have noticed a big increase this year with mange, which is a contagious skin disease. The neighbors have killed the same amount of coyotes.” He said it would be safe to say there are about 160 less coyotes since the winter hunt began, with Trace Simonson, Clinton Cox and Guy Simanton aiding in the control efforts.

To say the predators are a concern is an understatement.

Coyotes kill calves and also disrupt calving patterns and cause stress to cattle herds. Being omnivores, coyotes each both meat and plants. They consume rabbits, carrion (dead animals), rodents, deer (usually fawns), and insects (grasshoppers), in addition to the feast of livestock and poultry. The coyotes also eat fruit, including berries and watermelons.

Those individuals who are anti-wolf control need to remember the hardworking ranchers are losing inventory, their livelihood, their existence.

Nearly every anti-wolf person makes the claim that wolves are decimating livestock, robbing hardworking ranchers of their livelihoods, taking away their inventory. There are several names for the four-legged nuisance, including prairie wolf, brush wolf, and little wolf. They are also known as cased wolf and the American jackal.

In 2021 the Montana Department of Livestock paid nearly $200,000 to ranchers who lost animals to predators. The year 2022 was looking like it would pay out over $350,000 to owners of animals lost to predation.

However, coyotes, one of the deadliest predators in Montana, are notably missing from the loss board. That’s because it would cost the Legislature “millions” each year, according to George Edwards, manager of the state Livestock Loss Board. As of now, there is no compensation for death loss by coyotes.

This is one reason the local commissioners are looking at taxing livestock and generating funds to assist with the control methods. The sheep industry began building a fund several years ago for this purpose and are already onboard by being pro-active.

At the meeting, it was stated that a fee will also be assessed on buffalo, as they have been classified as “livestock” as well.

On Monday, January 27, 2025 Commissioners Richard Dunbar and Bruce Christofferson held a meeting at 2 p.m. to hear public input on the pest fee, there was no one present to provide testimony against it. With a motion and a second, the vote was 2-0 to assess the fee. The fee will be added to taxes starting in November.

There had to be 51% of cattle owners in support of the tax, and Phillips County with 61,000 head of cattle had 62% of owners in support. Dunbar said each county will assess their own tax; Blaine County set the rate at $2 per head.

The Commissioners felt the need to implement some type of control as both neighboring Blaine and Valley counties already are working to control the pests.