WILDLIFE SERVICES PROGRAM

The county has contracted with the USDA Wildlife Services (WS) Program to respond to wildlife concerns in the unincorporated parts of Columbia County. WS Specialists have the leadership and expertise to protect agriculture, property, and natural resources and to safeguard human health and safety. WS Specialists used to be called Government Trappers, but today, WS Specialists do much more than just trap. They implement effective, selective, and responsible strategies that value wildlife, the environment, and the resources being protected. WS manages wildlife damage according to its public trust stewardship responsibilities as a Federal natural resource management program.

What should you do if you have a nuisance problem? For assistance with these matters in unincorporated Columbia County, please contact:
Dean Dark
USDA Wildlife Services Specialist
(541) 525-4606
edward.dark@usda.gov

Residents in unincorporated Columbia County can contact Wildlife Services for help with the following:

• Coyotes (killing and injuring livestock or pets)
• Nutria (digging holes in ditches and dams or making a mess in your yard)
• Raccoons (killing chickens, eating pet food, etc.)
• Cougars or Mountain Lions (WS responds to cougar calls at the request of landowners and ODFW)
• Black Bears (killing livestock, damaging trees, or robbing your bird feeders)
• Beavers (in Columbia County, beavers cause 10s of thousands of dollars in road damage yearly, crop damage, or flooding property)
• Birds (nesting on bridge construction sites, crop destruction, health concerns)