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House committee advances short-term depredation funding; members raise long-term questions on program limits and validation
Summary
The Agriculture Committee moved House File 601 to Ways and Means to provide emergency depredation funds for wolf and elk losses; testimony and agency reports highlighted a growing number of claims, a 1987 $20,000 statutory cap, and a shortfall of field investigators who validate claims.
The Minnesota House Agriculture Finance and Policy Committee advanced emergency depredation funding measures after hearing producers, trade groups and the Department of Agriculture outline repeated wolf and elk losses and a backlog of unpaid claims.
Mark Abrahamson, plant protection director at the Minnesota Department of Agriculture, told the committee the department has paid depredation claims for both wolves and elk but has recently run short of appropriations and carried a backlog into the next fiscal year. Abrahamson said state investigators, USDA Wildlife Services and select county staff historically performed field validations; that capacity has diminished and the department is using temporary agreements with USDA Wildlife…
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