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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 Services for field evaluations.
Cattlemen’s and farm-group witnesses pressed for durable funding. Jake Thompson, president of the Minnesota State Cattlemen’s Association, said producers in northern Minnesota are experiencing significant losses and that the department’s $175,000 appropriation for wolf claims in one recent year was exceeded (the department reported total claims of $187,942 for that year). “Producers simply cannot be reimbursed where there is no funding for it to be happen,” Thompson said.
Why it matters: witnesses and agency staff described two linked problems: appropriations that have been routinely exhausted in heavy‑claim years, leaving payments delayed, and a shortage of trained field evaluators to determine whether losses are attributable to wolf or elk damage. Abrahamson noted the statutory $20,000 per‑producer cap for elk compensation dates to 1987 and no longer aligns with typical farm economics.
Committee action and bills: - Representative Stephanie Buerkle (mover) presented House File 601, a bill to provide immediate appropriations to address depleted depredation funds. Representative Burkel moved HF 601; the committee re‑ferred the bill to Ways and Means and the chair announced the bill passed the committee (voice vote) so the appropriation can be handled in Ways and Means. Committee members voiced urgency because MDA reported a backlog and unpaid claims that producers expect to be paid. - Representative Burkel also presented House File 271, which would provide an open appropriation for depredation programs for the next biennium; HF 271 was laid over for further consideration.
Discussion points and options raised by members included exploring insurance options for livestock producers, tying compensation to abatement actions where feasible, revising the $20,000 statutory cap for elk compensation, and formalizing longer‑term contracts for field validation to ensure claims can be adjudicated when federal partners change staffing.
Ending: Committee members said they will take appropriation details to Ways and Means; members also asked agencies to return with options to shore up validation capacity and to consider whether program design should change if federal support for validation is reduced.
