BAKER CITY — The campaign to prevent wolves from attacking livestock in Baker County has taken to the sky.

The county’s wolf depredation compensation committee during its meeting Tuesday, Jan. 14, voted 5-0 to recommend county commissioners use $14,778 in state money to buy a drone that a federal agency can use to haze wolves day and night.

Shane Koyle, east district supervisor for the U.S. Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services, applied for the money.

Koyle said the agency, which seeks to control wolves and other predators, has been using nonlethal techniques to deter wolves in Baker County for the past 18 months.

“One tool that (the agency) has been utilizing the last few months is the use of a thermal imagining, speaker-enabled drone,” Koyle wrote in a letter to the compensation committee.

“The use of a (drone) for wolf conflict reduction is a fairly new concept but has thus far proven very useful in many situations,” Koyle wrote.

The $14,800 the committee recommended is part of the county’s share of state grants for nonlethal wolf control.

The county has $42,000 to spend before Jan. 31. The county must by law return unspent dollars to the state.

Koyle told committee members the drone, which can be flown at night, “is not a silver bullet, it’s just another tool.”

Brian Ratliff, district wildlife biologist at the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife’s Baker City office, told the committee that drones can be especially effective when used at night.

Koyle said Wildlife Services has one drone to share among 11 counties, including Baker.

In response to questions from committee members, Koyle said if county commissioners approve the drone purchase, Wildlife Services could ensure the drone is used exclusively in Baker County while the older drone continues to be shared among the 10 other counties in his district.

Commissioners have to approve the purchase because it exceeds $5,000, said Heidi Martin, the county’s executive assistant and human resources manager.

The committee also awarded money to three ranchers, all in the Halfway area, to compensate them for “range rider” work — spending time with their cattle herds to try to dissuade wolves.

The awards:

• $2,340 to Roger Gulick.

• $10,800 to Stan Gulick.

• $10,670 to Barry DelCurto.

(Committee member Shella DelCurto, who is married to Barry, recused herself from voting on the motion for that award.)

With those awards, including the pending purchase of the drone, the county has about $3,400 left.

The county will use the money to buy a variety of items, including lights, to deter wolves.

Committee members attending the meeting were Michelle Thomas, Shella DelCurto and Marty Harriman of Halfway, and Levi Bunch of Durkee, along with Baker County Commissioner Christina Witham.

The committee briefly reviewed three applications for compensation for cattle killed by wolves or that are missing and presumed to have been attacked by wolves.

The committee will meet later to decide whether to approve those requests, which would be sent to the state.