ENTERPRISE — Another attempt is being made in the Oregon Senate to get what ranchers consider fair compensation when wolves kill their livestock.

Sen. Todd Nash, R-Enterprise, in one of his first actions as a state lawmaker, is sponsoring Senate Bill 777, which would increase the compensation to seven times the market value of most livestock. The bill goes before the Senate Natural Resources Committee at 1 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 13, at the state Capitol.

If it is approved by the committee, it will go before the full Senate for a vote and then to the state House. Rep. Bobby Levy, R-Echo, is the House sponsor.

The bill also has the support of the Oregon Association of Counties — through which the compensation program is run — and the Oregon Cattlemen’s Association.

There is no multiplier under current law, according to John Williams, Eastern Oregon co-chairman of the OCA’s Wolf Committee.

“The thinking behind the seven-to-one (ratio) is that you only find about one in eight carcasses,” he said. “If you have eight killed, you’re only liable to find one.”

Williams said that’s based on information from a study on wolf predation on livestock in Idaho and Montana.

The seven-to-one multiplier also helps ranchers with production costs of operating in wolf country, such as reduced weight from the stress of predation, which forces ranchers to feed their stock more. There’s also reduced conception and breeding rates and increased management costs, such as ranchers having to check on their stock daily and employ nonlethal methods to ward off wolves.

The proposed bill broadly defines livestock to include horses, mules, sheep and other animals as well as cattle.

Working dogs used to control or protect livestock also are covered.

The money paid for wolf predation would come from the Wolf Management Compensation and Proactive Trust Fund established under Oregon law.

The bill caps compensation at $25,000 per animal and removes a provision authorizing compensation for missing livestock.