Mr. Paul Blechynden

Department of Environment and Conservation Yilgarn District manager Paul Blechynden said more than 130 wild dogs had been destroyed by the DEC in the last 12 months in the area north of Great Eastern Highway.

"The wild dog control program aimed to minimize the impact of dingoes, domestic dogs that had gone feral and crossbreeds on livestock adjacent to unallocated

crown land," he said.
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Mr Blechynden said wild dog control required an intimate understanding of the behaviour and the skills associated with safe and effective use of trapping, baiting and shooting.

"The program has also built on the DEC's good neighbour policy which aims to build and maintain good relations between DEC and landowners who these properties adjoin DEC managed lands," he said.
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Mr Blechynden said a joint DEC and Department of Agriculture and Food WA wild dog aerial baiting program was conducted on crown land recently from Lake Grace to Mount Marshall.

DEC Yilgarn district manager Paul Blechynden said the purpose of the burns was to protect private property assets from wildfires by establishing a fuel-reduced buffer adjacent to private property.

"The burns were the result of a close working relationship, preparing detailed burn prescriptions and everyone coming together when the conditions were right to complete the burns," he said.

DEC Merredin officer Paul Blechynden said significant improvement had been made due to direct results of government departments and he felt the recent increases in wild dogs was seasonal.

"I believe the current dry conditions is limiting other sources of food and it is also adult dogs mating season, meaning juvenile animals are pushed out of the social group and forced to fend new territories for themselves," he said.

"I think the DEC covered area to the north of the highway is being adequately covered and we are using our resources efficiently."

Mr Blechynden said he thought the wild dog problem would subside in the coming months.

"I think there will be a time when the activity decreases but until then I think all stakeholders should be working together," he said.

CALM's Merredin District Manager, Paul Blechynden, said the responsibility for some aspects of on-ground management of non-metropolitan and non-townsite UCL and unmanaged reserves had been transferred from the former Department of Land Administration to CALM.

One of the significant responsibilities transferred was the management of wild dog control on UCL.

Mr Blechynden said the main strategy would be to maintain an effective control buffer on UCL next to agricultural lands in the target area in an effort to minimise the impact of wild dogs on livestock.
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Mr Blechynden said CALM was working closely with a range of stakeholders, including the Department of Agriculture that is the lead agency for state-wide wild dog control, to examine long-term control options.Discussions with stakeholders had indicated there were further opportunities to increase the effectiveness of current programs and these would be refined over the next few months.

"The support we have received from the Department of Agriculture and the community has been greatly appreciated and we look forward to continuing to improve the long-term management of wild dogs," he said.

"I would encourage all landowners experiencing problems with wild dogs to report the problem to their local Department of Agriculture office.This information will be passed on to the UCL dogger to ensure that priority areas are targeted."

Mr Blechynden said CALM had been active in consulting with the community and stakeholders in respect to the Department's new responsibilities for UCL, particularly in regard to the control of wild dogs including dingos and dingo-domestic dog crosses that had the potential to cause significant livestock losses.

CALM Merredin district manager Paul Blechynden said he had received a number of reports of wedge-tailed eagle problems and that CALM was committed to working closely with farmers to both conserve these eagles and manage the problems they may pose.

"The wedge-tailed eagle is a protected species under the Wildlife Conservation Act and a damage license is required to legally destroy an animal of this species," Mr Blechynden said.
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Mr Blechynden said some strategies that could be used to mitigate stock losses included:

* Providing an alternative food source for eagles by placing any animal carcasses in a quiet paddock as far away from lambs as possible.

"This was an outcome from the State Government's functions review task force, this was one of their recommendations that was adopted," CALM's Merredin District Manager Paul Blechynden said."CALM was seen as a regionally located land management agency."Mr Blechynden said he was not aware of the details surrounding Mr Dale's resignation from the Department of Agriculture and therefore could not comment on whether the reasons for the resignation had been resolved.He said the main strategy to control the escalating problem would be to create an effective control buffer on unallocated Crown land next to agricultural lands in the target area to hopefully reduce wild dog attacks on livestock.Yilgarn Shire Council president Cr Romolo Patroni said the wild dog problem had quietened since July, but said he was bracing for an increase in attacks over spring and summer.Cr Patroni said he was pleased Mr Dale had been contracted as the CALM dogger, but was concerned that he had only been granted a 12-month contract."We would like to see it extended well beyond that, because we feel that with Bill's knowledge of the area, he could be a great asset to us," he said.
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Mr Blechynden said CALM was working closely with a number of stakeholders, including the Department of Agriculture, to resolve the wild dog problem."The support we have received from the Department of Agriculture and the community has been greatly appreciated and we look forward to continuing to improve the long-term management of wild dogs," he said."I would encourage all landowners experiencing problems with wild dogs to report the problem to their local Department of Agriculture office."This information will be passed on to the UCL dogger to ensure that priority areas are targeted."Mr Blechynden said this process of notifying one department which then passes the information to another department, would not cause delays but would help co-ordinate wild dog control efforts."Definitely there has been a high level of concern in relation to the management of wild dogs," he said.