[ODFW-News] Commission to meet Dec. 1-2 in Salem

[ODFW News]

For Immediate Release Monday, Nov. 28, 2005
 
Commission to meet Dec. 1-2 in Salem
 
SALEM - The Oregon Fish and Wildlife Commission will meet later this
week in Salem to decide issues related to wolf management, the state's
permit program for disabled hunters, a strategy to manage Oregon's
nearshore resources and other topics. 
 
The two-day meeting is scheduled to begin Thursday at 1 p.m., at ODFW
Headquarters, 3406 Cherry Avenue N.E. in Salem. 
 
The Commission, whose seven members are the rulemaking body for fish and
wildlife issues in Oregon, will begin the meeting with a review of
proposed revisions to the Oregon Wolf Conservation and Management Plan.

 
The Commission decided in September to enter rulemaking related to the
wolf plan for a limited purpose: To propose amending the plan by moving
to a new appendix three proposed legislative enhancements that were not
acted on by the 2005 Oregon Legislature. 
 
Thursday's meeting is the final opportunity for interested members of
the public to offer verbal testimony on the elements proposed to be
moved. Those elements, which are the only portion of the plan subject to
public comment, would have: 
* Designated the wolf as a special status mammal under the game mammal
statute,
* Created a state-funded compensation program for livestock killed by
wolves, and 
* Allowed livestock owners without a permit to kill wolves caught 'in
the act' of killing livestock. 
 
If the proposed amendments are adopted by the Commission, the rest of
the plan will remain unchanged. 
 
The Commission also will review and could approve grant recommendations
from the Access and Habitat Program and the Fish Restoration and
Enhancement Program. 
 
The Commission will reconvene Friday, Dec. 2, beginning at 8 a.m. to
discuss and possibly change Oregon's program for issuing permits to
disabled hunters. The number of hunters using Permanent Disability
Permits increased from 600 in the 1990s to more than 17,500 by the end
of 2004. A stakeholder committee was convened earlier this year to
review the program and propose changes to curb abuse of the system. 
 
Commissioners also will review and could approve:
* Oregon's nearshore marine habitat strategy,
* A proposal to create a limited entry system for the commercial sardine
fishery, and
* The 2006 marine regulations for non-salmonid sport, commercial
nearshore, and halibut fisheries. 
 
Reasonable accommodations will be provided as needed for individuals
requesting assistive hearing devices, sign language interpreters or
large-print materials at all ODFW public meetings. Individuals needing
these types of accommodations may call the ODFW Director's Office at
800-720-6339 or 503-947-6044 at least 24 hours in advance of the
meeting.
 
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