[ODFW-News] Public comment period for draft wolf plan extended a month

[ODFW News]

Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife 	
Contact: 	Information and Education 503-947-6002	
Internet: www.dfw.state.or.us  
	

For Immediate Release	Friday, November 19, 2004

Public comment period for draft wolf plan extended a month
Third public hearing scheduled

SALEM - The public comment period for the draft Oregon Wolf
Conservation and Management Plan has been extended by a month and a
third public hearing scheduled to ensure that all Oregonians with an
interest in wolves have sufficient time to provide input, the Oregon
Department of Fish and Wildlife announced. 

With the new timeline, the Oregon Fish and Wildlife Commission is
scheduled to make a final rulemaking decision on the draft plan and
associated administrative rules Friday, Feb. 11, 2005, during a
regularly scheduled meeting to be held in Troutdale. Final adoption was
originally scheduled for early January. The seven-member Commission is
the rulemaking body for fish and wildlife issues in Oregon. 

The decision to extend the public comment period was made after the
Union County Cattlemen made a formal demand as allowed under the Oregon
Administrative Procedures Act. 

The official public comment period for rulemaking began Nov. 1 and
lasts through close of business, Thursday, Feb. 10, 2005. People wishing
to comment on the draft plan and draft rules may submit written comments
by mail, e-mail or fax, and may testify at any of three public hearings
to be held in front of the Commission Dec. 10, 2004, Jan. 6, 2005, and
Feb. 10, 2005. Although all comments will be considered, the Commission
has encouraged those with written comments are encouraged to submit them
before Feb. 4, 2005, to allow Commission members the maximum amount of
time to analyze the comments before voting on the plan.

The draft plan, minority reports, draft administrative rules and other
information can be found on ODFW's Web site at
http://www.dfw.state.or.us/Wolves/main.html. Copies also may be
obtained by request at any ODFW regional or district office.

Written public comments on the draft plan will be accepted at the
following locations:
* E-mail: Odfw.Comments at state.or.us .
* Fax: 503-947-6009.
* Mail: ODFW Information and Education Division, 3406 Cherry Ave. NE,
Salem, OR 97303-4924.

Public hearings will be held on the following dates and locations:
* Friday, Dec. 10, 2004: ODFW, Commission Room, 3406 Cherry Ave. NE,
Salem, OR 97303-4924. The draft wolf plan is currently last on the
Commission's day-long agenda and public testimony is expected to begin
in the afternoon.
* Thursday, Jan. 6, 2005: ODFW, Commission Room, 3406 Cherry Ave. NE,
Salem, OR 97303-4924. Testimony will be taken 1-5 p.m.
* Thursday, Feb. 10, 2005: Testimony will be taken 1-5 p.m. at a
location to be announced in Troutdale. 

The draft wolf plan does not call for actively reintroducing wolves
from other states or provinces, but to manage wolves that naturally
disperse into Oregon. No wolves are confirmed in Oregon at this time,
but biologists expect wolves to establish a permanent Oregon population
as the Idaho wolf population grows and disperses. Wolves are currently
protected under both the state and federal endangered species acts.

A 14-member Wolf Advisory Committee met monthly November 2003 through
August 2004 to develop a plan that addresses concerns raised in a series
of town hall meetings held throughout the state in late 2002 and early
2003. Committee members were appointed by the Commission to represent a
broad range of Oregonians, including tribal members, eastern Oregon
county commissioners, range and forestland conservationists, trappers,
rural Oregonians, educators, wildlife biologists and researchers,
hunters, livestock producers, economists, wolf conservationists, public
land managers, and citizens at large from eastern and western Oregon.
Twelve of the 14 members of the committee support the final draft plan
and two members filed minority reports. 

The draft plan approaches wolf conservation by allowing wolves to
migrate into Oregon, promoting social tolerance, and dividing the state
into eastern and western wolf management regions with population
objectives for each region. The boundary between the two management
regions follows Highway 97 from the Columbia River south to La Pine,
Highway 31 south to Lakeview, and Highway 395 south to the California
border.

The draft plan proposes using an adaptive management approach with
three phases of wolf protection. Phase 1 focuses on achieving the
"conservation population" objective of four breeding pairs for
three consecutive years and protects wolves from lethal removal unless
livestock losses are severe. Phase 2 focuses on achieving "management
population" objectives of seven breeding pairs for three consecutive
years. Phase 3 ensures the wolf population does not decline below Phase
1 levels or reach unmanageable levels that cause conflicts with other
land uses. 

The draft plan also calls for initiating the process to consider
removing the gray wolf from state Endangered Species Act list once a
"conservation population" is established in eastern Oregon. It
also proposes changing the species' legal status to a "special
status mammal" within the state's game mammal category and allow the
use of a range of management tools including controlled take of wolves
through hunting or trapping. Any proposed change in legal status would
require legislative action.

A key portion of the draft plan is the proposed establishment of a
state-run compensation program for confirmed and probable losses of
livestock and some working or hunting dogs due to wolf predation. The
program could include funding all or part of the costs incurred by
private individuals implementing non-lethal wolf control methods, and
potential reimbursement for financial losses of lost or missing
livestock. Any compensation package would require legislative action.

Questions regarding the rulemaking process or the draft plan may be
directed to ODFW by calling Craig Ely at 541-963-2138 or Anne Pressentin
Young at 503-657-2000, Ext. 285.

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