[ODFW-News] Commission approves revisions to Oregon wolf plan

[ODFW News]

For Immediate Release Thursday, Dec. 1, 2005

Commission approves revisions to Oregon wolf plan 

SALEM - The Oregon Fish and Wildlife Commission Thursday reiterated its
support for the Oregon Wolf Conservation and Management Plan as it
approved moving certain sections of the plan to an appendix because they
are not allowed under state law. 
 
The Commission said it would continue to work with livestock owners,
wolf conservationists and the Oregon Legislature to obtain the needed
law changes to provide livestock producers with flexibility to protect
their animals.
 
The sections moved to an appendix called for the Legislature to: 
* Designate the wolf as a 'special status mammal' under the game mammal
statute,
* Allow livestock owners without a permit to kill wolves caught 'in the
act' of killing livestock, and
* Create a state-funded program to pay compensation for wolf-caused
livestock losses and for proactive methods to prevent wolf depredation.
 
The three proposed legislative enhancements were not acted on by the
2005 Oregon Legislature. The rest of the plan remains unchanged.
 
The Commission approved the Oregon wolf plan last February after a
comprehensive public involvement effort. Oregon's wolf plan does not
call for actively reintroducing wolves from other states or provinces,
but managing 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 currently are protected under both the state
and federal endangered species acts.
 
The seven-member Commission is the rulemaking body for fish and wildlife
issues in Oregon. 
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