ODFW release

[Jennie@ifish]

Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife
Contact: Anne Pressentin Young (503) 872-5264 x5356
Internet: www.dfw.state.or.us Fax: (503) 872-5700

For Immediate Release April 4, 2002

Fish and Wildlife Commission to Adopt Ocean Salmon Rules
Commission to Participate in Informational Wolf Workshop

PORTLAND - The Oregon Fish and Wildlife Commission will meet in open session on three days next week to participate in a gray wolf workshop, discuss marine fish management and other issues with fish and wildlife commissioners from four other western states, and set rules and policy for implementation by the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW).
The Oregon Fish and Wildlife Commission is the rulemaking body for ODFW. The seven-member panel meets monthly.
On Thursday, April 11, the Commission will host a wolf workshop from 1 to 6 p.m. Wolf populations in Idaho have increased to more than 250 animals since reintroduction in 1996. In the past two years three wolves have wandered into Oregon from the Idaho packs. The agenda includes the following items:
§ Gray wolf recovery in the United States;
§ Gray wolf biology and ecology;
§ Idaho wolf recovery program;
§ Wolf-livestock interactions: prevention and control;
§ Wolves in Oregon: Implications for Oregon livestock producers;
§ Legal issues regarding wolves in Oregon;
§ Role of the Defenders of Wildlife in wolf restoration in the west; and
§ Winter predator study in Lemhi County, Idaho.
The purpose of the workshop is to inform and educate the Commission on the most current wolf restoration issues in the western United States. Members of the public may attend the meeting, but no public testimony will be received. The meeting will be held in the Commission Room of ODFW Headquarters, 2501 SW First Ave, Portland.
On Friday, April 12, the Commission will conduct its regular monthly meeting. The agenda includes the following items:
§ Director's Report: Updates on Columbia River fish migration issues, Native Fish Conservation Policy, elk tuberculosis, legislative committee meeting, ODFW personnel changes, ODFW field activities.
§ In-water blasting permits: Adoption of rule.
§ Sale of 2002 leftover controlled big game hunt tags: Adoption of rule.
§ Sale of elk meat: Adoption of rule.
§ Falconry: Adoption of rule.
§ Lamprey harvest plan: Adoption of rule.
§ Commercial dungeness crab summer fishery: Adoption of rule.
§ 2002 tangle net fishery: Informational briefing.
§ 2002 ocean salmon fishery regulations: Adoption of rule.
The meeting will begin at 8 a.m. in the Commission room of the ODFW headquarters at 2501 SW First Avenue in Portland. A lunch break will be taken at noon. Public testimony will be taken on each agenda item. At 1 p.m., members of the public may speak for up to five minutes on issues not on the agenda. Sign up sheets to testify will be located in the back of the Commission room. For more information on the Commission meeting or the wolf workshop, contact Mike Lueck in the Director's Office at (503) 872-5272.
On Wednesday, April 10 and Thursday, April 11, Commission members will participate in the Five-State Commission Meeting. Agenda items include: groundfish population status, marine protected areas, salmon species status and management, marine mammals, Atlantic salmon white paper, genetically engineered fish, invasive species, conflicts between hunters and animal rights activists, relations with neighboring commissions, and coping with budget reductions for state fish and wildlife agencies. The meeting will be held at the Doubletree Hotel at Janzen Beach in Portland and will last 2 - 6 p.m. on Wednesday and 8 a.m. to noon on Thursday.
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Anne Pressentin Young
Acting Administrator, Information & Education Division
Oregon Dept. of Fish and Wildlife
(503) 872-5264 ext 5356