ROSEBURG, Ore. – The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife and the advisory committee working on a conservation plan for fall chinook salmon in southern Oregon are holding an April 13 meeting in Grants Pass.

The meeting will be held at the Anne Basker Auditorium, 604 N.W. Sixth Street, Grants Pass. From 5 p.m. – 6 p.m., the advisory committee will hold an open discussion among committee members, and from 6 p.m. – 8:30 p.m., the meeting will shift focus to issues specific to the Rogue River Basin. The public is invited and will have 10 minutes to submit comments at the end of the agenda.

Topics to be covered include a review of background information and populations in the basin, methods used to estimate run size and the estimates recorded since the mid-1970s. Information that could be used to develop a desired status for fish abundance also will be reviewed.

The public advisory committee represents conservation and angling groups, commercial fishers, fishing guides and local government and has been meeting since January. They expect to continue meeting monthly through June, providing input to ODFW over the course of plan development. The next meeting is scheduled for April 27 in Grants Pass, location to be announced.

The conservation plan covers populations of native fall chinook salmon that inhabit Oregon streams in the area between Euchre Creek and the California border and the Rogue River Basin. Using guidelines established in ODFW’s Native Fish Conservation Policy, the plan will identify desired and conservation status and will describe management strategies to reach these goals.

###