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June 10, 2016
SALEM, Ore.—The Fish and Wildlife Commission met June 9-10 at the ODFW Headquarters in Salem and formally adopted 2016 fall controlled hunt tag numbers. The controlled hunt draw began this afternoon and results will be available (at My Hunter Information /1-866-947-6339) no later than June 20.
The Commission also set 2017 big game hunting regulations. Changes from 2016 regulations include:
- Edible parts of game mammals are now defined to provide clarity for hunters and law enforcement.
- The sale of taxidermy mounts by individuals age 65 and older who legally harvested the animal will now be allowed. (Previously, taxidermy mounts can only be sold as part of an estate.) These individuals will need to pay a $25 processing fee for up to five mounts, $5 per mount after.
- Hunters may change their controlled hunt choices free once per hunt series (buck deer, elk, etc.), after that they will pay a $25 fee due to administrative costs and staff time required to make adjustments. Hunters may change their controlled hunt choices until June 1 each year.
- Additional big game hunting will be allowed at Ladd Marsh Wildlife Area (archery, muzzleloaders, and shotguns only).
- Parts of Wenaha and White River Wildlife Areas will close during the winter to reduce disturbance to big game (Wenaha closure Jan. 1-March 31, White River Dec. 1 – March 31).
In other business, the Commission:
- Approved the proposed 2017-19 budget which will now be submitted to the Governor for her consideration and ultimately decided by the 2017 State Legislature. The goal of the budget proposal is to align the agency’s activities with funding sources. No major changes to the budget are being proposed and the budget does not include any new increases for fish and wildlife licenses.
- Deferred rulemaking on the Holding, Propagating and Protected Wildlife rules to a future meeting. Commissioners plan to take a closer look at several issues and provide more direction to staff on rule revisions to bring back at a future date.
- Adopted hunting and trapping regulations for July 2016-June 2018 seasons. The only change from current regulations is trapping activity will not be allowed within 500 feet of Oregon’s wildlife crossing structures along Hwy 97 south of Bend.
- Heard about the mule deer and elk management objectives, which are population goals for Oregon’s big game populations.
- Appointed Candis Yow as the Hunter Representative to the A and H Board. Yow, a real estate broker from La Pine, is co-host of a TV hunting show and is a founder of NW Ladies Hunting Camp.
- Approved several A and H and R and E projects, which open hunting and fishing access and improve wildlife habitat and fisheries. They also allocated 2017 big game auction and raffle tags.
- Set commercial fishery regulations for Pacific sardine and Pacific mackerel and other pelagic species based on federal recommendations.
The Commission is the policy-making body for fish and wildlife issues in the state and it meets regularly. The next scheduled meeting is Aug. 5 in Salem.
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