Idaho Fish Report

The Fish and Wildlife Commission will meet Friday, May 19 beginning at 8 a.m. at the Embassy Suites Portland Airport, Spruce and Oak Rooms, 7900 NE 82nd Ave.

The meeting will be livestreamed via ODFW’s Periscope and Twitter accounts.

The only topic on the agenda is the Wolf Conservation and Management Plan Review. ODFW staff will present an overview of the initial draft Plan (the same one presented April 21 in Klamath Falls).

The Commission will then host a panel discussion with stakeholders. Representatives from Oregon Cattlemen’s Association, Oregon Farm Bureau, Oregon Hunters Association, Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, Cascadia Wildlands, Center for Biological Diversity, Defenders of Wildlife and Oregon Wild have been invited to be on the panel. Following that panel discussion, the meeting will open to other public testimony. Commissioners will not take any rule-making action on the draft Plan during the meeting, and a date for final adoption of a revised Wolf Plan has not yet been set.

The draft Plan is the result of a year-long review process to evaluate the current Wolf Plan’s effectiveness and address opportunities for improvement. The draft Plan incorporates the latest science about wolves and incorporates large amounts of Oregon-specific wolf data. It also updates base information about wolf status, population and distribution, plus management improvements based on actual field experience with wolves. (See a summary of changes to the Plan.)

The original Wolf Plan was initially adopted by the Commission back in 2005 after ODFW’s largest-ever public process. The Plan was also reviewed in 2010.

The Commission is the policy-making body for fish and wildlife issues in Oregon and usually meets monthly.