Montana Fish Report

The Fish and Wildlife Commission will host a reception Thursday, Feb. 8 at the Pacific Northwest Sportsmen’s Show in Portland and then meet Friday, Feb. 9 at the Sheraton Hotel, Portland Airport, 8235 NE Airport Way.

Thursday’s reception is in the Green Theater at Portland Expo from 4:30-5:30 p.m. and is a great opportunity to meet Commission members, ODFW Director Curt Melcher and other staff to share thoughts on fish and wildlife issues.

Friday’s meeting starts at 8 a.m. and follows this agenda.

On Friday, the Commission will consider a petition to uplist the marbled murrelet from threatened to endangered under the Oregon Endangered Species Act (ESA). The species is also listed as threatened under the federal ESA. As part of this agenda item, ODFW will present its status review on the species, and the Commission will hear public testimony. If the Commission decides that uplisting is warranted, rulemaking to reclassify the species and adopt survival guidelines would occur at the June 2018 Commission meeting. 

The Commission will also hear a report about marbled murrelet research from Dr. Jim Rivers, OSU College of Forestry Principal Investigator, during the Director’s Report at the beginning of the meeting.

In other business, the Commission will be asked to approve new Criminal Records Requirements in keeping with HB 3168. Finally, they will hear an update on the lower Columbia River white sturgeon population and fisheries.

Public testimony for topics not on the agenda will be held first thing Friday morning, just after the adoption of temporary rules. Persons seeking to testify on issues not on the formal agenda may do so by making arrangements with the ODFW Director’s Office, at least 24 hours in advance of the meeting, by calling 800-720-6339 or 503-947-6044.

Reasonable accommodations will be provided as needed for individuals requesting assistive hearing devices, sign language interpreters or large-print materials. Individuals needing these types of accommodations may call the ODFW Director’s Office at 800-720-6339 or 503-947-6044 at least 24 hours in advance of the meeting.