Montana Fish Report

The Oregon Fish and Wildlife Commission will meet Friday, Aug. 3 in Salem at ODFW HQ, 4034 Fairview Industrial Drive SE.

The meeting starts at 8 a.m. and follows this agenda, 
www.dfw.state.or.us/agency/commission/minutes/18/08_aug/index.asp

The Commission will be asked to consider a petition submitted by several groups asking the Commission to begin rulemaking to change trapping regulations. The proposal asks the Commission to prohibit trapping of marten in portions of western Oregon and prohibit all furbearer and unprotected mammal trapping on some specific public lands in western Oregon.

The Commission will also consider adopting advisory survival guidelines for threatened marbled murrelets to minimize potential for unauthorized take. Once adopted, the survival guidelines would encourage (but not require) certain actions to protect the seabird on state-owned or leased lands, such as state forests; they do not apply to private lands or other non-state public lands. Compliance with the federal Endangered Species Act remains required on all lands independent of the Commission’s decision.

Advisory guidelines proposed include recommendations to limit human-supplied food sources in murrelet habitat (which draw predators like jays, crows and ravens); increase suitable habitat on public lands; survey for murrelets to delineate occupied habitat; and restrict some forest management practices in occupied habitat. The guidelines also define suitable habitat as generally meaning old-growth, mature, coniferous forest stands that include multiple platform trees within 35 miles of the Pacific coast. 

In other business, the Commission will be asked to:

• Approve funding for seven R&E projects and modify another project. R&E projects are designed to improve fish production or increase/improve recreational fishing opportunities.
• Modify administrative rules for the big game tags purchased by licensed outfitters and guides to increase efficiency and improve enforceability of regulations.