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ODFW faces some tough cuts By MARK FREEMAN Mail Tribune The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife would cut as many as 30 field biologists, close two fish hatcheries and eliminate two enforcement jobs if the agency does not get part or all of a proposed increase to hunting and fishing fees. These cuts and others would be necessary to make up an estimated $8 million shortfall in the ODFW's 2003-2005 budget caused primarily by inflation and stagnant revenue. The cuts would include permanently eliminating three of the state's eight watershed manager positions and closing at least two hatcheries - possibly the Elk River Hatchery in Port Orford - but not any field offices. Locally, two wildlife biologists and one fish biologist would be laid off in the agency's Central Point office, and programs compensating landowners for crop damage caused by deer and elk would be cut. The cuts were on a list of programs and positions the agency would eliminate if it does not get all or part of a proposed fee increase of $5 each for licenses and tags beginning in 2004. "I'm not trying to scare people," said Lindsay Ball, ODFW director. "If you take an $8 million cut in an agency, you take some serious hits on things." The cuts were revealed to a special budget committee now helping the ODFW grapple with its funding problems and were set for public release Thursday. Any proposed cuts and/or fee increases will be submitted to Gov. John Kitzhaber for presentation to the Oregon Legislature, which sets hunting and angling fees as well as finalizes the agency's budget. Committee member Chuck Smith of Medford said he believes Oregon's 835,500 licensed hunters and anglers will support the increased fees, given the depth of the specific cuts outlined by Ball. "I believe he's adequately painted the picture of what may happen," Smith said. "I support it. What's the cost of a season pass to Mount Ashland, or a round of golf with a cart? I think people will pay it." Required cost-of-living raises for most of its 1,355 employees, hits to the employees' retirement accounts and inflation have created the projected shortfall in the agency's $215 million biennial budget. That has prompted the agency to propose its first fee increase in four years. If the top increases are adopted, anglers would pay $46.25 a year for salmon and steelhead fishing, and an annual deer-hunting trip would cost a minimum of $42. The agency will make its funding pitch in a series of public meetings that begin April 22 in Central Point. That meeting will be at 7 p.m. at the ODFW District Office, 1495 E. Gregory Road. Positions proposed for cutting in the Central Point office are two of the four local wildlife biologists and one of the five fish biologists. Rogue Watershed Manager John Thiebes said the wildlife jobs are currently held by Merv Wolfer and Simon Wray, while the fish job is now filled by David Haight. Thiebes said those jobs were targeted because they are funded solely through license and tag fees. Thiebes' watershed manager job will remain. A similar yet currently unfilled job for the Umpqua River watershed in Roseburg would be eliminated, Thiebes said. Ball said his agency worked up the list of cuts because budget committee members and the public wanted to know what specific programs would die if the fee increases did not occur. "I'm not wed to these cuts," Ball said. "You can make cuts somewhere else if you can find better places." Reach reporter Mark Freeman at 776-4470, or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.