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0 of 3 Premium Clicks used this month SUBSCRIBE Print + Online Subscriber Activation | Register x Forgot Password | Need an Account? e-edition | subscribe | newsletter | deals Home News Latest Stories Standing Stone owners will open brew pub in downtown Medford Retired geology professor talks about earthquakes Jacksonville resident Gary Dahl, creator of the Pet Rock, dies at 78 10 things to know for Wednesday Emergency services Crime, Courts and Emergency Services Emergency services Oregon AG sues White City company over subscription scam Police investigate mini-spree of White City car break-ins Siskiyou County man arrested near Talent on kidnapping charges One person suffers smoke inhalation in Ashland house fire on Union Street Politics and Elections Jackson County Commissioners plan no tax on marijuana for one year Arthur I. Cyr: Iran – a crisis without end Arthur I. Cyr: South Korea represents long-term triumph – for them and for US Special election: Jackson County voters OK marijuana tax Ex-Merkley aide chosen as Oregon secretary of state Education New SOU board hikes tuition 5 percent Southern Oregon Education Service District superintendent to retire in June Which comes first: The rocket or the egg? Medford School District one of most accident-prone in state Dianne Williamson: College admissions mania ill-advised Environment A sea-foam change Rogue Valley lions on their way to California Corps hopes to clear Lost Creek Lake of debris Beetles taking toll on Ashland pines Mt. Ashland Ski Area to host party March 28 State News Navy vet recalls a time of MAD, and nukes in Vietnam Seaside moves closer to allowing pot dispensaries Democratic schools budget clears Oregon House: $7.3 billion Oregon ski areas ask lawmakers for re-strengthened lawsuit protection More truck traffic coming into Oregon via Highway 97 Nation - World Obituaries Gary Dahl Death Notices Edward Thomas Reichenbach Frederick David Schatz James Francis Poole Weather Photo Galleries Since You Asked Videos Web Cams Mail Tribune 100 Shareable Sports Latest Stories South’s Fisher ties for third in SWC opener North dominates in SWC opener Patriots owner Kraft testifies in Hernandez trial Djokovic triumphs, but Venus Williams falls Randle sets record, leads Stanford in NIT Varsity 541 College Sports Randle sets record, leads Stanford in NIT UConn coaches won’t go to Indiana for Final Four Coaches hired for league-bound RCC Looking for a leader Sports leagues need to fight Indiana law Pro Sports Patriots owner Kraft testifies in Hernandez trial Djokovic triumphs, but Venus Williams falls Cubs' Lester frustrated by Bryant’s demotion Ko rolls toward LPGA history NASCAR penalizes RCR, Newman for tires Community Sports Business Latest Stories Standing Stone owners will open brew pub in downtown Medford A study in fine-tuned artistry Cars We Remember: ‘Topper’ movie car most memorable After being sidelined by blindness, Stan Moore returns to the bike business in Medford Mandatory paid sick leave gets mixed reviews Real Estate News East McAndrews Road sees a resurgence in commercial projects Business briefs: March 7 New construction prices jump 18.2 percent in Jackson County People In Business People in Business, March 26, 2015 Transportation Rogue Disposal plans natural gas fueling site Alaska, United Express boost Medford airport to record February CEO Rieder leaving Erickson March 31 Agriculture Broth maker leaves San Diego for Medford Harry & David announces new president Opinion Latest Our View: The tangled web at Medford's Northgate Centre Letters to the Editor, April1 Kathleen Parker: Religious freedom is a two-way street Landgren cartoon: European travel essentials Our View: Lawmakers ending a small annoyance in the law Editorials Our View: The tangled web at Medford's Northgate Centre Our View: Lawmakers ending a small annoyance in the law Other Views: Sage grouse listing would be unfortunate Our View: Phoenix lion sanctuary was a missed opportunity Other Views: Gun background check bill won't make us safer Letters to the Editor Letters to the Editor, April1 Letters to the Editor, March 31 Letters to the Editor, March 30 Letters to the Editor, March 29 Letters to the Editor, March 28 Columns Kathleen Parker: Religious freedom is a two-way street Guest Opinion: Marijuana offers Oregon benefits, drawbacks Kathleen Parker: A leap of faith — into thin air George Will: Remembrance of Clintons past Dana Milbank: The end of the White House's insularity? Guest Opinions Guest Opinion: Marijuana offers Oregon benefits, drawbacks Guest Opinion: How to end the influence of money in elections Guest Opinion: How schools teach U.S. history raises hackles Guest Opinion: Guest Opinion: Raise your voice against child abuse Lifestyle Latest stories Fish on: Winter steelhead fishing is so good on the upper Rogue that even rookies can limit out Tips for catching winter steelhead in the upper Rogue Page H. Onorato: What’s on the menu for Easter? Page H. Onorato: Leftover ham and eggs make for some yummy dishes after Easter Carol Link: It’s time to get into shape for spring yard work Food Page H. Onorato: Leftover ham and eggs make for some yummy dishes after Easter The journey from inspiration to written recipe Tammy Kelly: Lighten up traditional Easter desserts Kitchen Call: Goat cheese recipes worth bleating over Community blog: Try slightly smoky baked beans instead of refried Home and Garden Carol Link: It’s time to get into shape for spring yard work Dear Monty: Relocation brings pay raise and challenges Garden Cameos: Planning for a fragrant garden year round Paul Rogers: Choose the right tool for job in the garden Home Help: Easy enhancements for your master closet Health Brent St. Germain: Feeling the burn again HealthStyle: Normal anxiety or anxiety disorder? Community blog: How to Get Rid of a Tension Headache St. Mary's student helps others with diabetes Community blog: Sleep Tight: Making Your Bed, Body and Mind Ready for Rest Hiking Biking Faith Religion briefs: Friday, March 27 Religion briefs Religion News: Presbyterian Church gives approval on same-sex marriage Religion briefs: Friday, March 13 More religion events in the Rogue Valley Milestones and Achievements Haga-Parks Exercise helps special-needs kids adjust to airport procedures Engagement: Workman-Wright Columnist for a Day Rogue Healthy Aging Tempo Latest stories Trivia Tuesdays at South Stage Cellars Sweetwater String Band tonight at Oberon's Tavern in Ashland Rising Stars raises $10,000 for LIFE Art ‘Million Dollar Quartet’ plays the Craterian Theater Here's Tempo's top five picks for live entertainment this week Theater Review: From past into present in OSF's 'Long Day's Journey' ‘A Dream of Red Pavilions’ at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival Review: Education and its discontents Next Stage Repertory presents 'Educating Rita' at the Craterian Theater Eugene O'Neill's 'Long Day's Journey into Night' opens at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival Music Sweetwater String Band tonight at Oberon's Tavern in Ashland Rising Stars raises $10,000 for LIFE Art ‘Million Dollar Quartet’ plays the Craterian Theater Futurebirds play the Brickroom in Ashland The 2015 Rising Stars music competition ends with its final round on the Britt stage in Jacksonville Community Events Get Up & Go: April 1 Trivia Tuesdays at South Stage Cellars Rogue Valley artist Linda Evans' pastel paintings capture landscapes of Southern Oregon Ashland Independent Film Festival announces this year's lineup OSF Hip-Hop Poetry Open Mic Dining Restaurant Inspections: March 29 Basque-inspired cuisine at Eleven in Ashland Parsing the meaning behind wine medals and scores Restaurant Inspections: Sunday, March 22 Jasmine Thai Cuisine Tempo Videos Classifieds Jobs Autos Real Estate FEATURED » Obits Blogs TV Listings Movie Listings Oregon Outdoors Oregon Healthy Living Special Sections Business Services NEWS NOW Standing Stone owners will open brew pub in downtown Medford ... Jacksonville resident Gary Dahl, creator of the Pet Rock, dies at 78 ... Our View: The tangled web at Medford's Northgate Centre ... Standing Stone owners will open brew pub in downtown Medford ... Jacksonville resident Gary Dahl, creator of the Pet Rock, dies at 78 ... Our View: The tangled web at Medford's Northgate Centre ... SUNDAY FOCUS: WILDLIFE CONTROL OPERATORS Proposed new rules for Oregon critter catchers would require the killing of nuisance animals Proposed new rules for critter catchers would require the killing of nuisance animals Comment By Mark Freeman Mail Tribune MailTribune.com By Mark Freeman Mail Tribune Posted Mar. 15, 2015 at 12:01 AM Updated Mar 25, 2015 at 12:53 PM By Mark Freeman Mail Tribune Posted Mar. 15, 2015 at 12:01 AM Updated Mar 25, 2015 at 12:53 PM Proposed rules for wildlife control operators --> • All wildlife control operators in the field would be required to get a license and pass a test about best management practices, rules and how to handle wildlife. Currently, only busin... » Read more X Proposed rules for wildlife control operators • All wildlife control operators in the field would be required to get a license and pass a test about best management practices, rules and how to handle wildlife. Currently, only business owners need licenses, with employees operating under the owner's license. The test would cost $25 instead of being free. • Owners of wildlife control businesses would pay $60 for a two-year permit, which currently is free. Business employees might have to pay $25 for a two-year permit, but that could be dropped before the final draft revisions are completed. • For a permit renewal, operators would be required to complete 12 hours of continuing education every two years. • All trapped wildlife would have to be euthanized using Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife-approved methods, except when released on site or with pre-approval of an ODFW district biologist. Currently, only raccoons must be euthanized to curb diseases such as canine distemper. The final proposal is scheduled to be presented to the Oregon Fish and Wildlife Commission for discussion and a possible vote during its April 24 meeting in Bend. — Mark Freeman   » Social News The skunk that strolled out beneath an Ashland man's house thought it was heading for dinner at a front yard bird feeder, but instead its last steps landed it in a live trap that critter catcher Don Meyer had placed there the night before. This is skunk No. 4 that, along with three brethren and a raccoon, have been squatting in the house's crawl space. All took turns entering Meyer's trap, then finding a one-way trip in the back of Meyer's truck to their ultimate demise. "I normally do away with them," Meyer says. What is currently the norm could become the law for Meyer and other critter catchers working the backyards and crawl spaces of Oregon to rid them of wildlife considered nuisances by landowners who want them gone. State wildlife managers are in the midst of expanding and updating how critter catchers — officially called wildlife control operators — are licensed and monitored in Oregon, including a proposed rule that all captured animals be euthanized, with no releases without a state biologist's pre-trapping approval. The issue was scheduled for discussion and public comment April 24 before the Oregon Fish and Wildlife Commission in Bend. The commission is set to vote on whether to enact the changes that day as well. Oregon's wildlife control operators program has not seen an overhaul since the first rules were put into place by the commission a decade ago. Currently, only the 90 trapping company owners must pass a one-time test on tricks of the trade, such as the types of traps available, how to set them and euthanizing practices. Their employees currently are not required to be licensed. The new proposal calls for anyone operating traps to be licensed, sets permit fees for company owners and employees and would require 12 hours of continuous education between renewals of the two-year license. "We're looking to make the industry more professional," says Rick Boatner, the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife biologist who oversees the program. "Any time you can make your business more professional, that's a good thing." But the biggest change would be the no-release rules, which are designed to reduce problems for humans as well as the trapped animals, Boatner says. A no-release policy is believed to help curb the spread of diseases such as roundworm and canine distemper, a disease so prevalent in raccoons that the ODFW already has a no-release rule on them, Boatner says. Distemper can be spread to pets and roundworm can be spread to pets and people, he says. Also, released animals already have habituated themselves to people and are thus more likely to cause the same problems that got them trapped in the first place or even return to where they were trapped, Boatner says. Released animals can end up in territorial clashes with resident animals and struggle to find food and water sources, Boatner says. "Release is not a good option," Boatner says. "Some (people) understand it when you explain it to them. Others can't grasp it." Scott Beckstead, Oregon director for the Humane Society of the United States, believes killing nuisance animals should be a last resort, not a first and only one. "Most Oregonians believe animals should not be killed as a matter of reflex," Beckstead says. "When it comes to dealing with wildlife conflicts, every effort should be to use nonlethal means." Beckstead says he believes no new policy on regulating wildlife control operators' killing policies should be done without input from more than the ODFW biologists and trappers who made up an advisory committee that led to the new draft rules. "It merits a conversation, including everyone who has an interest in the subject," Beckstead says. The task force that helped craft the new draft included three current trappers, ODFW state veterinarian Colin Gillin and five ODFW staff, Boatner says. The Portland Audubon Association, which had a member on the original task force that drafted the current rules, was offered a seat this time around but declined, Boatner says. Boatner says his agency does not have a grasp on how many trapped raccoons, skunks, squirrels and other critter-catcher targets are caught, released or killed annually because current rules require the reporting only of trapped furbearers such as beavers and bobcats. The current draft proposal calls for reporting of everything captured by licensed trappers, who locally trap mostly raccoons, skunks and opossums for landowners. Wildlife control operators already have protocols for handling animals and use the American Veterinary Medical Association's 2013 guidelines for euthanizing animals, which include a .22-caliber shot to the head. That's Meyer's preferred method, with the animals mostly buried on public lands. He takes no pleasure in it. "I have no urge to kill anything for sport or food," he says. Meyer believes his killing of nuisance animals balances out those homeowners who capture and release wildlife that invariably raid someone else's house, bird feeder and crawl space. "Every year I keep running into more and more of them that have been released," Meyer says. "Now, you'll never catch them 'cuz they're trap-shy." Reach reporter Mark Freeman at 541-776-4470 or [email protected] . Follow him at www.twitter.com/MTwriterFreeman . By Mark Freeman Mail Tribune MailTribune.com By Mark Freeman Mail Tribune Posted Mar. 15, 2015 at 12:01 AM Updated Mar 25, 2015 at 12:53 PM » Comment or view comments Reader Reaction » STAY INFORMED Email NewsLetter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. calendar Connect with MailTribune.com Facebook Twitter RSS Back to top Reader Services Reader Services Home Subscriptions Subscriber controls Contact us Submissions Photos Events Letters to the editor Corrections Announcements Obituaries Story ideas Since you asked Alerts Email Alerts RSS Feeds Text Alerts Advertise Media Kit Home Products and services Ad rates Advertising contacts Mail Tribune Daily Tidings The Nickel Shop Our Valley Blogs Stay Informed Email newsletter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. 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