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M/CLOUDY Temp: 50 °F Wind: N at 3 mph Wednesday, February 19, 2003 SECTIONS Home Page Local News Sports Business Obituaries Life Opinion - Politics AP News Weather Classified Archives Site Map EXTRA HomeLife Magazine W3 Magazine Jobs @ Mail Tribune Tempo A & E Oregon CarZone Wellness Connection Real Estate Newspaper in Education Prime Times Outdoor Journal Personals Movie Times TV Times E The People CLASSIFIEDS Find a Car Find a Home Find a Job Find Everything E SOUTHERN OREGON Automotive Communities Entertainment Publications Recreation Calendar ABOUT US FAQ What's New Advertise Home Delivery Classified Ad Contact Us Media Kit Email Story to a Friend February 6, 2003 Commission to hold meeting during outdoor show By MARK FREEMAN Mail Tribune Hunters, anglers and others who spend part of Friday viewing the different gadgets and gizmos offered by the outdoor industry during an outdoor show in Portland also have a new display to see — Oregon leaders framing fish and wildlife policies. The Oregon Fish and Wildlife Commission will break from tradition and hold its monthly meeting Friday during the Pacific Northwest Sportsmen’s Show at the Portland Expo Center in Portland. The seven-member commission, which sets policies for and oversees the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, will meet from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. in an upstairs banquet room at the Expo, while the main outdoor show is in the large arena. So any of the thousands of visitors who try out new rifle scopes, book outdoor adventures or inspect the latest line in powerboats can watch wildlife government in action as well. "We’ve never held a commission meeting at a sportsmen’s show, so we don’t have any idea how many people are going to wander in," said Anne Pressentin Young, the commission’s spokeswoman. "But I suspect we’ll have curious people wander up, see what it’s like and see how fish and wildlife policy is made," Pressentin Young said. Policy decisions on Friday’s agenda include new deer and elk management plans for Oregon, possible emergency change to recreational bottomfishing seasons to help stave off a declines in rockfish numbers, discussion of forming a plan to manage wolves that migrate into Oregon, and the start of a review of all archery hunting issues in the state. The commission normally holds meetings at its Portland headquarters office, but does hold meetings on the road about every other month under a requirement that it visit each of the state’s five congressional districts annually. Holding court at the outdoor show originally was suggested by Bill Monroe, the outdoors columnist for The Oregonian newspaper, as a way for the commission to be more visible to its outdoors constituency, Pressentin Young says. Commission Chair John Esler also liked the idea, and the ODFW and show managers worked out the details that included the $900 rental for the 100-seat banquet room. "It looked like it would work, so we thought we’d try it," Pressentin Young says. People can attend the commission meeting for free, but they would not get admission into the rest of the show and they still have to pay for parking, she says. The commission will review how the meeting fares before deciding whether to do it again, she says. But the meeting in the sportsmen show does have at least one positive for it — it settles the need to travel into the 3rd Congressional District, which includes the Expo building. The show opened Wednesday and runs through Sunday. The seven-member commission won’t be the only set of heads outdoors-minded people will look for at the Pacific Northwest Sportsmen’s Show. The Jack O’Connor Legacy Tour, a major display of wild game trophies collected by the world-famous outdoor writer, is making the Portland show one of its early stops on a 2003 tour through the Western states. Jack O’Connor was considered one of the country’s foremost gun writers, covering the shooting sports in Outdoor Life for several decades. The tour is part of the 65-mount collections of trophy big-game animals from around the world that O’Connor left behind when he died in 1978. The trophies were bequeathed to the University of Idaho, which wanted to present them to a wider audience. The university reached an agreement with Leupold & Stevens, Inc. to facilitate the Legacy Tour. O’Connor was born in 1902 in Arizona on what he described as "the last frontier." He studied and taught English, but his real love was shooting and writing about it. As the longtime shooting editor for Outdoor Life, he roamed the world collecting not only trophies but millions of dedicated readers for his articles and books. The Legacy Tour is housed in a specially-designed trailer which opens to reveal a trophy room environment. On display inside will be many of O’Connor’s most-prized trophies together with information about the hunts where they were collected. In addition, the display will include some of his personal effects, including firearms, pictures and other memorabilia. Reach reporter Mark Freeman at 776-4470, or e-mail [email protected] Printer Friendly Version Email Story to a Friend Subscribe Archive: Click to Search M Mail Tribune Home Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life Opinion - Politics | AP News | Archives | Site Map E Southern Oregon | Classified Copyright 1997-2002 Mail Tribune. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy web master feedback A D V E R T I S E R S