Document text
Oregon Road Conditions & Cams Email Story to a Friend May 19, 2005 Sides torn on proposed Douglas County hunt By MARK FREEMAN Mail Tribune Hunt 123-Umpqua is the name of a new fall hunt with a proposed 20 tags for Columbian white-tailed buck deer, which two years ago rose from the endangered species ranks back to huntable status. But this Douglas County hunt is the newest source of friction over the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife’s dual marching orders of conserving wildlife while offering recreation opportunities on them. When the Oregon Fish and Wildlife Commission last year voted to open the 123-Umpqua hunt Oct. 1-12, ODFW biologists estimated the first year’s hunt would offer 10 tags. It was billed as a success story — an isolated species pampered from near-extinction until it was strong enough for a limited recreational hunt. The hunt is part of an overall plan to reduce herd congestion and relocate more whitetails in suitable Douglas County habitat. After spring counts showed that whitetail numbers are even stronger than last year, the ODFW now proposes 20 tags for the hunt, which allows its holder to shoot a whitetail or blacktail buck. Advertisement The scheduled hunt also means owners of 40 continuous acres within rural Douglas County can buy Landowner Preference Program tags for hunting whitetails on their property. LOP tags, by law, can go to the registered landowner, family members and, in some cases, non-family members. So far, the ODFW has received requests to buy 67 of these so-called LOP tags, and all the applications from the May 15 deadline have yet to be counted, ODFW records show. That means close to 100 people could be carrying 123-Umpqua tags this October to hunt bucks in Douglas County’s estimated 6,200-animal whitetail herd. Tod Lum, the ODFW’s Umpqua District wildlife biologist who crafted the hunt, says these whitetails there are strong enough that that twice that number of buck tags could be filled without harming the herds’ overall health. "The bottom line is, can the resource sustain it," Lum says. "If we can have a recreational opportunity and still have a sustainable resource, there shouldn’t be any barrier to that." That’s an answer Commission Vice Chair Don Denman has heard before. It was at the heart of the ODFW’s Fish Division argument that to convinced federal fish managers to allow sport-angler harvest a few hundred threatened coho salmon caught in two Siltcoos and Tahkenitch lakes last year. The agency argued that the numbers penciled out and the federal Endangered Species Act allows for it, so why not harvest what are considered surplus fish? In the whitetail’s case, surplus translates into the 123-Umpqua hunt and the 67-plus LOP tags this fall. The ODFW also is proposing another six public hunts next year, mostly on public land, totaling an estimated 140 tags, spreading hunters out from late August into late January. "If you can sustain it and the numbers add up, then sure," Lum says. Just because Oregonians can hunt whitetails two years after their "delisting" doesn’t necessarily mean 100 people should, Denman says. And setting a series of hunts over five hunts next year Denman says he is concerned this year’s tag numbers and next year’s proposed expansion of whitetail hunts may follow an "opportunity for the sake of opportunity" approach to fish and wildlife management. "Staff seems to have the idea that we have to supply more and more opportunity," says Denman, a Jacksonville attorney. "People are standing up and saying we are giving too much opportunity. "There is, probably, some excitement about whitetails," Denman says. "But I don’t think we have an obligation to open a wholesale hunt of them unless there’s so many that they’re giving us fits, and I don’t imagine there are. "I think this certainly should bear some scrutiny," Denman says. What bears more scrutiny, ODFW critics say, is the apparent conflict of one agency charged with simultaneously managing the conservation and consumption of Oregon’s fish and wildlife. "You see the erosion of conservation all around, and it’s very disturbing," says Native Fish Society Bill Bakke, a frequent ODFW critic. "Everything weighed toward the consumptive part of the mission, and that’s distressing." Bakke blames ODFW Director Lindsay Ball, who was brought in three years ago to shore up the ODFW budget and improve its standing with the often critical Oregon Legislature. "That’s where it all comes back to, Lindsay Ball selling licenses, upping revenues and pleasing Republicans in the Legislature," Bakke asserts. Ball says the balance of conservation and recreation under his leadership is no different than what’s been practiced within the ODFW for decades. "Conservation of fish and wildlife comes before the harvest and you harvest the surplus," Ball says. "I haven’t waded into the field and said ‘do this’ or ‘don’t do this.’ I don’t believe that’s the case at all." In the cases of the threatened wild coho harvest and the upcoming whitetail hunt, biologists have proven harvestable surpluses of sustainable species, Ball says. "I certainly don’t see where this agency has thrown caution to the wind, when it comes to conservation of a species," Ball says. "I don’t think we’re doing anything but being prudent." Lum says the notion that Oregonians simply shouldn’t hunt whitetails two years after their federal delisting doesn’t wash. The federal recovery plan set a threshold of 1,500 Douglas County whitetails in 5,500 acres of secured habitat for the species to be considered recovered. The population met that threshold in 1996, when it became the first mammal taken off the state endangered species rolls. The process for federal delisting then began, culminating in 2003. In the ODFW’s minds, the whitetails met thresholds for limited hunting a decade ago, regardless of how long it took federal biologists to agree. "What would have been a politically correct time to wait?" Lum says. "I don’t know if there’s a sacred time-period we need to wait. I think we’ve met that, and beyond." Denman supported the 123-Umpqua hunt when it was estimated at 10 tags last year. Now, he questions whether the heavy LOP tag numbers and proposed new hunts for 2006 stretch consumption over conservation — regardless of whether it appears biologically justifiable. Sometimes, consumption of surplus needs to be more than biologically justifiable, he says. "If we only went on biological decisions, there would be no reason to have a seven-member commission," Denman says. "The (commission) decisions don’t always jibe with biology. This could be one of them. We’ll take a look," he says. Reach reporter Mark Freeman at 776-4470, or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home | Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life | Opinion AP News | Archives | Site Map | Community | Classified Copyright © 1997-2005 Mail Tribune, Inc. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions | Website Feedback www.bingo.com Home Security Systems Trunks, Footlocker dvd-r Distance Education Computer Security Ztech Media Hosting Sports Equipment Online Casino Student Loans tcg student loan consolidation Online Pharmacy Online Casino Reviews Myspace Home Equity Loans Windermere Van Vleet Rogue Valley Travel Discount Hotel Reservations Southern Oregon Loans Online Casino News Casino Gambling Sites Budget Website Templates Online Bingo Entertainment Guide Advertisement s