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51 °F Forecast | Road Cams Tuesday, November 9, 2004 Today's News | Classifieds | Autos | Homes | Jobs | Tempo | Health | Community | Home Delivery SECTIONS Home Page Local News Sports Business Obituaries Life Opinion - Politics Tempo AP News Weather Classified Archives Site Map SPECIAL SECTIONS Since We Asked Outdoor Journal Menu Guide How To Guide Wellness Connection Readers' Choice Real Estate Showcase Joy Magazine Homelife Magazine Wedding Guide Passport to the Rogue Valley EXTRA Newspaper in Education Personals Movie Times TV Times E The People MARKETPLACE Find a Car Find a Home Find a Job Classifieds Place an ad eSouthernOregon Automotive Communities Entertainment Publications Recreation Calendar CUSTOMER SERVICE Frequent Questions Advertising Information Home Delivery Employment Contact Us Media Kit Network Affiliate Oregon Road Conditions & Cams Email Story to a Friend November 8, 2004 Plan welcomes gray wolves to Oregon But the endangered critters, which aren’t here yet but are expected to migrate from Idaho, aren’t loved by all By MARK FREEMAN Mail Tribune Gray wolves would be welcomed and encouraged to breed when they naturally migrate into Oregon, but they would not be actively re-introduced here under a draft plan meant to manage wolves once they return. The draft plan also calls for promoting social tolerance for wolves, which were hunted to extinction here in the early 1900s to curb livestock losses. It also would create population and breeding objectives for eastern and western Oregon, establish a program to compensate for livestock losses and allow for relocating wolves to unused but suitable habitat within Oregon after regional public comment. Other provisions include the killing of specific "problem" wolves that cause chronic losses to livestock or deer and elk, and even the potential use of hunters or trappers to do it. There are no known wolves in Oregon, where they are still classified as a threatened species on state and federal lists. Experts expect them to cross into Oregon from Idaho some time in the next five years. The wolf plan is the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife’s effort at preparing for the animals, and the issues, that will arise once they return. Advertisement The plan is the product of a 14-person advisory committee representing various interests from conservation groups to hunters and rural landowners. The ODFW and committee members are stumping on behalf of the plan in a series of public meetings that includes a Tuesday stop in Medford. After public comment, The Oregon Fish and Wildlife Commission is scheduled to have public hearings at its meetings Dec. 10 and Jan. 6, with the final adoption set for Jan. 7. "Is it an ideal plan? No. But it’s universes better than other states," said Amaroq Weiss, western director of species conservation for the Defenders of Wildlife and one of the committee members. "It’s a plan that responsibly addresses the needs of wolves and humans," Weiss said. Not everyone agrees. Wallowa County Commissioner Ben Boswell was one of two Eastern Oregon representatives on the advisory committee who refused to sign off on the draft. He wrote a minority opinion that stresses what he called the "Tom McCall Plan" for wolves: "You may visit, but you can’t stay." Some hunting organizations are backing that ship-them-back approach. "Our stance is hard and fast — we don’t want wolves here," said John Thiebes, a former ODFW biologist who is field coordinator for the Medford-based Oregon Hunters Association. Wolves in states such as Idaho feed primarily on elk, and ODFW censuses show that half of the states’ wildlife units have fewer elk than the management objectives for those units. "How are (ODFW biologists) going to meet these management objectives with another predator here when they can’t reach them now?" Thiebes said. "The bottom line is, there’s just no place for wolves in Oregon at this time." Not all hunting or sporting organizations are calling for keeping Oregon a wolf-free state. Mike Beagle of Medford, who chairs a new organization called Backcountry Hunters and Anglers, said he believes the plan represents a "pro-active" way of dealing with the inevitable spread of wolves. "I think it’s a good, level-headed plan," Beagle said. "If we can manage them and live relatively peaceful with wolves, I’m all for that. "They’re coming, so let’s do something now so we’re prepared," he said. The first wolves to move here under the plan are expected to be wild wolves from packs in Idaho. The plan’s ultimate goal is to establish enough wolves here to get them removed from the state and federal endangered species rolls. ODFW officials then envision asking the Oregon Legislature to list wolves as a "special status mammal" for future management that could include the limited, controlled hunting or trapping of specific wolves. Weiss, from Defenders of Wildlife, says the draft plan represents the diverse committee’s best effort. "No one at the table got everything they wanted, but everybody got something they needed," Weiss said. "You can’t ask for a whole lot more when you have such diverse interests at the table." Reach reporter Mark Freeman at 776-4470, or e-mail [email protected] Public meeting scheduled What: A public meeting by the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife to present and take public comment on its draft management plan for gray wolves, which are expected to migrate into Oregon from Idaho within the next five years. When: 7 p.m. Tuesday. Where: North Medford High School Cafeteria, 1900 N. Keeneway Drive, Medford. Comment by fax: Fax comments to (503)947-6009. Comment by e-mail: [email protected] Comment by mail: Send letters to the ODFW Information and Education Division, 3406 Cherry Ave. NE, Salem 97303-4924. 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