Statewide elk tag goes for $15,500 in Eugene
Thursday, March 13, 2008 1:43 PM PDT
EUGENE — Wayne Holm of North Plains, Ore., placed the winning $15,500 bid for a statewide elk tag auctioned at the Emerald Valley Chapter of the Oregon Hunters Association annual fundraising banquet held in Eugene on March 1.
The special auction tag was provided by ODFW’s Access and Habitat Program and awards the winning bidder an extended hunting season from Sept. 1 – Nov. 30, 2008 anywhere in Oregon where there is an authorized elk season.
Ten percent of the auction proceeds will go to the Emerald Valley Chapter of OHA while the remainder of the funds will be used by the A&H Program for wildlife habitat and hunter access projects throughout the state.
For information on the A&H Program call program coordinator Matt Keenan at (503) 947-6087.
Advisers say more time needed to propose Oregon marine reserves
ASTORIA (AP) — An advisory group says more time is needed to propose a series of marine reserves along the Oregon Coast.
The Nov. 1 deadline does not leave enough time for a proposal that meets the tests of sound science, the Science and Technical Advisory Committee said in a memo to the Oregon Ocean Policy Advisory Council.
Gov. Ted Kulongoski has asked the council to propose up to nine marine reserves — places where no fishing, oil drilling or mining is allowed — inside the state’s three-mile limit to protect the ocean environment and promote scientific knowledge.
Jay Rasmussen, the associate director of Oregon Sea Grant and chairman of the advisory committee, said the group doesn’t have the time or the funding to consider how big reserves should be, how far apart they should be or where they should be.
Council chairman Scott McMullen said they should seriously consider the advice, but the reason for the November deadline is to come up with a budget request for the 2009 Legislature.
Patty Wentz, a spokeswoman for the governor’s office, said they will need more time to respond to the advisory committee’s concerns.
Turkey, black bear drawing
results online
BOISE — Hunters who applied for the 2008 spring turkey and black bear controlled hunts can find results on the Idaho Fish and Game Web site at http://fishandgame.idaho.gov/apps/ch/turkbear.cfm.
Successful applicants also have been notified by mail. Details for obtaining or exchanging tags are explained on the site.
Hunters who need to exchange a general season tag for a controlled hunt tag can do that at any Fish and Game Office.
Hunters who have general turkey tag will need to buy a controlled hunt permit that costs $7.75. Hunters who don’t have a general turkey tag must buy one as well as the controlled hunt permit.
Those drawing a spring bear controlled hunt and who have a general season tag may exchange the general season tag for the controlled hunt tag or may keep the general season tag and buy the controlled hunt bear tag. Any exchanges of tags must be completed at a Fish and Game office.
Wolf report: Annual report available
NAMPA — The 2007 annual summary of wolf recovery in Idaho is now available.
During 2007, biologists documented 83 resident wolf packs in Idaho. The minimum population was estimated at 732 wolves. In addition, 13 documented border packs counted for Montana and Wyoming had established territories straddling the Idaho state boundary and probably spent some time in Idaho.
Of the 59 packs known to have reproduced, 43 packs qualified as breeding pairs by the end of the year. These 59 reproductive packs produced at least 200 pups.
In Idaho, wolf packs ranged from the Canadian border south to Interstate Highway 84, and from the Oregon border east to the Montana and Wyoming borders.
Dispersing wolves were occasionally reported in previously unoccupied areas.
Seventeen previously unknown packs were documented for the first time during 2007. Three hundred eighty-two wolf observations were reported on Idaho Fish and Game’s online Website report form during 2007.
Seventy-eight wolves were confirmed to have died in Idaho in 2007. Of known mortalities, agency control and legal landowner take in response to wolf-livestock depredation accounted for 50 deaths, other human causes, including illegal take, 18 deaths, 8 unknown causes, and two wolves died of natural causes.
During the 2007 calendar year, 73 cattle, 185 sheep, and 14 dogs were classified by USDA Wildlife Services as confirmed or probable kills by wolves.
The report is available online: http://fishandgame.idaho.gov/cms/wildlife/wolves/. The report is listed in the right hand column.
The Northern Rocky Mountain progress report for 2007 for Idaho, Montana and Wyoming is available at: http://www.fws.gov/mountain-prairie/species/mammals/wolf/.
On February 27, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s final rule removing wolves in those three states and parts of Washington, Oregon and Utah was published in the federal register.
The rule would take effect March 28, unless blocked by legal challenges.
The Idaho Fish and Game Commission Thursday, March 6, adopted the Idaho Wolf Population Management Plan that would govern wolf management once the delisting takes effect.
Commissioners are expected to set seasons and rules for wolf hunts in May.
The plan is available in the right hand column at: http://fishandgame.idaho.gov/cms/wildlife/wolves/.
