Commission to adopt sport fishing, big game hunting regulations Sept. 14 in Bandon

The Fish and Wildlife Commission meets Friday, Sept. 14 in Bandon at the Bandon Community Center, 1200 W 11th Street SW. The meeting begins at 8 a.m. and follows this agenda, https://www.dfw.state.or.us/agency/commission/minutes/18/09_Sep/index.asp  The Commission will be adopting big game hunting and sport fishing regulations for 2019. The major changes being proposed for big game hunting are related to an effort to simplify regulations first announced in late May 2018. (See May news release and table for list of all simplification proposals.) One new proposal from ODFW staff is to allow mechanical broadheads for big game archery hunters. Staff are proposing the change as part of the regulation simplification effort and because it allows hunters to choose equipment based on performance and their own personal preference. The Commission will also adopt 2019 Sport Fishing Regulations at the meeting. The proposed changes will further simplify salmon and steelhead seasonal regulations. There are also statewide proposals to increase the possession limit from two to three daily limits for trout and warmwater fish and standardize striped bass regulations by removing all size and bag limits statewide. For more details on proposed changes by zone, see Exhibit C of the Commission packet. During the sportfishing regulations portion of the meeting, the Commission will also consider a petition to prohibit retention of wild steelhead throughout the Southwest Zone. ODFW staff are recommending the petition be denied as there is no immediate conservation concern for steelhead populations in this zone. Staff are initiating the development of a multi-species conservation plan for the Rouge and South Coast, where concerns about wild steelhead can be addressed. Later in the meeting, the Commission will consider a different petition to list the Humboldt Marten as endangered or threatened under the Oregon Endangered Species Act. Staff also recommends denying this petition, as it does not provide scientific evidence to substantiate claims of current threats and that Humboldt Marten populations are in decline. Recent survey results suggest range stability and critical research and data needs are being addressed through current efforts, including those guided by the Oregon Forest Carnivore Working Group. In 2017, the Oregon Legislative Assembly directed ODFW to create a program to offer big game preference points in lieu of a cash reward for people providing information leading to citations or arrest of poachers. The Commission will be asked to approve administrative rules for this program, which were developed by ODFW, Oregon State Police and Oregon Hunters Association (the sportsman organization that administers the Turn In Poachers program). Under the proposed rules, people that provided information that leads to an arrest or citation could choose to receive five preference points in cases of unlawful take, possession or waste involving moose, mountain goat, bighorn sheep and wolves and four preference points for cases involving bear, cougar, deer and elk. Finally, the Commission will be asked to approve an amendment to an Memorandum of Understanding with the Confederated Tribes of the Warm Springs Reservation regarding off-reservation hunting; fund several Access and Habitat projects (which open private land to hunting access or improve wildlife habitat); and modify licensing rules so they are in keeping with ODFW’s new Electronic Licensing System launching Dec. 1, 2018 for the sale of 2019 licenses. On Thursday, Sept. 13, the Commission will tour several projects in the area including the new Tioga Sports Park, Coquille Wildlife Area and the Coquille Working Landscapes Project Celebration. Members of the public may join the tour but must provide their own transportation and lunch. Meet at the Bandon Inn, 355 Hwy 101 at 8 a.m. on Thursday to join the tour.