OHA Conservation

Attention OHA members! We need you to support the NEW Oregon Wolf Plan language, in particular as it respects wolf recovery, but also supports management through controlled take in Phase III, which the Eastern Oregon Zone just entered.

Send emails now and/or attend and/or testify at the May 19 Commission meeting in Portland. You can attend and show support without testifying. (We have stylish stickers you can wear!)

Portland meeting: Friday May 19, 2017 - 8 a.m. 7900 NE 82nd Avenue, Portland, OR 97220 Agenda TBD

OHA needs a respectful show of support for the new DRAFT Wolf Conservation and Management Plan. Allowing hunting as a tool for controlled take is critical. The meeting will include opportunity for public comment.

To send written comments, email: [email protected]

• In the subject line of the email use the words: "Please Support the Draft Wolf Plan"

• State that you are a member of OHA.

• Make your email original and stress just 2 or 3 points. (Examples listed below). Do not use a form email. Please make it your own.

To attend and/or testify:

• To testify, you must register at the meeting. • Please be concise and specific. Time is limited to 2 to 3 minutes. • Be respectful of others; please represent us well. • State that you are a member of OHA. • Testimony must be factual and lean toward the professional and scientific need to properly manage the wolf population. We must protect other wildlife and livestock.

Points to Consider:

* Wolves have successfully re-established in Oregon and ODFW has been proactive in planning for them through an effective management plan process – supported by OHA.

* Oregon's wolves (approximately 150) are a western extension of a much larger Northern Rockies population (over 2,000), which needs to considered when assessing abundance and viability.

* Oregon's wolves have "special game animal status" and are part of an experimental population – brought from Alberta to Idaho in the 1990s.

* Any controlled take (very limited hunting) would be done with close concern for the species abundance and effect on other economic interests, such as livestock raising.

* ODFW's proposed plan allows for continued growth and health of the wolf population, yet considers other very important concerns for Oregonians, such as hunting for deer, elk, and other big game, and the agricultural activities of Oregon.

* OHA is not proposing hunting at this time. Hunting is part of the management tool bag OHA wants the ODFW to be able to use when/if the need arises. * Single year population results are not an indicator of long-term success or failure.

* When and where ever needed, hunters can aid ODFW in controlled take, lowering financial impact on ODFW's strained budget, most of which now comes from hunters and anglers.

* Elk and deer populations are under increasing pressure from a variety of sources; predation levels are increasing the management complexity. * It's mostly rural Oregon that is currently feeling the impact of predators (cougar and wolf) that adversely affect the local economies, family livelihoods and safety.

Thank you for your support of OHA and our mission of protecting Oregon's wildlife, habitat and hunting heritage!