I sent the following e-mail to people I recognized from my e-mail, but there were letters asking that hounds be allowed to use the area from names I don't recognize, and I want to let everyone who sent a letter to ODFW know I appreciate the effort.
~Libby Thank you!
The Oregon Department of Fish & Wildlife Commission meeting including presentation of the 2010 Sauvie Island Management Plan was held in Salem on June 3. The revised copy was on the table out front next to the public testimony sign up sheet. I signed the sheet to make a statement and skimmed over the revised copy as the commissioners and audience filtered in for the meeting.
What I didn’t know until several weeks later was copies of all the correspondences they received about the plan were in the very back of that revised plan. Last week I finally recuperated enough from a busy month of family activities, and read through the letters. Amongst the letters from many bird watchers wanting viewing areas, farmers regarding geese infestation and a few duck hunter comments were an amazing amount of e-mails from my non-hunting friends, family, and hounders from across America who will never set foot on Sauvie (although all of you are welcome to stay at my house and I’ll take you on a tour!). I cannot tell you how appreciative I am you wrote to ODFW, thank you from the bottom of my heart.
I tear up as I type this. I am so grateful you took the time to send them a note. It does make a difference. I was about ready to throw in the towel and never buy another hunt license again, let alone fight for a spot to run my dogs. Besides making a huge difference to me, ODFW does pay attention to the numbers. The pages before the letters was a spread sheet itemizing numbers of letter about different topics. Coon and rabbit hunting got the most letters! Next time a politician says they don’t look at numbers, chalk it up to being able to tell they are telling a story cause their lips are moving.
The Commission will meet again in August to vote on the plan. Historically, nothing changes from the revised copy submitted, but I am now hopeful something might. I’ll keep you posted, whether you want to be or not!
Thank you again, my friends.
Sincerely,
Libby
PS
http://www.dfw.state.or.us/agency/commi ... /index.asp
Link to ODFW
Rabbit hunting was put in the revised copy. From September 1 through January 31 in the north unit, which I recently heard is flooded those months for duck hunting. Hummm, management at Sauvie are slick willies.
Prohibitions about furbearer and unprotected wildlife hunting was expanded from a sentence in passing to it’s own ‘strategy’.
“Trapping of furbearers and predatory mammals is a traditional recreational activity, (sic) at SIWA and is used to reduce burrowing damage to dikes and water control structures and manage populations of predatory mammals on the area.” This is a new and totally erroneous sentence in the revised plan. I did mentioned this lie to the commission when I spoke. I told them I asked about the special permit to hunt/trap SIWA described in the hunting license packet and was told by Mr. Nebeker there is only one issued and the guy who got it has been doing it for years. No new ones will be considered.
An ODFW representative gave bad information to a hunter’s association regarding the date of the meeting. They were told Friday the 4th, not Thursday the 3rd. It was posted on the ODFW website, but some people took the word of a supposed reliable liaison.
Summation, big hound hunters are still the lowest of the low in Oregon. But at least they see some of us are literate enough to write.
The Audubon Society’s Intertwine Alliance looks like a horrible, horrible thing disguised as green and good.
Thanks, again.
