Zach Urness, Statesman Journal
The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife Commission is delaying a meeting on the removal of wolves from the state endangered species list. A Florence meeting will be held Oct. 9, and another will be held in Salem in November.
The commission will consider proposals to delist wolves statewide or only partly delist them, maintaining protections for wolves on the west side of the state while rolling them back in the east and northeast, where the largest population resides.
The issue was originally set for discussion at meetings in September and October, but Fish and Wildlife officials decided to move the process back because of already full meeting agendas and to provide adequate time for public testimony and discussion during the meetings, the agency said.
State biologists said in an April report that Oregon’s population of 77 known wolves — 26 pups and four breeding pairs in Eastern Oregon for three consecutive years — could justify removing them from the state list.
The date for the November meeting is expected to be announced on the commission’s website
. Public testimony will be taken at the meetings but can also be emailed to odfw.comments@state.or.us. Include “Comments on Wolf Delisting Proposal” in the subject line.