Oregon Tag Controversy

From Sports Replay (Thursday, June 10, 1999): Correction The Northwest Whitewater Association will present its free seminar on running whitewater in rafts and kayaks Friday from 6:30-8 p.m. at Mountain Gear, 2002 N. Division. The day of the seminar was reported incorrectly in Wednesday’s editions.

The Oregon Fish and Wildlife Department director has ordered suspensions without pay for his deputy director and two top managers who misused the state’s controlled hunting system.

“Poor judgment was used and (bad) decisions were made by some of our staff,” Jim Greer told the Oregon Fish and Wildlife Commission Friday in Portland.

Eight other employees in the wildlife division got letters of reprimand or warning.

All 11 have been barred from participating in this year’s drawings for the state’s prized hunting tags for big game.

Greed’s action capped an investigation into the conduct of 15 employees who applied last year for hunts that were subsequently canceled by some of the top managers involved.

All 15 benefited from inside knowledge of a little-known facet of the state’s system that compensated applicants for hunts that are later canceled. They retained chances for other hunts and gained preference points for future tag drawings.

Preference points awarded to unsuccessful applicants accumulate and improve the odds that a hunter will draw tags over those with fewer or no points.

Sturgeon release required

Sturgeon caught by sport fishers in the Columbia River and its tributaries from The Dalles Dam upstream to John Day Dam must be released as of 12:01 a.m. on Saturday, the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife has announced.

Fishing may continue but all sturgeon must be released unharmed immediately.

Washington and Oregon fish managers estimate the harvest guideline of 600-800 sturgeon in the Dalles Reservoir will be taken by Saturday.

Anglers fishing in the Columbia and its tributaries between John Day and McNary dams may continue to keep legally caught sturgeon until further notice.

Sturgeon guidelines have been set to prevent the over-harvest of sturgeon trapped between Bonneville and McNary dams.

Nature Center receives check

Community donations to the Nature Center in Boise recently reached $10,000, the goal set by Velma Morrison of the Harry W. Morrison Foundation in the challenge grant she offered earlier this year.

The Nature Center’s living stream has been under repairs for most of this year after the streambed liner gave out. Nature Center superintendent, Terry Thompson, had hoped work would be completed in May, but extensive replacement of the water system has delayed completion.

Cash spent on the repairs has come from many individuals and entities in Boise and around Idaho. The Morrison Foundation grant was the largest amount of cash from a single source and came with the provision that it had to be matched from other donations.

Thompson said he is extremely grateful to all contributors and volunteers as well as the Morrison Foundation who made the project possible. He said people volunteered so much time, equipment, material and expertise that the project which would have cost well over $120,000 required only a little more than $40,000 in cash outlay.

Know your bull

In an effort to protect bull trout, the Idaho Fish and Game is trying to make sure anglers know their trout. The bull trout has been listed by the federal government as a threatened species. It’s a native trout that a lot of folks have trouble identifying. And Fish and Game says anglers need to know - or let it go.

Last summer, Fish & Game biologists gave anglers a friendly “trout test” as they fished along the Middle Fork of the Boise River. It was a research project designed to find out just how well fishermen could identify bull trout. They showed life-like models of six different trout species mounted on a display board with a burlap cover. Anglers were asked to identify each trout one at a time.

“Last year for bull trout on average, 35 percent of the people could identify it from our board, research biologist Tony Lamansky said.

This has biologists concerned. Obviously, the best way to recover the species is to leave fish in the river. In addition, since the fish is listed as a threatened species, there’s a pretty stiff fine - $200 - for anglers who have a bull trout in possession.

SEMINAR Whitewater tips A free seminar on running whitewater in rafts and kayaks will be presented Thursday from 6:30-8 p.m. at Mountain Gear, 2002 N. Division. The program, sponsored by the Northwest Whitewater Assn., will include information on places to go whitewater boating with an emphasis on safety and equipment.