Court to review ‘canned’ hunting

SALEM – The Oregon Supreme Court has agreed to decide whether state wildlife officials should have the authority to ban the “canned” hunting of captive exotic animals on closed reserves.

Arguments will be heard in March in the case, which stems from the state Fish and Wildlife Commission’s efforts to crack down on the owner of a game ranch who was charged with possessing and hunting several species of exotic deer without proper permits on an enclosed game farm.

In 2001, Clark Couch, owner of the 2,200-acre Clover Creek Ranch northeast of Madras, was accused of violating a rule passed in 1999 by the Fish and Wildlife Commission banning so-called canned hunting of exotic, or non-native, species. Canned hunting of native big-game species was already illegal.

The charges against Couch were dismissed by the trial court, though, and the Oregon Court of Appeals upheld the dismissal on the same grounds that non-native exotic species could not be considered wildlife subject to the commission’s control.

State wildlife officials are hoping the state Supreme court will reverse that decision. They say the lower court’s ruling removes the commission’s authority to protect native wildlife from the spread of diseases carried by exotic game animals brought into the state.

“Disease is a very huge concern,” said Ron Anglin, head of the state Wildlife Division. “Some exotic species have developed a tolerance for certain diseases, but native species might not have that same tolerance.”

State Police Lt. Randy Scorby, a wildlife officer who was involved in the investigation of Couch’s ranch, said people paid from $500 to $1,000 to shoot captive exotic animals at the central Oregon ranch.

In a 2001 interview, Couch said he had a license to operate the ranch, that he had lawfully purchased the exotic game animals and that the state was taking his property without just compensation.