Oregon s Access & Habitat Board News

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Oregon s Access & Habitat Board News Winter 1999 The Access and Habitat Board was created by the 1993 Oregon Legislature and is funded by a $2 surcharge on hunting licenses.

ACCESS & HABITAT PROGRAM OFFERS ADDITIONAL LOP TAGS Landowners who develop wildlife habitat and hunter access projects on their properties reap many benefits.

1 Oregon s Access & Habitat Board News Winter 1999 The Access and Habitat Board was created by the 1993 Oregon Legislature and is funded by a $2 surcharge on hunting licenses. The Board identifies and recommends funding for projects that improve wildlife habitat and facilitate public hunting access on private lands. ACCESS & HABITAT PROGRAM OFFERS ADDITIONAL LOP TAGS Landowners who develop wildlife habitat and hunter access projects on their properties reap many benefits. One of which is additional Landowner Preference Tags. More and more Oregon landowners are improving wildlife habitat on their properties and allowing hunters access to their lands to hunt. The benefits are many. Habitat restoration and enhancement projects not only improve the well-being of Oregon s wildlife, but also increase the productivity and health of the land. For example, planting native grasses on uplands can help fend off invasive noxious weeds while providing forage for wildlife and livestock. Restoring riparian zones will stem the loss of soil from erosion. For ranchers and farmers, planting wildlife forage can help divert wildlife away from valuable crops. Allowing hunters access to private lands helps strengthen relations between these two groups of Oregonians, helping to maintain Oregon s strong hunting heritage while helping landowners manage big game populations on their lands. But there is another tangible benefit for landowners as well the opportunity to apply for up to four additional Landowner Preference Tags, also referred to as LOP tags, for a variety of big game. Oregon landowners with at least forty contiguous acres of land are eligible to receive LOP tags for controlled antlerless deer, western Oregon buck deer, western Oregon elk, and eastern Oregon antlerless elk hunts and emergency hunts. Landowners with at least 160 acres are also eligible for LOP tags for controlled eastern Oregon buck deer, eastern Oregon By Jim Yuskavitch bull elk, either-sex elk hunts, and doe/fawn pronghorn hunts. The number of additional tags awarded depends on the amount of property owned, ranging anywhere from two tags for 40 acres up to 10 tags for 160,000 acres or greater. But landowners who provide significant public access to their properties, or who have developed wildlife habitat projects on their lands may apply to the Access and Habitat Board for up to four additional LOP tags two for access projects and two for habitat projects. It s an incentive program to encourage good land stewardship and partnerships with the hunting community, explains Beth Waterbury, coordinator for ODFW s Access and Habitat Program. Although the A&H Program grants funding for access and habitat projects on private lands, Waterbury points out that many landowners are improving fish and wildlife habitat and allowing public access on their own initiative and should be acknowledged for this. LOP tags may be used by landowners and their immediate family to hunt on their deeded lands and, with some restrictions, given to non-family members. But North Powder ranchers Chris and Donna Heffernan and Blake and Robin Hennings go one better with theirs. Because of their long-time participation in access and habitat projects on their properties, each year both the Heffernans and Hennings each receive four additional LOP tags for antlerless elk. But we don t really need them, explains Chris Heffernan. So we donate them to groups that support hunting and sportsmanship. To that end, they have been giving their eight additional tags to various Oregon chapters of The Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, Oregon Hunters Association and the National Wild Turkey Federation. The tags are auctioned or raffled by these groups as fundraisers. They typically bring in anywhere from $200 to $600. The winners can then use the tags to hunt on the properties for which the tags are valid. For more information on the LOP program contact ODFW at (503) For information on applying for additional LOP tags through the A&H Board contact Beth Waterbury at (503) x5349. Alesa Carey, of Bend, took her first elk in 1998 on the Heffernan s North Powder property with an LOP tag donated as a fundraiser.

2 What s New? 1998 marks another successful season for Access & Habitat Program Raffle Hunt winners Winners of the Access and Habitat Program s 1998 raffle hunt tags reported great hunts all around as they took to the woods to fill their tags last fall. Gary Fugate, of Sutherlin, received 13 deer hunt raffle tickets from his parents for his birthday one of which was the Western Oregon Elk Hunt winning ticket. Fugate took a 5x5 in the Indigo Unit, east of Roseburg after just a couple days of hunting in September. It was great, he says. We saw elk every day, and I did real well. Scott Steenkolk went hunting with a Northeast Oregon Elk Hunt tag, courtesy of his boss Bill Mulder who buys his employees A&H raffle tickets each year. Workers at Mulder Sheet Metal, in Newport, joked that if they won, they would take the entire three month hunting season authorized by the raffle tag off. But when Steenkolk drew the winning ticket and went off on his hunt, near Elgin, luck was with him and he didn t get as much time off from work as he anticipated. His intent was to hike into the wilderness and camp. But before heading out into the woods he and a companion stopped in town for supplies and some advice from the locals on good areas to hunt. It was two in the afternoon, relates Steenkolk, and we drove up an old logging road coming to a downed tree that was lying across the road. We were in my friend s new truck and he didn t want to drive around it and maybe scratch the truck up in the brush, so we got out and walked around it. I wasn t too optimistic, but I slung my rifle over my shoulder. Just up the road on a hillside, Steenkolk spotted some cow elk, then a set of antlers sticking out of the brush nearby. He went home with a 5x6 elk on the first day of his hunt. It was a short trip, says Steenkolk. But it was a nice, fat elk. Elvin Berry, of Milwaukee, winner of the Central Oregon Deer Hunt, hunted the open country near La Pine, camping for three days in the third week of November before taking a nice 5x5 mule deer. This was the first year I bought raffle tickets, relates Berry. I bought one for every category and I m going to buy more in the future My odds are better than winning the Oregon Lottery. Statewide Deer Hunt winner Dale Dietzel, of Turner, along with his two sons, had a bang-up hunting season. He hunted about 50 days in nine eastern Oregon wildlife management units bagging a 5x4 buck just west of Burns in early November. In addition to filling his raffle hunt tag he also harvested a six-point bull elk during the bow season and a four-point buck deer during rifle season. One of his sons bagged his first elk with a bow while the other son took a 3x4 buck deer. It was the best hunt of my life, says Dietzel. The raffle program is great. It gives a regular guy a chance. But the prize for most dedicated hunter goes to northeast Oregon Deer Hunt winner Donnie Allen of Klamath Falls. Hunting in late November, he was stricken with appendicitis while in the field. He drove himself from Baker City to Klamath Falls and had an emergency appendectomy. Then, after resting for a couple of days, headed Continued on next To receive a free subscription to Oregon s Access and Habitat Board News just fill out this form and mail it to: Access and Habitat Program, Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, Post Office Box 59, Portland, OR Name Street/P.O. Box Calendar of Events March 6 Statewide Elk Hunt Auction Portland Chapter Safari Club International, (503) March 19 Meeting, Portland (503) March 24 Tag Sale Deadline for Spring Black Bear (503) March 27 Statewide Deer Hunt Auction Capitol Chapter Oregon Hunters Association (503) March 27 Statewide Deer Hunt Auction Central Coast Chapter, The Mule Deer Foundation (408) April 15 Spring Wild Turkey Opener (503) April 17 Statewide Elk Hunt Auction Klamath Falls Chapter, Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation (541) / April 23 Meeting, Portland (503) May 10 A&H Board Meeting, Heppner (503) x5349 May 12 Meeting, Salem (503) May 15 Controlled Hunt Application Deadline for Pronghorn, Bighorn Sheep, Deer, Elk and Mountain Goat (503)

3 Program Update Oregon Approves 4 New Access and Habitat Grants at November 20, 1998 Meeting 1 McQueen Well Solar Power Project A $4,000 grant awarded to Terry Droessler of Portland was 4 Hoxie Creek Riparian/Meadow Enhancement Project A grant of $5,875 to landowner Lee Bradshaw will be used used to install a solar well pump on his ranch property in the Fort Rock area of Lake County. The solar powered pump will draw water from a 288-footdeep well into stock tanks to be utilized by area wildlife. New fences will also be installed and old ones repaired to control livestock. Wildlife expected to benefit from the project include mule deer, elk, pronghorn antelope, birds and a variety of other wildlife. The area is located within the South Paulina Mule Deer Winter Range. Approximately 5,500 mule deer and 300 elk spend the winter in the area. About 1,000 mule deer use the area to improve the amount and quality of wildlife forage on his 320-acre property in Jackson County. This project involves seeding and fertilizing a unique meadow area with wildlife forage plant species, burning piles of brush, placing fence along Hoxie Creek to keep cattle away from sensitive streamside areas and constructing a pond to provide livestock with an alternate source of water. The project is expected to benefit a wide variety of local wildlife including deer and elk, furbearers, waterfowl, upland birds and many species of non-game animals. The landowner allows public hunting access to the property. in the summer as well. The landowner allows public access on a by-permission basis. 2 Anderson Riparian Fencing, Water Development and Pendleton Habitat Improvement Project 3 Douglas County landowner Jill Anderson received an $11,234 grant to develop two springs on her property as well as to fence off and restore a 100-foot buffer along a small stream that flows into the South Umpqua River and to fence off about 100 acres of woodland for use by wildlife. Area wildlife, particularly wild turkey and big game, will benefit from this project which will provide a reliable source of water, and generally improve habitat conditions in wooded and streamside areas by excluding livestock from grazing in those areas. The landowner allows hunting access on a by-permission basis. 3 Private Lands Goose Hunting Access Project An additional $12,000 grant was awarded to the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife s Northwest Region to hire a coordinator to oversee a pilot hunter access program designed to help alleviate goose damage on private agricultural lands and increase public hunting opportunities in the Lower Columbia and Willamette River valleys. In August the Commission approved an initial $20,00 A&H grant to help fund the project. The project includes securing agreements with private landowners to allow hunters on their property, development of maps showing enrolled private lands, providing signs for landowners to post informing hunters where hunting is allowed, hiring a temporary program coordinator and a public information campaign to increase hunter and landowner involvement in the program. Volunteers from the Oregon Hunters Association and Ducks Unlimited are also actively participating. Cooperative funding is being provided by the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife Game Bird Program and Oregon State Police. 2 Salem Grants Pass Portland 4 Bend Continued from previous page 1 Burns the woods with his brother to take a 4x4 buck deer. Other 1998 raffle hunt winners included Brad Hammer of Medford, R.M. Bernards of McMinnville, William Evert of Beaverton, Ed McWilliams of Reedsport and Kevin James of Athena. All but one filled their raffle tags. Ten raffle hunts are being offered for 1999, including a new mule deer rifle hunt on Hart Mountain National Antelope Refuge. Deer raffle tickets are $3 each, six for $10, 15 for $20, 40 for $50 and 100 for $100. Elk raffle ticket prices are $5 each, six for $20, 15 for $40 and 40 for $100. Ticket packages of up to 15 may be purchased at ODFW point-of-sale license agents throughout the state until May 5, Ticket packages of 40 or 100 must be purchased by mail or fax order through ODFW s Portland office. The drawing will be held at the Oregon Hunters Association Convention on May 15 in Bend, Oregon. For more information on the 1999 A&H Deer and Elk Raffle Hunts contact Beth Waterbury at (503) , ext For information about the Oregon Hunters Association convention call Duane Dungannon at (541)

4 Access & Habitat Board Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife Post Office Box 59 Portland, OR Get Involved For information on applying for an Access and Habitat grant contact Beth Waterbury, Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, P.O. Box 59, Portland, OR (503) x5349 Oregon s Access & Habitat Board News, Winter 1999, Vol. 4, No. 1 Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, P.O. Box 59, Portland, OR James W. Greer, Director Beth Waterbury, A&H Program Coordinator Jim Yuskavitch, Design and Editing Access & Habitat Board Chuck Smith, Chairman... Medford Monty L. Montgomery, Vice Chair... Portland L.L. Stub Stewart... Eugene Rod Childers...Enterprise Jim Markman... The Dalles Kelly Smith... Bend Scott C. Stouder... Corvallis Regional Advisory Councils Columbia Region Dave Johnson, Chairman... Forest Grove Kevin Van Dyke... Forest Grove Kent Boring... Forest Grove Bill Perry... West Linn Wendell Locke... Gaston Nicholas Berg... Birkenfeld Bill Bogh Portland Nicholas Berg... Birkenfeld Northwest Region David Wiley, Chairman... Salem Michael S. Hicks... Monmouth Dave Riddell... Monmouth Ron O Neal... Veneta Jess Stalcup... Lebanon Max Smith... Junction City Lonnie Woosley... Florence Southwest Region Frank Lehto, Chairman... Medford Stan Hendy... Roseburg Bill Drewien... Medford Joe Matejka... Coos Bay Hedge Jarvis... Winchester Mike Kaiser... Eagle Point Lee Sutton... North Bend High Desert Region - Central Ken Johnson, Chairman... Bend John Ward... The Dalles Bill McCormack... Prineville Chris Sokol... Klamath Falls Jerry Fauglid... Redmond Gary Nichols... Klamath Falls Rocky Liskey... Klamath Falls High Desert Region - Southeast Theo Tik Moore, Chairman... Vale Van Decker... Burns Earl Tiller...Burns Charles Oakes...Ontario Paul Zinie... Vale Dave Ganskopp... Burns Robert Williams... Vale Northeast Region Bob Coulter, Chairman... Cove Steve McClelland... Cove Ty Hansell... Hermiston Dr. Mike Mehren... Hermiston Eldon Buck Buckner... Baker City Daryl Hawes... Hereford Sharon Sweeney... Mt. Vernon

On a fine morning this past May,

On a fine morning this past May, Oregon s Access & Habitat Board News Summer 2000 The Access and Habitat Board was created by the 1993 Oregon Legislature and is funded by a $2 surcharge on hunting licenses. The Board identifies and recommends