3A
THE DAILY ASTORIAN • WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 10, 2016
Key committee approves Oregon wolf delisting
Environmental
groups fear bill
will hamstring
court challenge
By MATEUSZ
PERKOWSKI
Capital Press
SALEM — The removal of
wolves from Oregon’s list of
endangered species has been
approved by a key legislative
committee, potentially jeop-
ardizing a lawsuit that chal-
lenges the delisting.
Last year, Oregon wildlife
regulators found that wolves
had suf¿ciently recovered to
delist them under the state’s
version of the Endangered
Species Act.
Because wolves remain
protected by the federal Endan-
gered Species Act across much
of western Oregon, the state
delisting only has effect in the
eastern portion of the state.
Several
environmental
groups, which worry that del-
isting will eventually lead
to wolf hunting, ¿led a legal
complaint accusing the Ore-
gon Fish and Wildlife Com-
mission of ignoring the best
available science.
That lawsuit prompted two
lawmakers from Eastern Ore-
gon to propose House Bill
4040, which would ratify the
commission’s delisting deci-
sion as having properly fol-
lowed the state’s endangered
species law.
That bill passed the House
Committee on Agriculture and
Natural Resources 8-1 last
week and is now heading for a
vote on the House Àoor with a
“do pass” recommendation.
State Rep. Brad Witt,
D-Clatskanie, the committee’s
chairman, noted that the bill
was amended from its origi-
nal version to eliminate lan-
guage that would require wolf
populations to decline substan-
tially before the species could
be re-listed as endangered.
Rep. Sal Esquivel, R-Med-
ford, said that worries the
delisting will lead to “auto-
matic slaughter” of wolves are
unfounded.
“This does not mean we’re
Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife
OR-3, a three-year-old male wolf from the Imnaha pack, is shown in this image captured
from video taken by a state employee in 2011 in Wallowa County. The state House will
vote on a bill ratifying the removal of wolves from the state’s endangered species list.
going to hunt wolves to extinc-
tion again,” he said.
Rep.
Chris
Gorsek,
D-Troutdale, was the com-
mittee’s only member to vote
against the bill.
While he doesn’t have a
problem with the delisting,
Gorsek said he was concerned
about the precedent set by the
Legislature inserting itself into
the process.
Environmental groups that
are ¿ghting the delisting in
court — Oregon Wild, Cas-
cadia Wildlands and the Cen-
ter for Biological Diversity
— fear that a rati¿cation by
the Legislature will hamstring
their lawsuit.
Sean Stevens, execu-
tive director of Oregon Wild,
recently argued that if the
commission’s decision was
scienti¿cally sound, there is no
reason to pass the bill.
While the plaintiffs groups
seek judicial review to deter-
mine if the commission acted
correctly, they have not asked for
an injunction and so the delisting
will remain effective while the
litigation is pending, he said.
Laurel Hines, a member of
Oregon Wild, said that wolf
management in Oregon has
emphasized the protection of
the livestock industry, so con-
servationists should be allowed
to proceed with the lawsuit to
protect their interests.
The Oregon Cattlemen’s
Association disagrees with the
claim that the bill will preclude
environmental groups from
obtaining judicial review, said
Rocky Dallum, the group’s
political advocate.
The bill would not prevent
the plaintiffs from ¿ling a law-
suit, and since their complaint
has already been ¿led, its mer-
its will still be decided in state
court, Dallum said.
A judge may ¿nd the com-
mission acted properly regard-
less of the Legislature’s action,
or may decide that the ques-
tion about the delisting’s legal-
ity was answered by the bill, if
it passes, he said.
“It’s up to a judge to decide
whether the case is moot,”
Dallum said.
‘Coffee with a Cop’ Warrenton recognizes two police of¿cers
returns this month Goodding, former Warrenton
The Daily Astorian
Community members are
invited this month to meet in
an informal, neutral space with
Astoria Police of¿cers to dis-
cuss local issues, build rela-
tionships and drink coffee.
The “Coffee with a Cop”
program will take place at 6
p.m. Feb. 24 at Peter Pan Mar-
ket at 712 Niagara Ave.
The program provides a
unique opportunity for com-
munity members to ask ques-
tions and learn more about the
department’s work in neigh-
borhoods, according to police.
The majority of contacts
law enforcement has with the
public happen during emer-
gencies or emotional situa-
tions. Those situations are not
always the most effective times
for relationship building with
the community, police say, and
some community members
may feel that of¿cers are unap-
proachable on the street.
“Coffee with a Cop”
breaks down barriers and
allows for a relaxed, one-on-
one interaction.
The program is a national
initiative supported by the
U.S. Department of Justice’s
Of¿ce of Community Ori-
ented Policing Services. Sim-
ilar events are being held
across the county. The pro-
gram aims to advance the
practice of community polic-
ing through improving rela-
tionships between police of¿-
cers and community members
one cup of coffee at a time.
New WIC cards
offer convenience
The Daily Astorian
The Women, Infants and
Children program is offering
quali¿ed families a more con-
venient way to shop for food
using a new electronic bene¿t
transaction card.
The new cards will be
available to families in Clat-
sop County beginning Feb. 16.
Participants currently use
paper vouchers to buy healthy
foods. With the new card,
shopping will be easier and
families will be able to better
track their monthly food bal-
ance. Participants will have
access to a new WICShopper
smartphone application that
allows them to scan a food
product’s barcode to deter-
mine if it is a WIC-allowed
food.
Women, Infants and Chil-
dren provides services at
more than 100 clinic sites
throughout Oregon and serves
161,000 lower-income preg-
nant women, infants and chil-
dren under age 5.
Families shop at more than
500 Oregon grocery stores,
pharmacies, farm stands and
farmers markets, and spend
$64.7 million a year with their
food bene¿ts.
In Clatsop County, 1,221
women, infants and children
use the program and $723,749
was spent last year in local
stores and $4,804 in farmers
markets for healthy foods.
Clatsop County Women,
Infants and Children has
been offering participant-cen-
tered nutrition education,
healthy food and breastfeed-
ing support, as well as serv-
ing as a gateway for preven-
tative health, for more than 40
years.
Those interested in enroll-
ing in the program can sched-
ule an appointment by calling
503-325-8500 or visiting the
Clatsop County Public Health
Department in Astoria.
of¿cer Gaebel died over weekend
at a department in Nebraska, an
of¿cer that took a call for him
was shot and killed, “so I always
WARRENTON — The have that residual feeling that
shooting death of Sgt. Jason that could have been me, or
Goodding of the Seaside Police should have been me,” he said.
“These
things
Department
last
strike not only us as
week cast a cloud
police officers but the
over
Tuesday’s
community as well,
City Commission
because we’re the ones
meeting.
that are going out there
Immediately fol-
with the badge and
lowing the Pledge of
the gun and the train-
Allegiance, Mayor
ing, and somebody’s
Mark Kujala and
willing to kill us, then
the
commission-
they’re probably will-
ers led attendees in a
Sgt. Jason
ing to kill somebody
moment of silence to
Goodding
else,” he said.
honor the fallen of¿-
Wo r k m a n
cer, whose portrait
thanked the North
was displayed on the
Coast community
monitor.
for the outpouring of
Warrenton Police
support.
Chief Mathew Work-
“Even
though
man — who, along
we’re mourning and
with Astoria Police
going through this
Chief Brad Johnston,
tragedy, we don’t turn
the Clatsop County
a blind eye to that,” he
Sheriff’s Of¿ce and
said. “It really gives
the Oregon State
City Manager
us a good feeling
Police, has been help-
Kurt Fritsch
about how people feel
ing out in Seaside
about law enforce-
every day since Good-
ding’s death — said he knows ment, especially in this conten-
what the Seaside Police Depart- tious time when it seems like
there’s only negative things in
ment is going through.
“Obviously, when you lose law enforcement, negative things
somebody in your department, in the media on the broad scale,
it’s extremely dif¿cult to go so we really want to say ‘thank
you’ to everybody.”
back,” Workman said.
Commissioner Tom Dyer,
In 1993, while Workman was
By ERICK BENGEL
The Daily Astorian
Feb rua ry 13 th
1 PM o r 6 PM
The Daily Astorian
Applications for arts and
cultural program grants are
available at the city.
Past recipients of the grants
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RetireG of¿Fer Gies
It was a hard weekend for
the Warrenton Police Depart-
ment for another reason: They
lost one of their own.
James Gaebel, who worked
for the department from 1997
to 2007 immediately after retir-
ing from a nearly 30-year
career with the Portland Police
FEBRUARY 10-14, 2016
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Bureau, died Sunday at age 71
at Hopewell House Hospice in
Portland after getting transferred
from Oregon Health & Science
University Hospital.
That Gaebel spent an addi-
tional 10 years on the Warrenton
beat after three decades in Port-
land “just showed his passion for
being a public servant and being
in law enforcement,” Kujala said.
“And we really appreciate what
he did while he was here.”
His wife, Lylla Gaebel, a for-
mer Warrenton city commis-
sioner and Clatsop County com-
missioner, has said she would
appreciate that any donations be
made to Hopewell because of the
treatment her husband received.
Services are pending but are
planned for the ¿rst week of
March.
In other business Tuesday:
The commission held a ¿rst
reading on an ordinance describ-
ing the areas within the city open
to migratory game bird hunting.
• After an extensive, multi-
week evaluation of City Man-
ager Kurt Fritsch’s perfor-
mance, the commission voted
to increase his annual salary by
$4,000, retroactive to July, in
the form of a contribution to his
401(a) retirement plan.
Applications available for
arts and cultural grants
Contact: Steve Axtell • 360-430-0885 or John Anderson • 360-269-2500
CON CEAL
CONCEAL CARRY
CARRY
PERM IT
PERMIT CLASS
CLASS
Oregon –
an officer with the Oregon State
Police, said he’s been through a
few officer deaths during his career.
“It is amazing, the support the
public gives us when we have
a tragedy like this,” Dyer said.
“It does make a difference to the
of¿cers that are involved, and it
extends for a long period of time.”
He added that even the sim-
ple act of waving to an of¿cer
can be uplifting.
The commission said it
would make a donation to the
Oregon Fallen Badge Foun-
dation, a nonpro¿t collecting
money speci¿cally for Good-
ding’s family.
“That’s a gesture that we can
all make to try to support this
family — a family that has two
young girls that no longer have a
father,” Kujala said. “It’s a horri-
ble and tragic situation, and one
that shouldn’t have happened.”
WIN TWO
TICKETS
to the Sportsmen’s Show
Place your classifi ed or new display ad between
February 2nd and 10th and be entered to win
2 tickets to the Sportsmen’s Show at the
Portland Expo Center February 10-14
We can have 16 winners!
For more information call Holly Larkins at 503-325-3211 ext. 227
you sell new
Q: Do
laptops and desktop
computers?
LEO FINZI
Have a quick question?
Feel free to call. We’re
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