Just an FYI on what happened at the June 7th meeting of the ODFW here in Portland. A group of three came foreward to testify before the commission that they represented a national organization opposing elk ranching. I didn't catch the name but they were informative. It seems that the rancher that had to have his herd distroyed here in Oregon was reimbursed by the ODFW. He has now brought new animals into the state and his operation is back in business.

On a different topic, we have a large kill-off of deer in the Crooked River Ranch area. They think it may not be contained as yet. This disease has been in the state off and on.

Still another topic, the Oregon Legislature was called into emergency session today. One of the topics will be the closure of those three hatcheries that stock nine of the rivers in the Tillamook area. One of the commissioners stated at the June 7th meeting that Birds and Big Game are next.
This was an off the record comment in front of the coffee pot but I think it needs to be posted so you have some idea of how much trouble we are in here. The commission is not a group of happy campers. The commissions town meetings across the state showed overwhelming support for higher fees to fund whatever was necessary. Even though this support is there, some say the legislature will go for the higher fees and then turn around and drop the amount coming from the general fund. PLEASE JOE, SAY IT ISN"T SO!