Oregon: Management Plan Recommends Opening Tualatin River National Wildlife Refuge to Hunting

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has released a plan to guide management of the Tualatin River National Wildlife Refuge for the next 15 years.  The Refuge’s five units are located in the Tualatin River basin near Portland.   Currently there is no hunting on the 2,000 acres that the Service has acquired, as explained in Alternative 1 (current management).  However, under Alternatives 2 and 3 a junior waterfowl hunt is planned in the Riverboat Unit and opportunities for hunting would be explored for the Wapato Lake Unit when an adequate land base is acquired and habitat restoration decisions are made.

Even though there are many questions that must be addressed before the Refuge is opened to hunting, it is important for the Service to receive support for this new management approach.  You can expect anti-hunters to strongly oppose Alternatives 2 and 3. .  Please take a few minutes to submit comments in support of opening the Refuge to hunting opportunities.  Comments are due by November 21^st and can be emailed to [email protected].  Please include “Tualatin River NWR Draft CCP/EA” in the subject line of your comments.  The plan can be read online here.  For further information you may contact the Project Leader Erin Holmes at 503-625-5944 or [email protected].