Oregon Administrative Rules › Chapter 635 - DEPARTMENT OF FISH AND WILDLIFE › Division 900 - Climate and Ocean Change Policy › Section 635-900-0017 - Climate and Ocean Change Key Principles for Species and Habitat Management

Current through Register Vol. 63, No. 7, July 1, 2024
(1) The
			 conservation of naturally produced native species in the geographic areas to
			 which they are indigenous is a primary obligation of the Department. It is on
			 this platform of conservation that the social and economic benefits of harvest
			 and viewing are realized. As such, the ability to utilize fish and wildlife for
			 harvest or viewing is dependent on the health of wild populations. Conservation
			 and use are not mutually exclusive, and can be fully integrated through risk
			 management that scales use appropriately to avoid undermining conservation.
(2) The Department should, to the
			 extent predictions are available, incorporate into all of its actions an
			 understanding of predicted future conditions and how species may respond to
			 these conditions on a time horizon that is relevant to specific species' life
			 history. These responses may include range shifts, local extirpations, altered
			 species compositions, and elevated life-stage vulnerabilities. Management
			 goals, strategies, and actions will consider this long view, but allow for near
			 term conservation, utilization, or transition in an adaptive management
			 approach.
(3) The Department may
			 manage a species whose range naturally expands into or within Oregon as a
			 result of the changing climate and ocean for conservation or utilization
			 purposes in the new area, provided this management does not conflict with the
			 conservation of naturally produced native species in the new area. When a
			 species range shift or expansion is likely to have a negative effect on native
			 species conservation in the new area, the Department will strive to limit these
			 expansions to the extent practicable, unless otherwise directed in a Commission
			 adopted plan.
(4) The Department
			 should proceed with a precautionary approach that is most likely to result in
			 conservation of native species across as broad a range of future conditions as
			 possible, including when faced with scientific and management uncertainty.
(5) The Department should
			 prioritize conservation actions for native species and their habitats to be
			 most efficient and effective in achieving conservation outcomes. In some
			 instances, naturally-produced, native species will be unable to persist in an
			 area because the impacts of changing climate and ocean conditions are
			 practicably irreversible. In these instances, the Department, only through the
			 Commission, may consider modification of the conservation approach as long as
			 healthy populations of the species exist elsewhere in the range and the
			 modification is in compliance with other state and federal laws.
(6) The Department should plan for real time
			 adaptive management of hatcheries, wildlife areas, and harvest to account for
			 potential impacts to fish and wildlife populations during periods of adverse
			 environmental conditions, such as high water temperature, low river flows, low
			 oxygen water, or fire.
(7) The
			 Department should generally use the following approach when implementing
			 management actions that relate to fish and wildlife habitat, unless directed
			 otherwise through a Commission adopted plan:
(a) Give priority to protecting habitat for
			 native fish and wildlife that is currently high functioning and projected to
			 remain or become high functioning despite the impacts of changing climate and
			 ocean conditions;
(b) Give
			 priority to restoration and enhancement actions where such actions would result
			 in creation of high functioning habitat despite the impacts of changing climate
			 and ocean conditions; and
(c)
			 Assign lower priority to actions where projected habitat changes caused by
			 climate and/or ocean change are likely to exceed native species' ability to
			 persist.
(d) Support actions that
			 maximize carbon sequestration as long as such actions do not result in loss of
			 habitat to fish and wildlife.