08-22-2008, 11:10 AM
COLUMBUS, OH - The Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) Division of Wildlife will welcome the public to its annual Open Houses on Saturday, September 13, 2008, from 12:00 noon until 3:00 p.m.
"Anyone interested in providing input and participating in Ohio's professional wildlife management process is welcome," said David M. Graham, chief of the Division of Wildlife. Graham adds that fish and wildlife biologists along with law enforcement officers will be on hand to answer questions.
Open houses will be held at the same day and time in Akron, Athens, Columbus, Findlay, Huron, and Xenia. Information recorded at these open houses is forwarded to the division's central office in Columbus, where proposed rule changes to the Ohio Administrative Code are considered.
Topics for the Open Houses include:
* The prohibition of possessing or propagating wild boar.
* Establishing a minimum fence height for captive white-tailed deer, and requiring mandatory tissue testing of captive deer 12 months of age or older that die or are killed on a permit holder's premises.
* Giving the ODNR Division of Wildlife authority to enforce the Interstate Wildlife Violator Compact agreement. States participating in the agreement share information about fish and game violators and honor each other's decision to deny licenses and permits. For example, if an Ohioan is convicted of a wildlife violation in a participating compact state, the individual's right to hunt and fish also can be suspended or revoked back home, providing a similar action would have resulted had the violation occurred here in Ohio.
* Fishing regulations regarding blue catfish bag limits, stream smallmouth bass length limits, and striped bass regulations.
For more information or directions to the open house, please call 1-800-WILDLIFE (945-3543). Proposals and directions can also be access via the Internet at www.wildohio.com.
A statewide hearing on all the proposed rules will be held at 9 a.m. on Thursday, September 25 at the wildlife division's District One Office, located at 1500 Dublin Road in Columbus. After considering public input, the Ohio Wildlife Council will vote on the proposed rules during its October 15 meeting.
"Anyone interested in providing input and participating in Ohio's professional wildlife management process is welcome," said David M. Graham, chief of the Division of Wildlife. Graham adds that fish and wildlife biologists along with law enforcement officers will be on hand to answer questions.
Open houses will be held at the same day and time in Akron, Athens, Columbus, Findlay, Huron, and Xenia. Information recorded at these open houses is forwarded to the division's central office in Columbus, where proposed rule changes to the Ohio Administrative Code are considered.
Topics for the Open Houses include:
* The prohibition of possessing or propagating wild boar.
* Establishing a minimum fence height for captive white-tailed deer, and requiring mandatory tissue testing of captive deer 12 months of age or older that die or are killed on a permit holder's premises.
* Giving the ODNR Division of Wildlife authority to enforce the Interstate Wildlife Violator Compact agreement. States participating in the agreement share information about fish and game violators and honor each other's decision to deny licenses and permits. For example, if an Ohioan is convicted of a wildlife violation in a participating compact state, the individual's right to hunt and fish also can be suspended or revoked back home, providing a similar action would have resulted had the violation occurred here in Ohio.
* Fishing regulations regarding blue catfish bag limits, stream smallmouth bass length limits, and striped bass regulations.
For more information or directions to the open house, please call 1-800-WILDLIFE (945-3543). Proposals and directions can also be access via the Internet at www.wildohio.com.
A statewide hearing on all the proposed rules will be held at 9 a.m. on Thursday, September 25 at the wildlife division's District One Office, located at 1500 Dublin Road in Columbus. After considering public input, the Ohio Wildlife Council will vote on the proposed rules during its October 15 meeting.