Rural perspectives are expected to have more sway on Oregon’s Fish and Wildlife Commission now that its members will represent river basins rather than congressional districts.

However, the state’s most populated region will still have an outsized influence on the commission’s policies under a bipartisan bargain struck in the final hours of the 2023 legislative session.

“There was kind of an opening of the clouds, so to speak, and there was unanimous support for a compromise,” said Sen. Tim Knopp, R-Bend. “People were able to reach consensus so much so that both parties think it is their idea. That is awesome.”

How has structure changed?

After seven previous versions of the legislation failed to pass muster, lawmakers agreed to reduce the dominance of Oregon’s northwest urban corner without depriving it of control of the commission.

The amended version of House Bill 3086 won the House unanimously and the Senate 23-2 shortly before the session’s adjournment late last month.

Throughout the session, environmental advocates opposed altering the commission’s structure, arguing it should reflect the views of the state’s population, which is largely concentrated in the Willamette Valley of northwest Oregon.

Tribes, farmers, ranchers and hunters claimed urban representatives disproportionately steer fish and wildlife policies, which should instead take into account expertise from across the state’s varied geography.

“I was sort of surprised at how contentious it got, how important it got,” said Sen. Jeff Golden, D-Ashland. “I didn’t really see a way out that could meet most folks’ needs. I think this compromise does it.”

Under the deal, which convinced environmental advocates to drop their objections, rural areas will gain representation but not enough to take charge of the commission.

Members will be chosen from among five river basins under the amended bill, similarly to the original proposal, while northwestern Oregon will still hold a majority of seats.

Two river basins that include the populous Willamette Valley will each get two representatives, while the remaining three basins will each get one representative.

If the commission’s members were chosen from Oregon’s six congressional districts, the northwest portion would have gotten five seats — in effect, HB 3086 shifts one of those positions to the rest of the state.

Under the original proposal, one seat would have gone to each of the five river basins while another two positions would represent each side of the Cascade Mountains.

This structure would have given Oregon’s populous northwest corner less weight on the commission than the rest of the state.

Why does it matter?

Though power isn’t distributed as broadly across the state under the bill’s final version, proponents cheered the deal for improving the commission’s geographic makeup.

“Consideration of how wildlife policies affect rural communities is something we feel has been lacking under the current commission structure,” said Lauren Poor, the Oregon Farm Bureau‘s vice president of government and legal affairs.

By giving southern and eastern Oregon greater influence on decisions, such as the looming update of the state’s wolf management plan, the bill is a step in the right direction, she said.

Representation on the commission will shift over time, with new members appointed from river basins as the current roster’s staggered terms end, said Rep. Bobby Levy, R-Echo.

“Congressional districts cannot equitably represent vast landscapes with different needs. This regional representation will bring a diversity that’s not currently in place, especially by elevating Oregon’s tribes,” Levy said.

Apart from changing the commission’s representative structure, the bill requires that members understand the important role of federally-recognized tribes in managing natural resources. Knowledge and experience with wildlife policy, as well as racial, ethnic, gender and geographic diversity, must also be considered in appointments to the commission.

The bill is meant to “decolonize” the commission’s structure, which under the congressional district model would have delegated 77% of Oregon’s land mass to a single representative, said Rep. Annessa Hartman, D-Gladstone.

Not only does it emphasize the traditional stewardship of Oregon’s indigenous people but also their kinship with the natural world, said Hartman, who is Native American. “Since the rivers cannot speak, since the beaver cannot speak, we must give them a voice.”

While the bill’s final version “is not exactly what we wanted,” the agreement allowed the Oregon League of Conservation Voters to become neutral on the bill, said Julia DeGraw, its coalition director. “However, we really appreciate all the work that went into finding this compromise which helped ensure better representation of the most populated portion of the state,” she said.