Grassroots Letter Requested To ODFW Commission

The Devils Lake Water Improvement District and its Board of  Directors has spent the past few months working to bring grass carp back to Devils Lake.  We are nearing the finish line and it's time to ask for your help once again. Please take the time to draft a letter to the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife Commission (ODFW) based on the instructions below to voice your support of the reintroduction of grass carp in Devils Lake.  Here’s an update on our progress, followed by our letter writing request.

The District is pursuing a permit under OAR 635-056-0075(2) from the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife to re-introduce sterile grass carp into Devils Lake. In furtherance of this goal the District has submitted a permit application which also serves as its management plan setting forth the timelines, policies, and processes that will be used for the re-introduction and ongoing management of grass carp in Devils Lake. In order for our permit to be processed certain changes to the Oregon Administrative Rules (OAR’s) pertaining to grass carp are required. 

We have been working extensively with ODFW staff to draft the required rule changes.  Once finalized, these draft rule changes will be presented to the ODFW Commission in February with a recommendation from staff for approval.  The District is optimistic that these rules will be approved leading to the successful placement of grass carp in late spring of 2023.

We have been assured that the ODFW Commission will place this issue on its agenda for their meeting held February 16th and 17th 2023. Our attorney Sarah Stauffer-Curtiss from Stoel Rives will be making comments on behalf of the lake. We are not recommending that our public attend this meeting as we feel it will be more effective for the Commission to hear our support for the rule change via written submissions.

This is where you come in. We have created a template for the Commission and we would request everybody forward it to the ODFW Commissioners.  All letters must arrive at least 48 hours prior to the meeting, so the due date for this request is February 14th, 2023. Does it really do any good for each of them to receive a couple hundred of the same letter? Indeed it does.

Thank you in advance for your participation. 

Here's what to do by February 14, 2023

1. Download the letter from this link. (WORD) (PDF)
2. Optionally edit the letter to include your name and address. 
3. Send the letter as an attachment by email, feel free to add a few photos if you wish. You can add a more personal message in the body of the email or modify the 4th paragraph to describe how the elodea invasion has affected you directly.
4. Send the email to [email protected]
5. Let us know you did it by completing a brief questionnaire