Oregon

Debbie Colbert picked to become next director of Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife

Published

8 months ago

May 11, 2024

Debbie Colbert picked to become next director of Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife

The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife has a new leader — and they didn’t have to look beyond the building to find her.

Debbie Colbert, the current deputy director for fish and wildlife programs at ODFW, was picked to lead an agency that oversees 1,200 employees and the state’s vast range of fauna.

Colbert replaces Curt Melcher, who had been director since 2014 and retired in April.

Colbert, 52, of Corvallis, becomes the first woman to ever hold the position in the agency with a history dating back to the 1800s. The vote by the ODFW Commission to appoint her was unanimous.

In many ways Colbert was the safer and more conventional choice between two candidates interviewed on Friday.

In the public question and answer period, Colbert held the line on many of the agency’s hottest topics, including support for hatcheries, the central role of hunting and the challenge of managing the state’s population of wolves.

The job is one of Oregon’s more difficult, often putting the agency in the middle of the state’s urban-rural divide over issues such as wolf and cougar management, hatchery versus wild fish, and the cost for fishing and hunting licenses, among many other issues.

“I think that fish and wildlife are the bridge and not the divide in Oregon,” she said during the public hearing. “We have diverse perspectives but that’s not a bad thing. It means people care. My approach will be to show up, listen and find common ground.”

Colbert expressed a desire to “build a bigger tent” and reach out to Oregonians who didn’t feel as though they have a voice in the agency.

“I am very committed to positioning the agency so it engages all Oregonians,” she said. “Our tent extends to everyone who wants to protect and enhance fish, wildlife and their habitats.”

She also said she would “double down on finding alternative revenue” to support the agency’s finances and mission that went beyond hunting and fishing licenses.

The other candidate interviewed Friday was Kaitlin Lovell. Lovell leads the Portland Bureau of Environmental Services on stream restoration and previously worked for the advocacy group Trout Unlimited. In the public interview, she talked about the need for new ideas that can dust off “stagnation.” She also noted she does not hunt and is vegetarian, but pointed to the ways she’s been able to work with people from all walks of life to get results.

Lovell had become the more controversial candidate on hunting and angling groups on social media, especially given the historical critiques of hatcheries by Trout Unlimited.

Colbert struck a tone that emphasized support for hunting. “If you look at my record and talk to hunters or hunting organizations I’ve worked with, they would tell you I have a deep respect for the connection hunting brings for so many and for their families,” she said.

She also offered support for hatcheries — including new investments in them — which some environmental groups have targeted as a negative in the effort to help native wild fish rebound.

“I do not see a future in which hatcheries are not necessary to meet demand (for fishing) and for conservation,” she said.

Ultimately, she noted that she was looking forward to the job.

“I am honored to be part of this and am so excited about work that agency has ahead of it,” she added.

Debbie Colbert’s background

Colbert has worked for two decades on natural resources issues, according to the biography provided by the hiring committee.

Since 2021, Colbert has served as ODFW’s deputy director for fish and wildlife programs, overseeing fish, wildlife, habitat, and regional programs statewide as well as legislative engagement.

“In this leadership role, she has been thrilled to collaborate with ODFW’s many talented staff, hunters, anglers, tribal leaders and staff, volunteers, landowners, state and federal agency staff, elected officials, and statewide advocacy groups,” the biography said.

Colbert’s career includes stints in field work as a fish sampler for the Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission, as a researcher at sea for several months and studying nutrient cycling in Tillamook Bay. During her time at ODFW, Colbert worked for five years as deputy director for administration and in her current position since 2021 as deputy director for fish and wildlife programs.

Previously, Colbert served six years as the board of trustees administrator at Oregon State University.

Colbert earned a bachelor’s degree in biology and has a master’s in oceanography and a doctorate in interdisciplinary oceanography. She was selected as a 2022 National Conservation Leadership Fellow.

“Debbie is passionate about working with diverse groups to advance Oregon’s fish, wildlife, and habitat,” the biography said.

Zach Urness has been an outdoors reporter in Oregon for 16 years and is host of the Explore Oregon Podcast. Urness is the author of “Best Hikes with Kids: Oregon” and “Hiking Southern Oregon.” He can be reached at zurness@StatesmanJournal.com or (503) 399-6801. Find him on X at @ZachsORoutdoors.

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Oregon

Oregon State MBB Falls To Nebraska In Diamond Head Classic Championship

Published

34 minutes ago

December 26, 2024

Press Room

Oregon State MBB Falls To Nebraska In Diamond Head Classic Championship

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HONOLULU — — Brice Williams scored 11 of his 25 points in the final six minutes and Nebraska closed on a 6-0 run to beat Oregon State 78-66 on Wednesday night in the championship game of the Diamond Head Classic.

Nebraska claimed its first tournament title since winning the San Juan Shootout in 2000 when the Cornhuskers won three games by a total of four points. Fred Hoiberg also became the first coach to win multiple Diamond Head Classic titles, including his Iowa State squad in 2013.

After Oregon State tied it at 51-all with 10:20 to go, Nebraska used a 10-2 run to take control as the Beavers went five-plus minutes without a field goal. The Cornhuskers’ lead didn’t drop below four points the rest of the way.

Berke Buyuktuncel banked in a 3-pointer with 1:51 left to extend Nebraska’s lead to 72-63.

Buyuktuncel finished with 16 points and three 3-pointers, and Juwan Gary added 14 for Nebraska (10-2).

Nate Kingz scored 19 points and Damarco Minor added 16 for Oregon State (10-3).

Williams scored 10 points in the first half to help Nebraska take a 34-33 lead at the break. The Cornhuskers shot 50% from the field, including 6 of 11 from 3-point range in the first half.

It was the second straight year Nebraska and Oregon State met at a neutral site, with last year’s game being played in South Dakota.

Nebraska returns home to play Southern on Monday, when Oregon State hosts Portland.

MORE: TE Jackson Bowers Commits | Beavers Land Duke QB Maalik Murphy | Beavers Land UCF OL Keyon Cox | Beavers Land Nevada OL

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Oregon

No utility rate increases until wildfire lawsuits resolved, Oregon lawmakers propose

Published

12 hours ago

December 25, 2024

Press Room

No utility rate increases until wildfire lawsuits resolved, Oregon lawmakers propose

Three Oregon lawmakers say they plan to introduce a bill that would bar utilities from raising rates if they have unresolved wildfire lawsuits for three or more years, describing it as an effort to hold PacifiCorp accountable as the utility faces a series of lawsuits stemming from the deadly 2020 wildfires that ravaged the state.

Republican state Reps. Jami Cate, Virgle Osborne and Ed Diehl announced their proposal in a statement Monday, on the heels of an approved rate increase for PacifiCorp customers and a federal lawsuit against the electric power company.

The federal government sued PacifiCorp last week over the Archie Creek Fire, which ignited in Oregon’s Douglas County in September 2020 and burned more than 200 square miles, about half of which was federal land. The complaint accuses the company of negligence for failing to maintain its power lines to prevent wildfires. In its filing, the government says it brought the suit to recover “substantial costs and damages.”

A PacifiCorp spokesperson said in an emailed statement Monday that the company was working with the U.S. government to resolve the claims.

“It is unfortunate the U.S. government decided to file a lawsuit in federal district court, however PacifiCorp will continue to work with the U.S. government to find reasonable resolution of this matter,” the statement said.

The federal lawsuit was filed on the same day the Oregon Public Utility Commission approved a 9.8% rate increase for PacifiCorp’s residential customers next year. In its rate case filings, the company said its request to increase rates was partly due to higher costs stemming from wildfire risk and activity.

When the new rate takes effect in January, PacifiCorp rates will have increased nearly 50% since 2021, according to the Oregon Citizens’ Utility Board, which advocates on behalf of utility customers.

The three lawmakers said they will introduce their bill in the upcoming legislative session, which starts in January.

“The federal government is doing the right thing by filing this lawsuit, and we stand firmly behind it,” Osborne, who is set to be the future bill’s co-chief sponsor, said in a statement. “PacifiCorp needs to pay up and take responsibility for the destruction they’ve caused, and putting a stop to rate hikes is the best way to achieve it.”

PacifiCorp is poised to be on the hook for billions in damages in the series of lawsuits over Oregon’s 2020 fires.

The company has already reached two settlement agreements over the Archie Creek Fire, including one for $299 million with 463 plaintiffs impacted by the blaze and another for $250 million with 10 companies with commercial timber interests, according to its website.

In other litigation, an Oregon jury in June 2023 found it liable for negligently failing to cut power to its 600,000 customers despite warnings from top fire officials and determined it should have to pay punitive and other damages — a decision that applied to a class including the owners of up to 2,500 properties. Since then, other Oregon juries have ordered the company to pay tens of millions to other wildfire victims.

The wildfires that erupted across Oregon over Labor Day weekend in 2020 were among the worst natural disasters in state history, killing nine people and destroying thousands of homes.

— The Associated Press

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Oregon

North Central Oregon and Central Oregon under a wind advisory until Thursday morning

Published

21 hours ago

December 25, 2024

Press Room

North Central Oregon and Central Oregon under a wind advisory until Thursday morning

On Wednesday at 2:18 a.m. the National Weather Service issued a wind advisory valid from 10 p.m. until Thursday 10 a.m. for North Central Oregon and Central Oregon.

The weather service states, “South winds 10 to 20 mph with gusts up to 45 mph expected.”

“Gusty winds will blow around unsecured objects. Tree limbs could be blown down and a few power outages may result,” adds the weather service. “Winds this strong can make driving difficult, especially for high profile vehicles. Use extra caution.”

Advance Local Weather Alerts is a service provided by United Robots, which uses machine learning to compile the latest data from the National Weather Service.

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