MEDFORD, Ore. (AP) — State wildlife managers have avoided a lawsuit by temporarily repealing a rule requiring review of a plan for black bears every five years.
The Mail Tribune reports the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife took the action last week on a plan that had not been reviewed since 1998.
The delay had led to the threat of a lawsuit from the conservation group Big Wildlife.
Spencer Lennard, Big Wildlife’s program director, criticized the move. But wildlife officials said they wanted to focus on the plan, not a potential lawsuit.
