A rare alliance between tribes, hunters, farmers, ranchers and foresters is running short on time to change the geographic makeup of the Oregon Fish and Wildlife Commission.

Though these groups often find themselves at odds on natural resource issues, they’ve aligned behind legislation under which commissioners would be chosen from river basins instead of congressional districts.

“The regional representation will bring a diversity that’s not currently in place,” said Rep. Bobby Levy, R-Echo, during a legislative hearing.

Earlier this year, the bill was moved to the House Rules Committee, which shielded the proposal from being killed by legislative deadlines.

With the 2023 legislative session required to end on June 25, however, supporters don’t have much time to get it passed.

Proponents of House Bill 3086 claim that because congressional districts are based on population, Oregon’s crowded northwest corner currently has too much weight on the commission.

By instead selecting most commissioners from among five river basins, HB 3086 would ensure representatives of a broader landscape have a say in fish and wildlife decisions, according to supporters.

“This bill will structure the commission appointees to be based on our natural boundaries and features instead of artificial boundaries drawn by a legislative body for completely different reasons,” said Sen. Bill Hansell, R-Athena, a chief sponsor of the proposal.

Environmental advocates oppose the river basin concept, arguing the bill would marginalize the voice of a majority of Oregonians while giving rural areas disproportionate power over the commission.

“Proportional representation based on people, not land or industry, is the best way to ensure the public interest will be served,” said Quinn Read, state policy director for the Center for Biological Diversity nonprofit.

While environmental groups objected to selecting commissioners from river basins, they did get behind some of the many amendments proposed for HB 3086.

For example, several environmental advocates said they’d support a compromise in which an at-large member was chosen to improve “equity in the geographic distribution” of the commission.

However, environmental groups denied its more scientifically appropriate for the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife to be overseen by commissioners from river basins.

Species such as salmon and steelhead are grouped according to “evolutionarily significant units” that aren’t consistent with the state’s river basins, said Jennifer Fairbrother, conservation director with the Native Fish Society nonprofit.

“If water basin boundaries don’t correspond to the existing boundaries the ODFW works within, then the water basin concept is no more ecologically useful in creating an effective commission,” she said.

Geographic differences affecting the state’s fish and wildlife populations are already reflected in the organization of ODFW, which advises the commission’s decisions, said Danielle Moser, wildlife program manager for the Oregon Wild nonprofit.

“It’s the agency that provides regional expertise. ODFW staff have presence all across Oregon, conduct monitoring all over the state and hold meetings everywhere,” she said.

Supporters of HB 3086 argued that members of the state’s Water Resources Commission, which also makes controversial decisions, are already chosen according to river basin. Commissioners would still be appointed by the governor, who’d have a political influence on the commission’s makeup, while ethnically and religiously diverse candidates are available throughout the state, supporters said.

“I question that the diversity in our state is only held in the I-5 corridor,” said Amy Patrick, policy director of the Oregon Hunters Association.

Representatives of tribal governments chafed at the notion they’d support a bill that’s harmful to the state’s environment, which they’ve managed since “time immemorial.”

“Sustainable management of these diverse ecosystems require the knowledge of local people who possess firsthand experience from living within those ecosystems,” said Julie Siestreem, tribal council members of the Confederated Tribes of Coos, Lower Umpqua and Siuslaw.

The bill presents lawmakers with an “uncommon opportunity” to dismantle a commission structure that’s sidelined Native Americans in important policy debates, said Delores Piglsey, chairman of the Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians.

“We must discard a system designed and calculated to give the loudest voice to the majority and to Oregon’s population centers if tribes are to be heard,” she said.