Slow system quickly turns into gift for hunters, fishermen.

Byline: Mike Stahlberg / The Register-Guard

COMPUTERS have become almost deity-like in their ability to taketh away and giveth.

Oregon's sporting public knows all too well that eight computer rankings used by the Bowl Championship Series took away the University of Oregon's rightful opportunity to play for the national collegiate football championship Jan. 3 in the Rose Bowl.

Just hours before the Rose Bowl kickoff, meanwhile, another set of temperamental computers gave Oregonians an unexpected windfall - 20 days of free fishing and hunting.

Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife director Lindsay Ball on Jan. 3 signed an emergency order waving the requirement to possess a license and associated harvest tags while hunting and fishing. The waiver will remain in effect through Jan. 23.

Ball took that unprecedented action after a mysterious SNAFU in the department's computerized licensing system frustrated countless people in their efforts to obtain new licenses and tags required by the arrival of a new year.

Ball explained his action by saying, "We do not want to inconvenience hunters and anglers with repeated trips to Point of Sale vendors and agency offices to get their 2002 licenses during this period of computer difficulty."

The "Point of Sale" system links hundreds of license agents around the state with ODFW headquarters in Portland.

It inexplicably began experiencing slowdowns on Dec. 28, with some individual transactions taking as long as five minutes to process. Technicians shut down the licensing system for six hours Dec. 31 while they attempted a fix.

Upon restarting, the system worked as expected - processing up to 65 licensing documents per minute - for more than 24 hours.

Then the computers slowed to processing less than 25 documents per minute, leading to another day-long shutdown.

During the down times, would-be license buyers were referred to ODFW offices around the state, which are able to issue hand-written licenses and tags.

When it became apparent that technicians did not know how long it would take to correct the problem - or even what was causing it - Ball wisely signed the emergency waiver.

"This sporadic technical difficulty is frustrating to the public and to the employees trying to provide the best possible service," Ball said.

"During this 20-day period, people will be able to pursue their hunting and fishing activities and allow us time to rectify the problems with the system."

A computerized or manual system will be in place at all vendors by Jan. 24, Ball said.

The emergency waiver applies only to recreational licenses. Commercial fishermen must obtain hand-written licenses.

An exception to the general waiver is that big-game hunters in the few controlled hunts remaining must still possess a valid license and tag. Cougar hunters will also need to go to an ODFW office to purchase a tag. Hand-written tags are currently available during normal business hours at most ODFW offices, including those located in Springfield, Newport, Charleston, Corvallis, Roseburg and Salem.

Hunting of waterfowl, upland game birds, western gray squirrels (in open portions of the Rogue unit) and unprotected mammals listed on page nine of the 2002 Big Game Regulations will not require a license during the waiver period. Waterfowl hunters, however, still need a valid federal waterfowl stamp.

Individuals wanting to apply for controlled spring bear hunts before the Point of Sale system is operational again may mail in their controlled hunt application form with all applicable fees (including for a hunting license).

The deadline for spring bear controlled hunt applications is Feb. 10.

Meanwhile, Ball stressed that all hunting and fishing harvest rules - such as bag limits, methods of take, seasons and hours specified in the 2002 regulations - remain in effect during the waiver period.

Without harvest tags, however, ODFW officials acknowledged that bag limits for steelhead and sturgeon will be difficult to enforce.

"We're hoping people will comply," said agency spokesperson Kathy Shinn.

In fairness, those who currently possess angling harvest cards are not being required to fill out the card through Jan 23.

Coming as it does during the peak of the winter steelhead season, the tagging waiver is bound to have an impact on the ODFW's annual harvest surveys, which are based upon harvest cards turned in following the completion of the season.

ODFW officials say they expect little loss of income to result from the waiver, as most people who fish between Jan. 3 and Jan. 23 will eventually purchase 2002 licenses and tags.

Meanwhile, what caused the computers to bog down remains a mystery. One could speculate that it had something to do with recent programming changes made when the ODFW stopped using Social Security numbers to identify all its licensees.

Mike Stahlberg is the Register-Guard's outdoor writer. He can be reached at [e-mail].