Well, the ONP decided to not adopt the proposal that would of required the release of all wild steelhead in park waters.

To see their sorry ass excuse...

ONP Reg Changes

...scroll down to see their the decisions and why.

Looks hit and miss to me. I don't see where they are proposing the keeping of wild steelhead in the queets, goodman cr., or quinalt rivers.

As to the hoh, that's a different story. It's not a river I fish so I'm not hip to the proposed changes versus what existed before.

What does this mean??

"Because of previous court rulings, there is no certainty that there will be an increase in the numbers of wild salmon and steelhead which reach spawning areas following the implementation of wild-release requirements on the Queets River."

That is hard logic for me to to follow, unless they mean that native fishermen will just harvest more. Can someone answer this question?

Thumper

That is the exact same line that I cannot follow their logic on.

Y'know I read that and just figured I was stupid, My initial impression was that the fish would not reach spawning grounds because of a court ruling???

Here in lies the problem...

"Implementing wild-release of native fish species remains a high priority for Olympic National Park. However, after consulting with the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, we have concluded that our proposal may not result in increased numbers of wild salmon and steelhead reaching spawning areas on the Queets River. Because of previous court rulings, there is no certainty that there will be an increase in the numbers of wild salmon and steelhead which reach spawning areas following the implementation of wild-release requirements on the Queets River. Therefore, Olympic National Park will continue to work with the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife to provide some harvest opportunity for non-treaty recreational anglers on wild salmon and steelhead in the Queets River.

Allocation issues are not likely to interfere with our proposal to release wild salmon and steelhead in Goodman Creek, Salmon River and the upper Quinault River. Therefore, Olympic National Park will implement wild release requirements for steelhead caught within the park boundaries on these streams. Harvest will only be allowed on marked (adipose clipped) hatchery steelhead in Goodman Creek. Since hatchery steelhead in Salmon River and the upper Quinault River are not marked, only steelhead with dorsal fins less than 2 1/8 inches in height will available for harvest on these rivers within Olympic National Park.

Our long-term fishery management goal remains a quality fishing experience where all wild, native species are released. An important assumption in any future wild release fishery is an increase in the number of wild fish spawning and contributing to ecologically based escapement goals. We believe ecosystem-based escapement goals for salmon, trout and char will result in more productive and diverse aquatic and terrestrial systems and possibly greater long-term stability. We will continue to explore other options to achieve these objectives. "



PS Another interesting note is that in the opening letter the Park stated that they recieved only 70 responses from individuals and organizations. Must be a lot of sand baggers out there just payin lip service.

Once again the ugly threat of Foregone Opportunity raises its head. I know the Wasgington State AG's office previously issued an opinion that foregone opportunity is not likely to be invoked in stopping harvest of wild steelhead stocks. It was their opinion that if FG was brought to court, it was not winnable. I honestly can't say if this is the case but I can say that every time the threat of it scares us away from conservation, those rumored to want to invoke it win. Oh and least I forget, the fish LOSE! Come on people, draw a line in the sand and let's fight. No, instead the possible failure to increase stocks through FG has yielded to the standard failure to protect them through continued harvest.

As for the 70 letters, it is interesting to me to see that many people here are very quick to jump on the boycott wagon of WT or to simply spend hours bashing them in posts but apparently don't care enough about the resource to take 10 minutes and write to the OP Parks.

Could it be the decade of greed is back? Hurry up and get your share people before they are all gone.