I have no idea about all the Bill's that everyone has been writing about. If someone will cue me in, then I would be more than willing to fight for or against a bill(depending). Many of my friends and I love to flyfish, and the fish we flyfish for. None of us are of votting age yet, but our parents, uncles, aunts,and grandparents are. I would also be willing to make phone calls (if given the #'s), and or walk around my neighborhood with a petition.

Josh,

There were a couple of bills in our state legislature this session that could have had really devestating effects on our native steelhead fisheries.

First off, there was a bill that would effectively ban all C&R steelhead fishing. There would either have to be a kill fishery or no fishery. The bill was cleverly put together as one that sought to protect steelhead, but it made a bunch of pie in the sky requirements that were unattainable. In the event that all the requirements weren't satisfied, then no C&R would be allowed. The bill wouldn't have prohibited a kill fishery, though.
The next bill would have prohibited wading on the Skagit River and its tributaries. This, too, would have effectively squelched the great C&R fishery up there in March and April.
Lastly, there was a bill that would have required fishermen under 18 to take a class on catch and release techniques and fish identification before they could obtain a steelhead license. Since you presumably are under 18, what do you think of that one?

None of those bills passed, they all either died in front of a committee or didn't get scheduled for any hearings or debates. However, they, and others like them, will come up again in the future. Pay attention to the papers and to the things written on this bulletin board. There are a few people here (quite a few, actually) who are good sources of information about things that are not necessarily "public" knowledge. Most of these things should be, they just aren't.

You may not be old enough to vote, but you are certainly old enough to grab some Ban All Nets petitions from your local sporting goods store, if they have them, and get your friends and acquaintances who are registered to vote to sign them. With the recent listing of the Puget Sound Chinook and the generally unfavorable view towards commercial net fishers that the public has, if this initiative makes it to ballot it's got a great chance of passing.

I hope more people your age get fired up about protecting our fish and our recreational fisheries. While a lot of folks got into the game later in life and are very passionate about it, most of your hard core people have been fishing and being involved in fishing issues since before they can remember. I would sure hate to see salmon and steelhead shown to high school kids in the history books rather than from the back of a drift boat or the bank of a river.

Good luck.

Fish on...
Todd.

Good thoughts Todd! Josh, its great that you have an interest in saving the salmon/steelhead runs. The most important thing to remember is you can make a difference. It might be your one letter to a senator or that one extra phone call that makes a vote swing one way or another. Sharp hooks.