I sent the message below to my state sen. and reps. I have seen MANY such replies to our letters. If there is such strong support to continue funding, why is it still a problem? Any new news regarding the same???

To: McAuliffe, Sen. Rosemary; O'Brien, Rep. Al; Edwards, Rep. Jeanne
Subject: Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife


Dear Madame/Sir

I am an active voter that has lived in this great state my entire life, and
I have no intention of ever leaving- a 100% Washingtonian. I would like to
express my frustration and concern with the current situation of
Washington's anadromous fish, and more specifically, the Washington
Department of Fish and Wildlife and the WDFW Commission.

The fisheries that once made our State famous as a recreational destination,
have been mismanaged to the point of extinction. My Grandfather pulled king
salmon out of the Puget Sound in the 1940s that consistently weighed 50-60
pounds. It seems things have been on a downward spiral ever since. As of
three years ago, I no longer fish for salmon in Washington State. I make
the long trek north to Canada every year, and take my checkbook with me.
This will continue to be the trend with others until our steelhead and
salmon are restored. I spend thousands of dollars every year supporting Her
Majesty's economy, and believe me I would prefer to keep it in the good ol'
USA. But the fact remains that my local leaders have failed to conserve
this resource. All that happens now is the logging industry, developers,
commercial fishermen, utility companies, sport fisherman, and PUBLIC
SERVANTS point fingers at each other, while the fish suffer. My prediction
is that this will continue to happen until the federal government gets involved
and/or the resource vanishes, both of which are indicators that my elected
officials and their colleagues cannot do their jobs.

I sincerely hope this is something that you are concerned about, and urge
you to take steps to correct the problem.

Further, I would also like to emphasize my disapproval of the closure of
Reiter Pond Rearing Facility. What is your position on this issue? The
WDFW is taking away one of very few opportunities to fish for Washington
steelhead. I urge you help ensure the continuation of this facilities'
operations. This hatchery provides many fisherman the opportunity they
would not otherwise have, and helps keep part of the multi-million dollar a
year industry within the state.

Thank you.

Aaron Dane Schwetz

I recieved the following replies:

Al Obrien hand wrote a snail-mail to me only 5 days after I sent my letter, and said he's trying to save Reiter.

Reply from Jeanne Edwards:

"We have all be working to save Reiter Pond and haven't given up."

Jeanne Edwards
State Representative
1st Legislative District

Reply from Senator Rosemary McAuliffe:

Dear Aaron,

Thank you for your e-mail message regarding the Department of Fish and
Wildlife and the Reiter Ponds Fish Hatchery. I appreciate your taking the
time to write.

We have been working on long-term funding for the Reiter Ponds Fish Hatchery
for the past few months. Representative Edwards and I are now working with
Representative Dunn, the Department of Fish and Wildlife, and Snohomish
County PUD to create a long-term solution.

Snohomish County PUD is under contract with the Department of Fish and
Wildlife to contribute fish stock and help with hatchery maintenance costs.
We are hoping to renegotiate their contract to keep Reiter Ponds open. We
are currently organizing a meeting between these parties and will hopefully
have some answers soon. We only have until July 1 to come to an agreement.

If this long-term solution does not work, we also can work with the
Department of Fish and Wildlife's operating budget to fund the hatchery
short-term. This is an option we've only begun to look into.

Thank you again for writing with your concerns for the Department of Fish
and Wildlife and your support for Reiter Ponds. We are doing everything in
our power to save the hatchery.

Sincerely,
Senator Rosemary McAuliffe
District 1

Dane, the legislature let us down on Reiter however a mixed group repersenting various fishing clubs met with new director Dr Koenings at a Haskel Slough "open house" last Weds. (6/2). Dr Koenings said that a co-op might be possible to save Reiter if they can't find the money within the department. We will know something hopefully by 6/14 or 6/15. If it comes down to it there is a group ready to go to start raising money for the hatchery. To run Reiter it cost's about $130,000/yr. To keep it going just for next year we might get $50k from DFW but still need $80K from the private sector, or from Snohomish County PUD or the Tribes etc. The $50k that comes from DFW goes for the employee, the other $80K that we have to raise is kinda split 50/50 between the summer-run project and the winter-run project with about $12K going for the Golden Trout alpine lakes project. So in short by next monday or tuesday a co-op of recreational groups might start to raise money for Reiter so stay tuned. My address is gbeezer@aol.com and I will be starting the fund raising along with a lot of other groups/clubs/business etc.