My mother in law forgot what I told her and voted no because she misunderstood the wording of the initiative as a give away to the tribes. I bet many uninformed people voted thinking the same. This whole drive ended up as a salmon issue. Even the news media only talked about salmon and still do today. Nothing is/was said of the other practices like raking the bottom of all life. Maybe if those practices were in the fore front and in more detail on the initiative it might have had a chance. FISH and the ENVIRONMENT 0 CAPITALISM 1.

Yes some voters may have misunderstood but the real reason that the initative was defeated was the anti campaign out spent us almost 10 to 1. Money talks and you all know the rest. With out ever stating any scientific facts their no campaign managed to mislead the public. Well now we must live with the nets for a while longer. Tom Nelson said that he would not try another initative so it will be up to another to champion the cause. Maybe when more Puget Sound species are listed by the ESA and sports fishing is completely shut down and the comercials can no longer catch enough in their net to pay for their fuel we'll stop the wasteful practices that are currently employed. You can still do your part and boycot comercially caught fish and let your grocer know why you won't buy fish. A silent protest will not gather much attention. Thank you all for your support on I-696. Write your rep. and the govenor to get the current escapement model changed to allow maximum escapement.

[This message has been edited by stever in everett (edited 11-03-1999).]

[This message has been edited by stever in everett (edited 11-03-1999).]

This is a drag!(pun intended). The non-fishing public in this state is really uninformed. I am quite frustrated with (of all people) the initiative sponsors. Don't get me wrong-the cause was noble and I backed it to the best of my ability 100%. But the message just did not get out as aggressively as it needed to. Especially in the critical week leading up to the vote.

When we were gathering signatures and this was just getting rolling, I vividly remember the talk of how organized things were this time around and there were all these strategies that would be used to bombard the public with the facts. It didn't happen! I know it takes money;advertising is not free. But, my gosh, wasn't there enough money to run commercials on the big 3 in seattle for even 1 night before the election?

About all I saw for coverage was word of Tom Nelson going around doing debates and the odd, tiny radio station giving a spot here and there. It's not enough!

Meanwhile, the media of this state bought into the commercial lies and told the masses to vote against it. Great! Maybe the sponsors should have put more effort into educating the media thereby letting the media spread the message for us. Our letter writing apparently had no effect.

Apparently, the public won't by into the initiative approach. Maybe the sportfishers of this state should instead save their energy and bombard the wildlife commission and the Washington Dept. of Commercial Fisheries with a UNIFIED MESSAGE about how we want fisheries to be managed. (Read that in a way that won't leave puget sound a desert and have WDFW change laws to force commercials to fish selectively. They can do this, they just won't).
I'm going fishing while I still can. In a few years evrything will be endangered because WDFW let it happen and no one will be fishing.

Its a sad day. But almost everyone on this site should feel good because we put alot of time and effort into what we think is right. The election doesn't change our attitude. Now we just hold the commercials to all their promises. Next make release of wild steelhead mandatory. Off to chase windmills. Thanks.

I was a little disappointed in the advertising campaign as well. I heard some of you say that you heard the radio adds on the C/W radio stations, it seems to me that these listeners would be the most knowledgeable and interested in digging up the facts on their own. I don't think Joe/Jane non-anglers in King and Pierce Counties, where a lot of people live, heard anything but the TV adds. I think the radio adds would have been much more effective in reaching voters targeting the pop/easy/news stations. I guess I was as guilty as any, I mass emailed mostly other anglers and outdoor types who probably have the interest to look into it and not get snowed by the TV adds.

The lessons learned from this campaign should be remembered for the next. Not necessary to raise a ton of money if the message is good. Look at I-695; it got over spent but passed. It wasn't necessarily a good thing but it saves money for EVERYBODY, so is perceived as good. Presenting our arguments to the media and the largest segment of the public as possible, not just familiar user groups, needs to be accomplished.

There's always a next time!

It was a valient effort on all of our parts. But with all the negativity and ignorance of most people (Non-fishers) that I talked with and tried to persuade to vote yes,I had a feeling we were doomed. I know that at our next Gig Harbor chapter meeting of Puget Sound Anglers, the mood is going to be somber. You guys are right when you said that we were outspent, I myself only heard one pro-campaign on the radio and saw only 2 yes signs posted. All mine were promptly torn down, as I live in this commercial town of Gig Harbor.
Well, we can't make believe we don't care about the issue and throw our hands in the air and give up, even though it feels as we should. We have to look for a new leader and somehow continue to educate and rethink the general public. I know for one thing that Gary Locke will never get my vote again, I know how could I have been that stupid too. Lets go fishNg while we can....See ya down at the Satsop this weekend, and I promise to be courteous to you fellow fishers in the driftboats (Use a Willies also).

------------------
Steve Ng....The FishNg1
99 F-350 4x4 SD, 18ft Alumaweld Formula Vee Sled, 115 Yamaha.

While Nelson and his crew seemed to be doing a lot of things wrong in running the campaign, I was going to bite my tounge and thank them for getting it on the ballot in the first place.

But then this morning I read in the PI that Nelson called sportsfishermen "cheap and lazy" while blaming a lack of support money on the initiative's defeat. I almost did a spit take with my coffee. While that may be true to some degree I think he owes a lot of us who did spend a lot of time and money trying to help out an apology. There is such a thing as being gracious in defeat.

Bruce

B. Gary, You and I and many other individuals may have done work for and given money to I-696 but we collectively as the sports fishing public did very little. I can sure understand Tom and Marilyn Nelson's frustration at having lost. You need to understand how much time and effort they and several others have put into this. Long before there were petitions to sign and send in they were working on this plan and yes we the fishing public failed to come through with enough $$ to compete with TV comercials or enough radio adds. We all owe the Nelsons and others a lot of thanks for what they tried to do on our behalf. You can e-mail them at yes696@yes696.org.

[This message has been edited by stever in everett (edited 11-03-1999).]

[This message has been edited by stever in everett (edited 11-03-1999).]

Yeah, that's true. The cheap and lazy comment just rubbed me the wrong way.

BTW - their email is yes696@yes696.org