Washington State Representative Hans Dunshee of the 39th District spoke at the Sky Valley Chapter of Trout Unlimited meeting Tuesday night (10/19) and indicated that WDFW has included Reiter Ponds into the their overall departmental operating budget proposal due to be presented to the Legislature in Olympia during the special session starting January 10, 2000.
Hans indicated that it was imperative that people contact Governor Gary Locke and encourage the Governor to also include Reiter into the Budget. Governor Locke's e-mail address is:

governor.locke@governor.wa.gov

Hans also asks that people from outside the Snohomish/King County region i.e.; Bellingham, Olympia, Vancouver, Wenatchee, Spokane, etc., contact their own Representatives and make them aware of the funding problem at Reiter then notify Hans of this contact so he can approach these Legislators during budget discussions and reaffirm the need to secure funding for Reiter Ponds. Hans e-mail address is:

dunshee_ha@leg.wa.gov (Hans Dunshee)

Please forward this message to anyone who might help.

Thank you

Gary Bee
Sky Valley Chapter
Trout Unlimited

Did he happen to mention anything about the summer steelhead plants in the North Fork of the Stilly? I understand they are supposed to end after this year as well..

What about the Sol Duc hatchery system? Bob? What do you think about that? The hatchery guy told me a couple of weeks ago, that the state wants the Summer Coho program cut, as well as the Spring Chinook, and he mentioned something about the summer steelhead as well... Tell me that something doesn't need to be done there! The duc is one of the few rivers in the state with a summer coho run! Phenomenal returns this year too!

All relevant points, but Like Tom says, other areas are affected too.

It's easy to forget when the state butchered WDFW's operating budget, it wasn't just Reiter that was projected to be cut. A memo that went around last winter slated MANY OTHER STATE HATCHERY CUTS BESIDES REITER. Of all the operations, Reiter gets the spotlight because of it's proximity to puget sound fishermen and rightly so! it is central to the fishing in that region and is a definite economy booster. Equally important, it provides opportunity we have paid for and helps spread the pressure.

The point I want to make though is when you all e-mail the state, mention Reiter but ALSO mention funding for the other hatcheries that are being butchered-specifically those on the coast and SW Washington. They are just as important and will die a quiet death (already happening) unless we speak up.

Otherwise, those of you who enjoy fishing the Willapa, Wynoochee, Satsop, Bogachiel, Sol Duc, Naselle, Elochoman, Humptulips, etc... Should make other plans.

Gary, Do you know what the updated status is for funding Rieter's summer run program. Could you provide me a contact to talk to. If they are able to fund Rieter does it mean that we can expect to have smolt plants in the NF Stilly and Snoqualmie as well? Thanks

[This message has been edited by Rich (edited 11-06-1999).]

I dont live in WA. But I fish there sometimes....... Some body mentioned Trout Unlimeted?? I bet if you research the reasons they are closing these hatceries you will find the T U is pushing the issue. T U is toataly against any hatchery fish, there belief is that hatchery rraised fish are are lower than pond scum.
What us real anglers should do is form our own group and push for better fisheries mangenment. Management for numbers of fish not just wild wild fish. If there are lots of htchery fish it will take the pressure of the wild populations.

Rich, current status for Reiter as far as I know is still up in the air. I-695 was discussed at the last meeting concerning Reiter(before the elections)and from what I heard it's passage is bad news for WDFW's budget and surely bad news for Reiter. Good contacts for status for Reiter would be Doug Hatfield, WDFW Hatchery Manager at doughat@premier1.net (Doug Hatfield)
or State Representative Hans Dunshee at dunshee_ha@leg.wa.gov (Hans Dunshee). For distribution of plants contact Curt Kraemer, WDFW Region 4 biologist at kraemcrk@dfw.wa.gov (Curt Kraemer).

Good Luck


Reply to willierower:
I don't know where you got your info about Trout Unlimited at least concerning it's Chapters in western Washington but your way off base. Many T.U. Chapters around here not only support hatcheries but actually have their own. The Edmonds Chapter has a hatchery and recently has been producing 150,000 plus coho plants into the north Lake Washington drainage yearly. The Northshore Chapter was instrumental in the development and construction of Reiter Ponds. My Chapter (Sky Valley) is dedicated in saving Reiter and also co-ops a coho hatchery with the Seattle Poggie Club that produces 50,000 FIN-CLIPPED coho smolts yearly. Thats just the three Chapters closest to Reiter. You must have us confused with some of the fly fishing elitist groups like Washington Trout.

Gary Bee
Vice-president
Sky Valley Chapter Trout Unlimited

Reply to Beezer
My mistake, I guess all T.U. chapters are not the same. I was just going by what I have heard from a couple members of a local chapter. I think they were from the Eugene area.