Reading through this thread has got my attention on several fronts. First of all stable funding for WDF&W. Back during Gov. Gardner's administration he got the leg. to give the Gov. appointment authority for the director of the old Dept. of Wildlife. Attached within this legislation was a % of general fund money to help offset funding problems within the dept. Problem was that the money that was suppose to go to the dept. never got there. Then the voters passed an initative that gave appointment authority back to the new commission and also gave control of all fish and wildlife within the state to an expanded commission. Maybe an initative from the people for stable funding of wdf&w should be drafted if the legislature doesn't provide it. It is a fact that the state spends just over 1% of the general fund on all of our natural resources. Another item that I saw in this discussion was hatchery operations. I personally know and have talked with one of the dept's. hatchery managers. He has just recently taken on a new task of developing new methods of operation and production of salmonids with respect to the ESA listings that have been occuring. This will take at least 18 months to get off the ground. Also NMFS has to approve these protocols. Another arena of this debate lies with other interests. The timber producers and the state came up with "Timber, Fish & Wildlife". This allows regulatory certinty for the timber industry as long as they follow the guidelines for buffers, roads etc. Now there is a process under way that addresses agriculture. It is called "Agriculture, Fish & Water". Unlike the timber industries mandates, this process will NOT have the hammers in place if it doesn't produce results. The ag community is also very opposed to any new regs. on buffers and other BMPs (best management practices) and point their collective fingers at harvest, timber, and so on. The whole problem as I see it is that in some watersheds dams have been built, hatcheries put in place and have failed at doing the job of providing the public with fish PERIOD! Salmon, Steelhead and trout have been doing a fine job of procreating through the vastness of time if left to their natural processes. Problem is passage to existing habitat that is shut out because of poorly designed or failing culverts, dams, locks and so forth. For instance, a recent study conducted by the Pierce Conservation District found that out of 530 culverts within the Puyallup Watershed 47% were complete blockages to fish and 26% blocked migration at certain flows. A similar study is underway on the Key Pennisula and here again 53% so far (all on county and state roads) are total blocks & 23% at certain flows. These numbers are stagering since there have been laws on the state books since before 1900 stating blockage of streams to fish migration is ILLEGAL! I remember so many small streams that produced coho, chum, cutthroat, steelhead, etc. Now many of these streams are completely devoid of fish and we wonder where are all the salmon & steelies. New Hatchery operational techniques could offset the state we find our fisheries in now but if we can hold fire to the feet of those that have cut off the natural hatcheries of our streams maybe just maybe our grandchildren will be able to enjoy this economiclly and culturely important resource. Sorry for the rambling.
Tight Lines & Smilin' Faces
But he did
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