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CCA Washington Opposes SB 5127: Save our WDFW Commission!

2K views 5 replies 6 participants last post by  garyk 
#1 ·
ALLEN THOMAS: Commission system best for fish, wildlife management

Wednesday, February 18 | 11:15 p.m.
http://www.columbian.com/article/20090219/SPORTS04/702199929
The state Fish and Wildlife Commission is meeting with Gov. Chris Gregoire in late February or early March with a wide array of topics up for discussion — including the continued existence of the commission itself.

Two weeks ago, I was in Olympia for the commission’s deliberations on Columbia River spring chinook. But before the agenda got to spring salmon, the commissioners were briefed on legislation in the 2009 session, including Senate Bill 5127, which is a attempt to gut their authority.

First, a little background. The nine-member citizen commission sets policy for the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, including the hiring and firing of the director. The commissioners meet about a dozen times a year, plus have conference calls. Washington’s commission-based setup for fish and wildlife management was created by voter passage of Referendum 45 in 1995. The measure passed with 61 percent statewide (66 percent in Clark County and 70 percent in Skamania County). It won in all 39 counties.

Here’s what’s happening now. Senate Bill 5127, introduced by Sen. Ken Jacobsen, D-Seattle, would remove the current commission members, cut the citizen panel from nine members to five, limit the commission’s ability to meet and make the director accountable to the governor instead. Here’s who’s supporting the bill: commercial fishermen and the Puget Sound treaty tribes. Here’s who’s against it: The Coastal Conservation Association and an association representing Northwest recreational fishing businesses.

Ask yourself which groups you are more aligned with.

Here are some arguments made by supporters and opponents of the bill.

* Steve Robinson of the Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission said the commission is untrained in natural resource management and should function only in an advisory role.

* Ed Owens of the Coalition of Coastal Fisheries said the commercial fishing industry and counties such as Wahkiakum and Pacific have concerns with how the commission operates. The commission lacks the expertise to manage complicated interjurisdiction fisheries, he said. Owens also added that hunting groups are unhappy with the commission.

* Sen. Jacobsen attacked the current commission, calling the members rude to Department of Fish and Wildlife staff. Jacobsen also said the members refused to elevate ex-commission member Fred Shiosaki of Spokane from vice chair to chairman because of a vote he made in support of commercial fishing. “I think in the mean time we need a new cast of characters,’’ Jacobsen said.

* Ed Wickersham of Ridgefield, chairman of the Coastal Conservation Association’s Government Relations Committee, said CCA believes just the opposite of Jacobsen. “CCA applauds this commission’s recent thoughtful and responsible actions to change the management of our fisheries from harvest and over-exploitation to conservation and recovery,’’ he said.

* Carl Burke, representing Northwest recreational fishing businesses, said the commission is “citizen volunteers paid nothing’’ who build expertise in selected subjects. The people voted for the commission to lessen the role of politics in fish and wildlife management, Burke said.

More open system

I’ll weigh in with my opinion, based on more than 30 years of covering fish and wildlife in Washington. I covered fish and wildlife before Referendum 45, and it was a mess then, too. There was the Department of Game (later renamed Wildlife) managed by a director who answered to the commission and a Department of Fisheries managed by a director who answered to the governor.

Game-Wildlife always had a more open culture than the Fisheries Department. There always were politics involved in both agencies. Under the commission, the politics are more transparent. Since Referendum 45, fish and wildlife management in Washington hasn’t been pretty. As Marla Rae, chairman of Oregon’s Fish and Wildlife Commission likes to say: “It ain’t pretty, but it sure is public.’’

Commission members are accessible, and it’s a much leveler playing field, than when decisions were made inside an agency who answered only to the governor. This is the reason why so many states use commissions. The commission setup is inherently better, and that’s not connected to the sport-commercial allocation flap on the Columbia.

Yet the interplay of what’s happening on the Columbia now, and the attack on the commission, can’t be ignored. Since I started here in 1974, the No. 1 complaint from sportsmen in Southwest Washington is the gillnet fishery. This group of commission members has fought harder to prioritize conservation and sports-fishing in lower Columbia than any before. It will be ironic if the commission is minimized to an advisory group at a time it’s trying to deliver a policy change that so many in this corner of the state have sought for so long.

Allen Thomas covers hunting, fishing and other natural resource issues for The Columbian. He can be reached at 360-735-4555, by e-mail at al.thomas@columbian.com.
 
#4 ·
#3 ·
“I think in the mean time we need a new cast of characters,’’ Jacobsen said.

A truer quote hath never been uttered ... but, in my opinion, that quote should be turned around and focused on the Washington Senate: SPECIFICALLY, ON KEN JACOBSEN.

I hope our legislators do NOT allow this bill to pass, fisherpeople. Ken Jacobsen is the mortal enemy of recreational anglers in the Evergreen State, and this bill would be a disaster for fisheries management. For the first time in the history of the Commission, we have a group of people who are sympathetic to the interests of you, me, and our sportfishing brothers and sisters.

JS/NWWD
 
#6 ·
When you push to change the status quo, there will be counter-attacks. Jacobson is leading this attack on sportsmans.

Similarly in Oregon, we've seen legislative attacks on guides.

This is hardball politics folks. We need everyone IN the game.
 
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