The primary obstacle in the Skokomish Matter is getting to the truth.

For the better part of four years, we the public have been played by WDFW word speak that begins with open communication, positive speculation and optimism--but then, ultimately--failure. Oddly, even though both sides profess to be open-minded and working in unison, we have yet to be made privy as to why no agreement can been reached.

Afterward, Skokomish Council Leader Guy Miller maintains the Tribe is willing to work toward agreement, while WDFW's Ron Warren professes that anglers returning to the riverbank "are a must, and remain a high priority..."

Rumors are embellished, insights go public, and various points of view are placed forward as to why Co-Managers can't agree in principle...and WDFW plays the same hand of remaining silent.

One such account of what has taken place sights an agreement in principle reached by both the Skokomish Tribe and WDFW, but a "deal breaker" objection to that accord by one (or maybe two) of the other twenty-plus Tribes scuttles the whole process.

Could that possibly be true? I want to discount that as a falsehood.

Yet, I go back to my first sentence. Until the deception, falsehoods, exaggerations, misinterpretations and the like are eliminated, this broken system of Co-Management will continue as a dysfunctional train wreck that only produces more of the same.

Go beyond live streaming select portions of the NOF Meetings and make them open to the public in their entirety. Only then can we eliminate disparity, along with this ongoing waste of time, money and resources.

Above all--return truth and honesty to the forefront.