I find it odd that so many seem to view this as some sort of middle finger to WDFW and the commission. The orcas and the commercials already got theirs (it's budgeted). Any guess where the zero sum budgeting will lead managers when the money dries up? Less opportunity for you and me is my guess, friends.
Recreational license fees do pay for a lot of BS, but at the end of the day, if we don't pay, we don't play.
The other side of that coin is that sport anglers may have reacted to how they perceive their interests have been treated (badly) by not supporting an INCREASE in fees.
Frankly, WDFW has done a miserable job of marketing. At least the CRE was touted as opening up more opportunities and some good things certainly did come out of that additional revenue. But at the same time high value fisheries such as the Cowlitz were effectively killed off and then there was the final nail in the coffin - the rollback of the CR Reforms.
What did they really expect to happen???
I will suggest that if WDFW was a large corporation and had received what I perceive as a vote of no confidence by consumers those responsible would be looking for new jobs. So, as I inquired previously have Commissioners who voted in favor of the rollback acknowledged their culpability?
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