i think it all comes down to money. The WDFW has published information about the success of integrated hatchery programs (ie some form of broodstock) and these cost a lot of money to make new ones. the okanagan river has an extremely successful chinook hatchery despite poor river conditions because the tribes collect broodstock in the lower river and raise up to 8 million fry in a state of the art facility. integrated hatcheries take a while to get up in running and require state of the art equipment to bring wdfw aquaculture to modernity. the wdfw would rather put its money in production in established hatcheries than start one anew on the Stilly. Many of the hatcheries in the state are older and could be more productive with significant upgrades but again, money. The okanagan/sylix tribes understand that a significant investment would need to be made to make a productive hatchery on the Okanagan river but I don't think rural Washingtonians and the general taxpayer base truly understands the magnitude of costs associated with both habitat repair and new hatchery programs.

Development and land use that impacts watersheds directly and indirectly could be taxed BUT a good portion of the sport fishing crowd and rural Washington (where a lot of our favorite rivers flow through) tends to be conservative. I'm not sure how you modernize hatchery production and undergo the large scale habitat rehabilitation without a LOT of money. So in the end the population, industry and development surrounding a lot of these watersheds doesn't really want to pay more in taxes to repair the watersheds and the WDFW doesn't necessarily want to increase its budget as its already under a lot of scrutiny from the legislature and general public. The cheapest solution is "conservation" for the WDFW but lets not also pretend that the populace as a whole isn't necessarily in agreement about who is paying to save these watersheds and increase their productivity. I agree the WDFW is a joke but I hear a lot of people complain about the abundance of fisheries and in the same breath complain about the price of their fishing license or are vehemently opposed to paying more taxes.