Here is a copy of our reply to Director Susewind:

Director Susewind,

I want to thank you for your personal reply to my letter of concern over Mr. Ron Warrens’s appointment, and for taking the time to address several other issues that were not raised in my correspondence.

You mentioned spending a year learning how complex the fisheries management is, and how difficult it is to balance the various dynamics involved. And in that year, I’m sure you’ve also realized that the Department has lost the confidence and trust of nearly its entire constituency, failed at a major budget battle and are now engaged in three major lawsuits, all surrounding the management practices that Mr. Warren oversee’s.

I’m disheartened you believe recreational fishermen judge success by harvest. Perhaps you’ve not gone into the crowd enough to meet the fine, hard working, intelligent people that I work with and know. Whose primary concern is NOT how much they get, but how best we can all work together to protect and to conserve.

It is somewhat naive to think that our campaign for open and transparent co-management is about increased recreational harvest. You see, we collectively cannot work together (Tribes, Rec’s and NT Commercials) without clear, open and transparent management. Your current policy of closed door meetings and non-public deals is exactly why the recreational community no longer trusts the department. Instead of creating a cohesive coalition, you have breed suspicion and distrust, which leads to animosity and anger.

We’ve explained this numerous times, in sessions with your predecessors, the Commission and hundreds of hours of testimony at public meetings. Unfortunately, it has fallen on deaf ears. You mention that you have not met me, nor seen me at any public forums. Please, ask Commission Chair Carpenter about his commitments to improved transparency due to our interactions with the Commission and the hours of public testimony. Ask Ron Warren about his promise of a letter to Northwest Indian Fish and Wildlife Commission Chair, Lorraine Loomis, which we had to finally publicly expose his failure to follow through, and how he sent it directly after giving his word we would see it prior. Ask Commissioner Barbra Baker and Joe Stohr about our meetings. Ask former Director Unsworth about our meetings. Ask the Commission about the crating of the Ten Year Chinook Harvest Management Plan, which was done in secret meetings, without any Commission input or knowledge, and how that faired with former Director Unsworth’s career.

It should be clear, the reason you have not met us, nor seen us at these “public” meetings is we realized they are not the best forum to effect real change in the current climate.

I’m aware any new Director has to rely on existing senior staff members to get acclimatized, just as the two previous Directors did. I didn’t bring my concerns of Mr. Warren to your attention based on our interactions with him on transparency. Rather, based on hundreds of conversations with your constituents, private conversations with Commissioners, staff members of WDFW and his performance and practices in the North of Falcon.

We are hoping you will be the leader who will create a coalition where all concerned parties are welcome and equal. Where information is freely shared in a spirit of cooperation. Where truth and integrity matter, and where the doors are open for all to participate fully in the decisions. Only then can we all work side by side for the greater good.

Sincerely,


Washington Citizen Sportsmen