Thanks again for all the updates. What a complete and utter [Bleeeeep!] show!

I'm just thankful that I never drifted into the anadromous fisheries arena for employment! Even though it had an attractive draw to me, I sensed a MEGA fight was brewing over this resource since the mid/late 80's (when I was still in HS). Hearing about the Boldt Decision and the "collapse of steelhead" (I think a lot of indicators caught up at the same time period; sprawl, habitat destruction, etc), witnessing firsthand the salmon collapse from the '82 El Nino, the hatchery VS wild faction build steam throughout the 90's, the explosion of the intewebz and the global exploitation of our PNW steelhead, tribal expansion with legalized gaming throughout the state with diversified business interested, plus the latest concept of "Manifest Destiny" to the PNW in the last 25 years leading to a mass implantation of population expansion coupled with local green-space degradation has all but assured (to me) that recovery efforts will never be successful.


Like a lot of us that frequent Bob's site, I have friends that are well entrenched in this "industry" (on multiple fronts). I try not to pry into their privy information, much less provide online vague clues/hints of upcoming information releases (as some do, without further detail) just to be a glory whore. I DO appreciate all the information from the folks that are directly involved in these pertinent matters though! My hat is off to you!!!

I do feel that there's been a definite abuse of power, or lack thereof, depending on which bargaining side you look at in the NOF meeting and that transparency is definitely needed. For a lot of the people involved in the process, their hands are tied to their tasks, and that must be a shiatty feeling! I too have a boss, but I have a tremendous amount of freedom and flexibility which I treasure. My guess is that the problems are closer to the top if we're ever given the chance to fully analyze the data?

I'll close my long-winded diatribe with something my old man mentioned a long time ago. I was barely a teenager in the early 80's and I was bitchin' about the Great Lake's steelhead articles in STS and that I could care less about them. Anyhow, pops said "once the Dams and Indians kill the last steelhead, then we will have to go back to the Great Lakes and get broodstock to rebuild everything". Notice he wasn't taking any blame in the demise, but he saw it coming. Then the fight would still continue...