I am forwarding this E mail that sent to the WDFD Commission with a letter and Grays Harbor Harvest Model attached. To keep it simple I, as an Adviser, have lodged a complaint over the conduct of WDFW staff in the NOF Grays Harbor process. Staff intentionally disables the 2020 Harvest Model in the QIN tab ( page ) which effectively does not allow that Non Treaty Commercial season proposal to be developed by a citizen. As I told a Commercial fisher I have known for years, " We are all in the same boat but if you make it about who gets 100 fish then I am out of the boat and taking my life jacket and the oars with me. If it is about your rights as a citizen I will see this thing through." So it is game on so to speak.

 I just turned 72 the 29th and I am a bit of a book worm. I think maybe this quote from Teddy Roosevelt  captures how I view this issue.  “In any moment of decision, the best thing you can do is the right thing. The worst thing you can do is nothing. " Please read the letter folks.


March 28, 2020

WDFW Commissioners
WDFW Director Susewind

Commissioners,

I am writing to seek the assistance of the WDFW Commission to resolve an issue surrounding North of Falcon Grays Harbor (NOF GH) and the refusal of Region 6 staff to provide a working 2020 Harvest Model. To fully understand my request some history is required.

For nearly thirty years I was a volunteer in WDFW's ALEA & RFEG volunteer programs and refused to be involved with harvest related issues. When I ended my time as a volunteer I was asked to help with Grays Harbor harvest issues and I agreed to help. What I found was appalling. Region 6 staff denied the public access to GH Adviser meetings, minutes of GH Adviser meetings, any and all records, and the Harvest Model. To make a long story short in the end I filed a Public Records Request which was not complied with and was forced to utilize the courts which resulted in an out of court settlement with WDFW.

From that time forward the public has been allowed to observe GH Adviser meetings, a solid record of the meetings are available on WDFW's website, and a fully functioning GH Harvest model was provided to GH Advisers and the public to utilize for developing salmon seasons for Grays Harbor, until the past two years that I am aware of.

Commissioners a functioning model is not a small thing but rather of critical importance for any citizen prepare a meaningful proposal for a salmon season in Grays Harbor. The Grays Harbor Harvest model is an Excel spreadsheet with tabs (pages) containing all the information for any given year based upon the preseason forecast agreed to by the Quinault Nation (QIN) and WDFW.

For a citizen the Summary tab provides the ability to see if a proposal complies with the Commission's Grays Harbor Management Plan (GHMP) by turning the harvest number box green for compliance or red not being in compliance. This only works if one is able to manipulate the days fished in any week by the QIN or NT Commercial fishers. The New NT Schedule tab contains what is called a full Recreation Freshwater season at the top of the page. The NT Commercial is directly below it and any day fished in any week will show the projected harvest of any salmon species and the data shows in the Summary tab turning boxes green or red for compliance with the GHMP. The Treaty Schedule tab functions the same as the New NT Schedule tab when adding days to week of QIN fishers.

This is the problem. Region 6 staff have disabled the model by eliminating data and formulas for days or weeks the QIN did not fish in 2019 or any other year.. While this may sound trivial it is not as the run forecast can vary greatly year to year which is the case this year. Instead of harvestable Chinook in the thousands the QIN fishers and non treaty will only each have 696 wild Chinook impacts on the Chehalis River and even worse 142 wild Chinook impacts on the Humptulips. Commissioners this year's wild Chinook numbers clearly dictate that both the QIN and NT salmon seasons in the bay and both rivers will be vastly different than last years. By disabling the model in the Treaty Schedule tabs it removes the possibility of any citizen to put forth an option for the 2020 salmon seasons and in particular the NT Commercial fishers. If left enabled and functioning (as it is supposed to be) one can visualize different potential QIN options based upon available salmon to harvest and then develop potential NT Commercial and freshwater recreational season options.

I have requested an enabled fully functioning 2020 Harvest model in writing to Ron Warren and staff including Director Susewind with little success other than Grays Harbor Harvest Policy person Chad Herring responding via email with " The QIN harvest are inputs, that is to say you cannot input QIN days and estimate their harvest. " This is simply ridiculous! I or any citizen can by simply looking at available harvest shares develop scenarios of days of a calendar week that provide the ability to provide 2020 salmon harvest options. I have attached the latest 2020 Harvest Model to the email utilized to send this letter.

Commissioners I realize these are trying times and I would appreciate any help you could provide as the last 2020 GH Adviser meeting is April 2, 2020 and at this point both recreational and commercial fishers are being denied any meaningful participation in Grays Harbor NOF season setting. If you need any additional information feel free to contact me.

Sincerely,

Dave Hamilton