As long as everybody is pissing and moaning, I thought I'd throw my 2 cents worth in. First I'd like to say that the Cowlitz has got to be the most mismanaged river in the state. There, that being said, I'd also like to say that it is my opinion that this latest thing with trying to turn the Cowlitz into a Native C&R river is destined for failure. IT WILL NOT WORK! The River has become too dependent on the hatcheries making fish to support the runs, and it just isn't feasible to expect that a river that gets as much pressure as the Cowlitz could ever revert back to a "wild" river. I know that there's a lot of "Purists" on this site that hate hatchery fish but in this case we need those fish. Plus, I'd like to remind everybody that the companies that oporate the dams on the Cowlitz are obligated to continue to stock fish in the river. If you ask me it all boils down to the all mighty dollar. What should be the best river in the state is turning into a totally sterile river because the big power companies (and our fisheries department) aren't doing their jobs. A few of you guys have good points when you say that we as sportsmen need to get involved, but is it so much to ask that the people who get paid to look after the welfare of our fish runs do the jobs that we pay them to do? Why do we even pay these outragous license and usage fees if it's up to us to do the jobs that our license money is supposed to pay for?