I think you guys are putting way too much hope on the letter of the law. It would be nice if the tribes were allowed to fish the same as all the rest of us...So when there is no fishing they don't fish either...that's what the law implies, right? Well it doesn't get enforced that way. The tribes have won in court against this state virtually every time so the state is very reluctant to take them on again. Just observe the North of Falcon process and you will see that the tribes hold the trump cards on virutally every fishery. If they don't agree it doesn't happen and if they want something they get it. Remember when they were drifting gill nets last fall on the OP rivers when the state had posted emergency closure signs. The photos were posted right here. Tribal police stood by and watched.

I honestly believe that the political climate in this whole country has been one of appeasement and extreme socialistic policies that have lead to a steady crumbling of our society and , yes, terror attacks. This same ACLU driven mind set is helping the tribes gain more and more clout and a much bigger free ride. The benefits far outreach the limits of the treaties of 1854 and 1855. And our government is ready to give even more.

Perhaps it is the threat of using their legal clout to remove all the dams on the Columbia that makes everyone so scared? Maybe if that eventuality was staring us in the face we would stand up and say to the tribes that we all get the same rules ...period.

So reading all the laws and analyzing them with a sensible scrutiny is a waste of time in a way. We feel better because we feel we have a just complaint against the tribes but the real complaint should be against the system of government that has allowed all this lopsided socialism to get so far advanced. Some day we just might stop feeling sory for everybody and make them get ahead on their own merit instead of our tax money.