After reading through the WDFW's plea for more money I noticed that the tribes are complaining about WDFW not being able to do studies for them. Just how much funding do the tribes contribute to fisheries? I know in the Dept of Natural Resources budget they contribute ZERO and harvest millions of dollars in geoduck. Non tribal geoduck harvesters pay up to $6.00 PER # FOR THE PRIVELAGE OF HARVESTING THIS VALUABLE NATURAL RESOURCE. I suspect , but am not sure, that the tribes contribute little or nothing except some of the hatchery operations. Do not count their federal hand outs for hatcheries and boats and nets etc....Do the tribes contribute any funding for our fisheries or to WDFW like sports fishers do? How much money is contributed to WDFW funding by the rest of the commercial fleet?

Remember something , too, and that is that the politicians ALWAYS go for the throat when asking for money. Gary Locke perfected this scam. When you want to loot the public's bank account cry about closing the things most near and dear to the most people. For example: Ron Sims (King County's head thief) cries about closing parks while overseeing the payout of $24 million to King Coounty workers who sued because they had to work 40 hours a week instead of 35. Remember closing of Reiter Ponds? And now it is the Lake Washington Sockeye season for 2004. That fishery would bring in around 28 million to the state economy. Gotta close it down because we don't have any money. WOW.

No question that WDFW has a budget problem but is it the sports fishers who don't pay enough?