Talljeeper,

Which Bozos, and what makes you think that the next set of Bozos won’t do pretty much the same? Have you read this thread? Tacoma was issued an energy generation license, not a fish generation license. If you’ve been paying attention, you know that the new license is in and the old license is out, and the Cowlitz fisheries mitigation in the future is going to be different than it was in the past. I think this is a 35 year license. If you’re still around in 2037, you can help craft the next one.

Hairlipangler,

The primary source of public input is in the FERC relicensing stage, which occurred from 1995 to 2000. CFM was there, along with all the state and federal fisheries agencies. The Yakima and Cowlitz Indian Tribes also participated. Additional public interest participation was by representatives from CPR-Fish, Friends of the Cowlitz, Trout Unlimited, and American Rivers. CFM would attend FTC meetings if allowed, but as a practical matter, not all of the public can attend such meetings, and it would be an impossible way to get business done. However, the FTC can and will issue draft reports regarding management actions like this that affect public outcomes. The FTC isn’t as interested in secrecy as CFM appears to presume. They want to get the necessary work done as required by the federal license, and get the new fishery programs functioning and producing fish, including recovering ESA-listed fish. If you’ve got ideas that assist the FTC in getting the job done, I can put you in touch with them.

Regarding Cowlitz water levels and visibility, you can check before you go on the internet or by calling Tacoma’s hotline. I think that’s more than you can get on most rivers. As far as water levels during peak fishing periods, what do you call Tacoma’s action of lowering the river from 10,000 cfs to around 5,200 cfs for the two week period around Christmas and New Years when many people take time off to fish for winter steelhead? They didn’t do that to enhance power production and energy revenue.

And what are you whining about with throwing the Cowlitz a bone? Are you new here to Washington State sportfishing? The Cowlitz is the most hatchery-enhanced river in the northwest. Yes, there are dams. And yes, they wiped out viable native salmon and steelhead populations. But Tacoma was taken to the U.S. Supreme Court three times before they got their first license to build the dams. And Tacoma had to build and operate the second-largest hatchery system in the world to replace the lost salmon and steelhead resources. Where the hell have you been? Have you ever noticed that the owners of the Elwha dams, Cushman dams, White River hydro project, Condit Dam on the White Salmon, to name a few, never produced one single hatchery or other fish to mitigate the fish destruction and degradation caused by those projects? I never thought I’d come off sounding like a defender of Tacoma (I’m in litigation against them presently), but your and others’ comments are a work of art at times. If Tacoma and the fishery agencies have turned the Cowlitz into toast, or burnt toast, then why the hell are so many of you down there fishing it?

All,

This is a public review draft of the Cowlitz fishery and hatchery management plan. You are part of the public. How many of you are even going to read it, let alone send your comments to WDFW and Tacoma? Just for fun, I’ll check and see how many comments they get, and I’ll report back here on the results at a later date.

Sincerely,

Salmo g.