I've copied this to this board as I think it's important. We can't let this happen!! We need to do some letter writing.

Fishhead5

Tacoma's "Final Draft FHMP STINKS"…of dead fish!!


I have just found out that Tacoma Power, Trout Unlimited (TU) and American Rivers (AR), are trying to convince the WDFW to start the downscaling of our great summer run steelhead fishery on the Cowlitz! When Tacoma made its first Draft Cowlitz River Fisheries and Hatchery Management (FHMP) public, it was reviled that Tacoma was hell bent to trying to wiggle its way out of its mitigation reasonability's in the name of saving "wild fish"!

It's gotten even worse in Tacoma's the final draft!

Since Tacoma has refused to post or make its "Final Draft FHMP" (FDFHMP) public, the public is totally unaware of how the FFHMP has degraded even worse then the first original Draft FHMP. The Final Draft to my knowledge, carries both Tacoma's and the WDFW's name as being the "coauthors of the document", but yet to my knowledge this document has not been made public, nor is likely to be, unless sport fishermen demand that it be published on both Tacoma's and WDFW's websites for public review and comments before it is submitted to FERC as part of the Settlement Agreement.

When the sport fishers reads what's Tacoma's "future fishery management plan" are for the managing the Cowlitz, and its fishery, I will guarantee you that they will become outraged to say the least! As just one example, Tacoma, along with TU and AR, keep demanding that WDFW keep cutting back the production of our fantastic runs of summer run steelhead to protect the listed lower river fall chinook runs. The recent returns of this year fantastic run of summer steelhead were from the plants of 550,000 smolts. Tacoma, TU, and AR newest plan is for cutting back this figure by 100,000 smolts or more. This reduction will in all likelihood reduce the numbers of returning adult summer run by the thousands (about 1900 adults).

What a crying shame!

Tacoma, TU, and AR newest excuses for cutting back the release of the 550,000 summer run smolts is that they (Tacoma, TU, AR) are all now claiming that summer run smolts "MAY BE" competing with listed lower river chinook populations. What a bunch BS! Competing where… and for what? Over 90% of the listed lower Columbia River Chinooks are all of hatchery origin, so why not simply make Tacoma produce more hatchery fall chinook if their numbers are too low? Instead, Tacoma has conned both TU, and AR who are all active members of the Fishery Technical Committee (FTC) into now proposing to cut back hatchery production of our fall chinook from 5,000,000 (62,500 lbs) back down to 400,000,000 smolts (50,000 lbs). That's a reduction of 1,000,000 fish! Folks! This is exactly what happens when you get a bunch of do-gooders Waco's like Trout Unlimited and American Rivers kissing up to Tacoma Power and making policy decisions along with a weak agency that doesn't know what the heck its doing or have the backbone to take them on.

Several times now I have personally given the WDFW extremely important mitigation documents that will support our existing mitigation numbers and they have either "lost them" or "misplaced" them, and had ask me for them several more times. Even after getting the information to them a second time, they have failed to use it! What the devil is wrong with our WDFW Managers…are they all incompetent?

What makes this even more madding is that Tacoma and gang has now stated that they intend to stop the recycling programs of all summer runs in the near future. The FDFHM states that they only need about 411 adults to produce the 450,000 summer run smolts. Tacoma and the FTC (TU, AR) have now proposed not to pass any "summer runs" above the Mayfield Dam! OK people, read between the line here! That means that once a summer runs gets by you, and enters either the Barrier Dam or the Cowlitz Trout Hatchery traps, and they get the 411 fish that are needed for the hatchery brood, all other retuning fish will either have to be DESTROYED-( SOLD to a processor)-or dumped into Riffe Lake!

If you can't recycle them for sport harvest in the lower river, and you can't use them for restoration or sport harvest above the dames (because of those make believe "wild native fish"), what else can they possibly do with them other then dump them into Riffe lake or sell them! Either way, they will be taken away from any sport fishing opportunity on the Cowlitz River! What a bunch of BS… AGAIN!

Sport fishers SHOULD BE OUTRAGED!!!

This season alone, Tacoma has recycled well over 3000 summer run steelhead. When we apply the price that these sport caught fish are worth and bring into our economy at the conservative low figure of only $180 a fish, this brings a loss to our economy of well over $540,000 each year. Yet Tacoma continues to raise its cost of selling us back power when they will be cutting back and saving millions each year from not raising or the recycling of these fish!

Sport fishers SHOULD BE OUTRAGED!!!

Think about it for a moment people, this will mean that you will NOT HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY to catch 1900 summer run steelhead because of the 100,000 smolt reduction, and then you add to that about 3,000 or more fish that will not be recycled for harvest opportunity; you have now just lost 4183 summer run to catch each year on the Cowlitz! Thanks Tacoma…but NO THANKS!! That's adds up to about $752,940.00 hit to both the fish and our economy ON SUMMMER RUNS ALONE!

Yep….more "Power" to Tacoma!

Sport fishers SHOULD BE OUTRAGED!!!

The problem becomes doubled when you realize that Tacoma and gangs FDFHMP also proposes to do exactly the same thing with the "Early Winter Run Steelhead" program. Tacoma has made it clear, alone with the help of special interest groups (TU and AR) that they intend to cut our early "winter run" steelhead production from 300,000 smolts down to 200,000 smolts. That means that based on Tacoma's projected 1.9 survival rate, that about 1900 adult winter runs will no longer be coming back to our sport fishery in the early winter anymore. The 200,000 smolts are supposed to produce about 3,800 retuning adults. Last year, Tacoma recycled around 1900 winter runs. Remember, these fish will be coming back around late November- to- late January…the times that we always get our highest un-fishable flows and big floods. Again, these fish will shoot straight up to the Barrier Dam, and will not be recycled for sport fishing opportunities in the Cowlitz….Tacoma, and gang screws the sport fishermen again!

That's right people, we just lost another 1,900 returning adult winter steelhead and all the rest that manage to make it back to the Barrier Dam except for those 172 adults that will be needed for brood stock. The rest will be killed, berried, sold, or dumped into Riffe Lake or given to a food bank! That's some pretty damn expensive food or fertilizer at $180 plus worth a fish.

Again, the cutting back of over 100,000 of early winter runs steelhead smolts will mean a net lost of over 1900 adults to our fishery! Add the lost of another average of about 2000 recycled winter steelhead, and that's a total lost to our winter run sport fishery of some 3,900 addition fish that Tacoma, TU, and AR has taken away from you …in the very near future! Add that to the lost of the summer run fishery, and you now come up with about 8183 less adult steelhead that won't be harvestable! Thanks to Tacoma, TU and AR, these fish will not be there in the future for either you or you kids to catch or fish upon! And that only represents our "steelhead fishery".

What a terrible waste of our natural resources…all in the name of "power" and pure greed and control by special wild fish groups such as Tacoma, Trout Unlimited and American Rivers!!

"Tacoma's" and gangs new FHMP is already trying to get "credit" from WDFW for fish that are being produced in the upper Cowlitz above its project that are being captured by the BPA Cowlitz Falls Project, yet they (Tacoma) have not even began to pay our resource back for 40 years of robbing and rapping of our fish runs from it. What a joke!

While writing this article, I have just received a fax from the WDFW concerning my FOIA request to see the comment that WDFW has made to Tacoma's new Final Draft FHMP. Hopefully, someone in the FOC office will to able to find the time to rewrite them for your review in this news letter. One item that I did notice in a quick review was that WDFW is not insisting that Tacoma "recycle" fish when runs are good (who knows what that means?)

Instead, they (WDFW) have requested that Tacoma to: Quote; "The Department requests language be added that would allow recycling to provide additional harvest opportunity in years of low returns". Why on earth would one want "recycle" fish when the runs are low or poor? That makes NO SENSE at all to me! When you have thousands of extra fish that are not needed for either hatchery brood stock or restoration efforts, why on earth would you not give the sport fishermen the opportunity to catch them? Something really smells bad about this plan!

If Tacoma, TU, and AR get this new plan accepted, you will likely loose no less then 8183 adult steelhead to your sport fishery each year in the years to come.

Outrage doesn't really fit the word of how you must feel….and that's not even counting the reductions that these Waco's are planning for us on our salmon runs.

WDFW should NOT sign onto this Final FHMP! Please take the time and write the Director of WDFW and DEMAND that WDFW does not sign onto Tacoma Final Draft FHMP! Please send your letters or emails to both the "Commission" and the Director of WDFW to:

Mailing Address:

Jeffrey P. Koenings, Ph.D.
Director WDFW
600 Capitol Way N.
Olympia, WA USA 98501-1091
Or by Email to: 1. director@dfw.wa.gov)

Washington Fish and Wildlife Commission
600 Capitol Way N.
Olympia, WA USA 98501-1091

Or by Email to: commission@dfw.wa.gov)

Once again, please write or email both the Director of WDFW and the "Wildlife and Game Commission" and demand that they WDFW should "not accept" Tacoma's Final Draft FHMP. Remember, you will have no one else to blame but yourself when your kids can't enjoy the same kind of fishing that you have learned to love and enjoyed on the Cowlitz. If you don't take the time right now to change Tacoma's rotten game plan for both you and your kids future, it's all over for both! Please take the time and effort to send off those letters and/or emails to both the Commission and the Director today!

There will be more to come, but for now it's your turn to write those letters and emails and do what we can!

I will do my share to turn this nightmare around…how about you?