Gillpopper and others, to set the record straight I did not Say PROJECTS I said the Enhancement PROGRAM to wich it has been referred to for 35yrs I also never said the club does nothing for the community plain and simple I questioned the private April fishery. Its great that you guys do other things for the community and I know clean ups on the river are considered enhancement and appriciated (Thank you, I pick up garbage myself when fishing)but that does not refer to the program... Also it has only been a broodstock program for the past 4 or so years with a somewhat of a model after the Satsops success. I commend you for suggesting that the club should debate the goals of the program ... thats a start, In the past the goals changed so much and so fast the members couldnt even tell you why they were doing it and today most still dont know why.
And why not??? it's great to fish the river while it's closed and have many hook ups and no boat traffic ...not necessarily in the name of enhancing our native fish stocks, a little selfish wouldnt you say????

A little history for the rest of you (Greg I know you know this)
Origanal plans for Howard Hanson Dam included a fish ladder that the city of Tacoma did not build, so the State solicited the help of the club to prove to the city it had cut off tens of miles of native spawning habitat. After many failed attempts to trap,truck.plant fry over the dam the plan changed, it may have been a good idea 35 yrs ago but somewhere the goal changed the State and particularly the club held on too tight all the while we were still takeing 55 pairs of native Steelhead off "their" spawning beds in the lower river. Futhermore for the past several years the club has not been able to reach the goal of 55 pairs from the lower river ...mmmmm Makes you think huh? 110 a year X 35 = 3850 wild Steelhead.
I have had these debates with club members over the years and they will defend the April private fishery as if they are doing me some kind service. I am a realist ... show me some benifit while its open during my season and I'm all for it as long as there is proof that it is not damageing the native stocks. I know there are other reasons that ALL stocks in Puget Sound rivers are suffering, many of you have mentioned them here ... with all of the other problems out there here is something we can control I just question this one that has been failing miserably ...are we doing the right thing here?