ronnie
Thanks for bringing this up again. I have sent e-mails and made a few calls to try to get something like this going (rewards program) but have not made any real progress yet. I will continue to try and if anyone has any info that would help I will chase that down also. We who live along the Chehalis know we have a very large multi stream drainage that is almost undisturbed by dams or obsticles to fish passage. The squawfish problem is very big with tons of very large fish that prey on the smolts. I don't think there would be a problem with catching as many as we could as the precident has been set on the Columbia with that program.
We don't have the support of the government as we have no real connection to the COE to use for any leverage. You may be right about the WDFG and tribes as a source of funding.
There is a very large wild steelhead presence in the drainage with some hatchery plants but no hatcheries on the Chehalis itself. This should make it a very good candidate for any type of program that would aid with insuring the survival of the wild strains.
I am not sure what percentage of the salmon are wild,but again they do have plantings from several sources.
Let me know if you would like to meet sometime and kill a few squawfish. Bill