Thanks goodness, a post from an educated person!

First of all, DH, I'm so very grateful that you pointed out that many of us do not always use proper grammar and spelling in our posts. Since this seems to be a pet peeve of yours, I would suggest that you learn how to spell "trailer", as well as the proper use of punctuation in your posts. I would hate to see you suffer over this. Oh, lest I forget your excellent use of capitalization!

I'll be happy to pass along your insights as to my educational background to the University of Washington. I would venture to guess that you feel that we are uneducated because many of us fail to comply with your standards of political correctness.

Thank you for your vote in support of my leadership of a group of concerned anglers with enough guts to stand up for the fish without succumbing to the pressure of not saying anything that might possibly offend someone.

I suppose you're right in your thought that we must all hate ourselves and the foundation of racism is based upon the hatred of oneself. I didn't think so at first, but then my part native girlfriend mentioned that she doesn't approve of the fishing and hunting activities of the tribal members either.

You see DH (is that a nickname, just like 'steelie' or 'nate'?), it is the actions that we dislike, not necessarily the people. If you were a regular reader of the board, as an educated man, you would surely see that as our comments regarding the decline of the fisheries are directed in many directions: the tribes, the state, the commercial anglers, the loggers, and low and behold, even ourselves once in a while.
Again, if you were a regular reader of the board you might have also seen the numerous discussions of hatcheries and perhaps would have known that many of us feel that as a whole, hatcheries are not the answer, yet they likely have their place in the grand scheme of things.

If you're such an educated outdoorsman, then I'm sure you know that in-river gillnetting as it is currently practiced is one of the most harmful influences there is on a steelhead run. Not only from the harvest, but in respect to the discriminate killing of larger fish, as well as the fact that the heartiest of our stocks, the repeat spawners, are forced to run the gauntlet of nets a minimum of three times before their second spawning.

Ignorance? Whites and the state of Washington had the common sense to decommercialize the harvest of steelhead almost 70 years ago.

Thanks for advising me of my dietary and exercise needs, I'm sure that you put in at least six or seven hours a day on your rowing machine as I do.

And just to slander some more, here's a nice article from the Tacoma News Tribune from a couple of months ago. If you like, substitute the word "Specially privileged white hunters" in place of the word "Indian hunters" and this article reads just as bad ... as usual, the cry "racist" comes out when we question a hunting or fishing practice. DH, wake up, label us racist if you want, but please explain to me how this action is justified regardless of who is doing it:

Elk viewing area closed at Mt. St. Helens

By Bob Mottram

The State Department of Fish and Wildlife temporarily has closed a 2,800 acre wildlife-viewing area near Mount St. Helens to protect wintering elk.
The Department said more than 500 elk have been pushed into the area by heavy snows at higher elevations. They are trying to conserve energy during this seasonal period of food shortages, the department said, and become stressed if they have to move to avoid people.
The wildlife area is located just off the Spirit Lake Memorial Highway, Washington 504, about 30 miles east of Castle Rock. It may remain closed to the public through May, the department said.
Fred Dobler, the department's wildlife program manager for the region encompassing the viewing area, said the highway does not penetrate the area, and unpaved roads into the area are gated and locked. However, some people park on the highway and walk in or ride in on horses, he said, and that is now prohibited.
Indian hunting in the viewing area is not a stress factor for the animals, Dobler said.
"This is part of the Loo-Wit (Game Management Unit)" Dobler said. "Some of the local tribal regulations have the Loo-Wit as being a closed area, some of them do not, and some of them I don't know about. But most of the tribal seasons are closed now anyway."
Traffic on the highway is not expected to disturb the animals.
Most of the elk feed on the valley floor, he said, and the highway is on the hillside.
"They're separated by forested slopes," Dobler said. "In some places you can see the elk with binoculars from the highway, but it's at a distance where there's really not any disturbance."

The days of double standards and special rights will end. Maybe not tomorrow, but I'll guarantee you one thing: until everyone in this country lives under the same set of rules, things will never improve for "people of color", despite the best efforts of the NAACP.