BigPhish7, A lot of people would consider Billy Frank,Jr's opposition to I-696 to be a reason to vote for it. Maybe he said what he did because his wife is a highly-paid advisor to Gov. Locke. Locke has already said he doesn't think I-696 is necessary. After all, he's already got his net-loving commissioners in place. He's run the only resource-minded Director we've had in decades out of town, and replaced him with a new recruit from the commercial division of Alaskan Fisheries. It will be business as usual in Olympia unless I-696 passes. The Neah Bay community has a huge P.R. problem since the whale killing. A recent report in the paper indicated people are staying away in droves since the whaling fiasco. Tribal and nontribal businesses are hurting. In the past, co-management with the tribes has meant no-management. It's the major reason why the decline of both fish and big game herds can be traced back to the Boldt Decision. People with close ties to tribal leaders say that is changing. Personally, I would welcome co-enforcement. Why wouldn't it work to have tribal and nontribal enforcement teams citing anybody caught violating agreed upon regulations for fishing and hunting? More often than not, our game wardens operate in pairs. Granted, it would take a level of cooperation we've never attained with the tribes to date. There is nothing more frustrating for a sportsman than to watch the abuses you describe and to have no one willing to do anything about it. FYI, At an I-696 debate last night, a retired Fisheries enforcement officer told the audience that on more than one occasion he was told by his superiors to ignore violations of regulations by commercial netters. Sorry, we can't convince you to support I-696. Voting for this initiative will be the easiest decision I've ever made at the polls.

[This message has been edited by CedarR (edited 10-10-1999).]