Well, that's a bummer, to say the least.

I agree with the sentiment that the money could have been better spent on steelhead improvements, but that was never on the table. This project, while it had potential to improve chinook fishing on the Cowlitz, was not about the Cowlitz River. It was about the Columbia; specifically, the Buoy 10 fishery, which, along with Puget Sound, is where the majority of CCA's lobbying is going. I don't have a big problem with that; it IS, after all, the COASTAL Conservation Association, but it has been a bit disappointing coming to that realization.

In-river sport fishing ain't where the money's at, so I think we can all dispense with any notions we might have about habitat projects getting priority over fish production anytime soon. We are hopelessly hooked on the hatchery crack, and that works just fine for WDFW. As long as marine fisheries are marginally successful, their job is done. Additional fish on the gravel are an accident their management paradigm attempts to avoid at all costs.

I'm getting so jaded these days that I have started to think the only reason "wild gene banks" exist is that the hatchery programs in those systems were not productive enough to justify their existence.