We have to keep in mind that conservation or restoration is a process--a process of steps, a process of decisions. This is an appropriate step in the process to retore wild steelhead runs in the State.

The Commission is highly sensitive to salmon politics. I believe that the recent show of support for wild release and not increasing the wild keep policies on the Olympic Peninsula may in part be behind the Commissions stance. Just treading new waters to see if anything will bite them before making a decision.

I for one am pleased and somewhat surprised of the stance. I had thought that with declining license sales and a smaller general budget (passage of I-695), that the Commission wouldn't want to further jeopardize the income stream generated by license sales.

I think this represents the fact that perhaps a majority of anglers either want native release or won't mind if the entire State becomes native release (i.e., will buy their license anyway). I believe this should be viewed as a tribute to the changing culture among steelhead anglers to allow all of these fish to spawn.

Although I do have a concern as to what would happen with tribal allocations if such a rule were passed. A State-wide native release rule should not in reality mean that these same fish that are not bonked on the head would wind up in gill nets.

Bottom line, its an appropriate step in the right direction of a pretty long road. It should be supported and will need support because there will be opposition to it.

[This message has been edited by obsessed (edited 05-18-2000).]