And here is the response from the Director.


December 30, 2016



Mr. Tim Hamilton Mr. Art Holman Mr. Ron Schweitzer
Twin Harbors Fish and Wildlife Advocacy Post Office Box 179
McCleary, WA 98557
Email: THFWA@comcast.net

Dear Mr. Hamilton, Mr. Holman and Mr. Schweitzer:

Thank you for writing to share the concerns of Twin Harbors Fish and Wildlife Advocacy (THFWA) regarding salmon fisheries management in Washington, with particular focus on the topic of transparency during the North of Falcon (NOF) pre-season salmon fishery planning process. We have heard from many stakeholders expressing a variety of concerns about the 2016 NOF process inparticular. As the Director of the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW), I can assure you that WDFW leadership and staff have heard these concerns and are committed to continue working with stakeholders, tribal co-managers, federal agencies, as well as representatives from the State Legislature and the Governor's office to improve the NOF process for 2017 and beyond.

I feel that it is important to point out that WDFW as an agency values deeply and embraces transparency with our stakeholders and public. WDFW works hard to maintain openness and transparency with stakeholders, advisors, and the general fishing public throughout the North of Falcon process, giving the public numerous opportunities to attend meetings and provide needed input to department staff in developing and refining fishing proposals that provide meaningful fishing opportunities and meet conservation objectives. With oversight from the State Fish and Wildlife Commission, as well as regular input and guidance from the State Attorney General's Office, our agency's policies, leadership, and staff follow closely the requirements of the Administrative Procedure Act and Open Public Meetings Act.

Nevertheless, WDFW's efforts to maintain transparency must operate within the confines. and realities of highly sensitive government-to-government negotiations with 20 individual Treaty Tribes during the North of Falcon process. At times during the NOF process, State-Tribal negotiations may benefit from a private setting where individuals can speak freely and frankly, enabling the candid and necessary conversations that must happen during any tense negotiation.



Regardless of the setting for negotiations, the tribes are sovereign governments and, as such, they need only to meet with or negotiate agreements with the representatives of the government of the state of Washington, in this case the Director of WDFW and the appropriate agency staff. The state cannot impose its authority onto the tribes to open the government-to-government negotiations to the public. Unfortunately, this means the general public has no direct access to the negotiations without an invitation by the tribes.

In recent years, the Department has sought consensus from all of the tribes at the beginning of North of Falcon to allow a limited number of observers to attend the comanager meetings. In the past, the tribes allowed a limited number of members of the public to enter the comanager meetings to observe, but not actively participate. While this was not open access for the general public, it provided access beyond government representatives, which we felt was a positive for providing transparency. The tribes ended the practice of allowing observers in the meetings several years ago, and have indicated that they felt the negotiation positions of the state and tribes were being mischaracterized outside of the meetings. WDFW will continue to pursue methods like observer attendance for allowing direct public participation in comanager meetings, but would ultimately need agreement of the tribes for this to happen.

In spite of the legal realities that restrict public attendance at comanager meetings, WDFW works to provide transparency throughout the series of government-to-government negotiations that occur during North of Falcon. Beginning in February, WDFW holds more than a dozen public meetJ.ngs across Washington to discuss potential state fisheries and the latest updates from state-tribal negotiations. WDFW staff posts fishery proposals online for public comments and revises those proposals based on the latest outcome from negotiations. During the final negotiations that occur during the April Pacific Fishery Management Council/NOP meetings, WDFW staff regularly meets with our advisors and others from the public to convey the results of negotiations and positions taken by the tribes, and to seek input for the continuing negotiations. This often includes the use of updates by conference call to seek input from those who cannot attend the meetings, as well as phone trees set up by advisors to get quick input from constituents in their communities.

We will continue to seek agreement from the tribes on methods to provide additional transparency during the NOF process. Attendance of observers at comanager meetings has been successful in the past, and is one of the communications steps the Fish and Wildlife Commission's North of Falcon Policy instructs us to pursue. However, we ultimately need to reach agreement with the tribal comanagers on fishing seasons that meet conservation objectives in order to receive federal authorization for fisheries under the Endangered Species Act. The effects of tribal and non-tribal fishing combined must be within acceptable impact levels on all stocks. There is also the long and complicated legal history of the US v. Washington court case that must be considered in setting seasons. The reality is that meetings and negotiations with the tribal comanagers must occur for fishing seasons to be set -refusing to meet with the tribes because they will not allow the public to attend negotiations would likely lead to an unproductive outcome for state fisheries.



Many of the perceived issues with the co-management of fisheries are the result of the shared interest of state and tribal fishermen in protecting and harvesting a resource that has diminished from historic levels due to deterioration of habitat. We support co-management of the state's shared resources and believe the state and tribes are far more effective when we work together to conserve fish and wildlife and their habitat. WDFW remains committed to working with the tribes and our constituents to improve the North of Falcon process, to working to make that process as transparent as possible, and to working to ensure our state's resources are sustainable for future generations.

Once again, thank you for sharing your thoughts and concerns. We look forward to continued conversations with Twin Harbors Fish & Wildlife Advocacy in the future.





James Unsworth, Ph.D.
Director

cc: Lorraine Loomis