Frustrated recreators have expressed ourselves verbally to directors, commissions, and (fill in the blank with other, potential, future disinterested government body), loud and clear, and on plenty of occasions. The reason it seems like a giant, collective waste of time is that it is precisely that. If you want to speak to a sometimes sympathetic ear, go to a commission meeting. If you want to propose changing something, go directly to your state representative. If you want your proposal to be seriously considered, do some research into how much money your representative took from commercial and tribal interests in the last election, and bring a few dollars more than that amount with you.

It really is that simple. We whine and bitch even more loudly than the commercials. The reason nobody seems to listen is that we aren't speaking the right language; nor are we speaking to the right people.

There is only one other way we can meaningfully affect the equation: stop buying licenses. The downside to this strategy is, unfortunately, obvious and quite severe....

Either we spend a lot more or we quit spending altogether. Those are our choices, assuming we want results.

Look at it this way: If WDFW was genuinely interested in sticking up for the least common denominator, they'd have plenty of cheap, easy ways to solicit our feedback at their disposal, especially in the modern era, where mass survey campaigns are simple to set up and cheap to conduct. The current framework of scheduling "public hearings" on weekdays, during work hours, ensures that only the retired and those willing to forego pay or vacation leave will attend and put forth proposals. That results in generally poor attendance, enabling the convenient perception that sport fishers simply don't care enough to get involved. It's bull$hit, pure and simple, but it is extremely effective at shielding WDFW and our representatives from any direct citizen accountability, so it's not likely to change unless we force their hand (by ceasing to buy in with our license purchases). Yup, we're over the proverbial barrel as long as we keep on buying in.