Good message to the commission!

Will any of the Commissioners who voted for the rollback of the Columbia River Reform admit their culpability for failure of the license fee increase?

"Since 2010, revenue from the Columbia River Salmon and Steelhead Endorsement (CRSSE) has been essential in helping the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) maintain and improve recreational fishing opportunities throughout the Columbia River Basin."

J-ust
F-or
C-larification...

They should have just called it what it was... the CRGEF

Columbia River Gillnet Enhancement Fund

Glad to finally see it go away!

Unfortunately the CRGEF just sucked another $8.75 out of me a couple of weeks ago for this license year - damn! When does it disappear?

Not sure but the PS crab thing might be in the mix. Lot of opinions out but it appears the Senate side told the House side that no more rec subsidizing commercial. Remember they burned the reserves in the last go around and Big Phil's cuts were fish food and that was about it besides musical chair time. I am sure more info will emerge but I was told by two folks that it was all about the agency not being willing to turn loose of the commercial fisheries supported by the House negotiators so the Senators went home. All done.

Wonder how big Rep Brian Blake’s nads feel now?

Sun sets on June 30.

Not good. He pushed for a 4 year extension on the CRE and could have got one from the senate. He decided to play chicken and lost.

Interestingly, he’s posting on huntingwashington today that CCA and NSIA tried to push in at midnight. Interesting tactic when you just lost a push to include it in the budget then blame it on the very people that opposed it.

In that case the blame game began sooner than I expected.

I find it odd that so many seem to view this as some sort of middle finger to WDFW and the commission. The orcas and the commercials already got theirs (it's budgeted). Any guess where the zero sum budgeting will lead managers when the money dries up? Less opportunity for you and me is my guess, friends.

Recreational license fees do pay for a lot of BS, but at the end of the day, if we don't pay, we don't play.

The other side of that coin is that sport anglers may have reacted to how they perceive their interests have been treated (badly) by not supporting an INCREASE in fees.

Frankly, WDFW has done a miserable job of marketing. At least the CRE was touted as opening up more opportunities and some good things certainly did come out of that additional revenue. But at the same time high value fisheries such as the Cowlitz were effectively killed off and then there was the final nail in the coffin - the rollback of the CR Reforms.

What did they really expect to happen???

I will suggest that if WDFW was a large corporation and had received what I perceive as a vote of no confidence by consumers those responsible would be looking for new jobs. So, as I inquired previously have Commissioners who voted in favor of the rollback acknowledged their culpability?

Time to move some of the "big dollar" WDFW personnel into retirement...will that make up all the budget problems, NO, but it will slow down the "cut fish food, cut hatchery's, etc.".....things that affect sports people, should not be cut... we have been paying our share !!!!! IMO

Suggest they start with Ron Warren, and work their way down from there. Forty years with the Dept. are more than enough...

Totally agree with the counterpoint. WDFW has not delivered on their promises in the past, and as such, they don't deserve a budget increase. The trouble is, if they're underfunded, they WILL cut services (translate to opportunity) to shore up the budget. They really don't have other options.

Not saying I agree with it; just stating what I fear will be the reality.

I fully agree with your concerns and the expectation that there will be cuts which will adversely affect the recreational community particularly on the Columbia River. When that does occur I hope that our Legislators hear about it loudly and clearly and maybe, just maybe, they will take notice.

And just so I am not misunderstood I stand firmly behind the Commission concept being old enough to recall how it used to work when the process was far more bent by politics. That said, this iteration of a Commission needs to hit the Reset button and do it quickly!

Edit: Remember that the last recommendation for extension of the CRE included extending the coverage from Tongue Point to Buoy 10. That effort to increase revenue did not make it into the legislation which extended the CRE to June 2019. I bring that up because at some point there will be an attempt to reimpose the CRE and we need to read any such proposed legislation very closely!

What benefits to sport fishing came from the CRE?

When will the tribes sue the state for under funding WDFW and them not producing enough fish or cutting hatchery production?
SF

I was going to refer you to the https://wdfw.wa.gov/about/advisory/crssrab as there used to be a fairly good record of meeting minutes and projects funded by the CRE.

Unfortunately the new website was stood up without all of the information previously available also having been migrated to the new website.

I would suggest it is not a matter of whether there were some benefits to recreational anglers......a better question is whether the benefits were worth the cost. But that is another matter.

Or better yet sue the Feds who signed the treaties. I can envision a lot of discussion about tribal operations that they might not want.