I am posting a copy of an e-mail that was sent to me FYI. Anyone interested in possibly carpooling to this meeting from North King, Snohomish, Skagit Counties can call me (Gary Bee) at 425-482-6657. We could meet at the park n ride in Bothell Tuesday afternoon and head south.
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e-mail sent Friday 2/25 by Amarc45@aol.com:

Are you aware that there will be an "introductory" meeting on Tuesday, March 7, in Lacey at the Lacey Timberland Library, from 6-9 p.m. for organizing a sportsfishing group that has started out as the "Salmon Alliance", but hopefully will grow to include all sportsfishermen (Jim is suggesting WA Angler's Alliance)? This would be worth attending, and I would be there to help organize this meeting, but I will still be in Palm Springs on business.

The desired outcome of such a meeting is to lay the groundwork to organize the majority of sportsfishermen/recreational fishermen in this state into an organization (nonprofit) that will have clout in the political arena due to its strength in numbers. This group will represent the interests of the fish that we value, and the experience of fishing. It won't be a grass roots organization to compete with other organizations/clubs, but would rather be an organization that through paid lawyers, biologists, lobbyists, etc. work within the political system to ensure that legislators, and resource managers, understand the "value" of sportsfishing, and sportsfishermen. In the past we have been largely ineffective since we can never agree amongst ourselves about what needs to be done, and consequently the political process has largely disregarded our interests in favor of competing interests.

The lead individual for this effort is Jim Bain, who can be reached by email at runwildrivers@yahoo.com, or his home number of 360-740-5934.

Please pass around the word about attending this meeting. For further information, you can email Jim or myself.

Marc Marcantonio