We are making progress in our fight for equality and transparency in the WDFW/Tribal meetings that are currently closed to any public oversight. WE NEED YOUR HELP!!!
We need you to copy, paste and print this letter and get it to everyone you can. If you haven't already done so, please go to this link and sign the petition!

END WDFW/Tribal Closed door meetings

Here is the letter! PLEASE, COMMIT TO GET AT LEAST 10 OTHER PEOPLE SIGNED ON! WE ARE MAKING A DIFFERENCE!!


Dear Sportsmen,

We are writing today to inform you of a very important issue that effects you as a sportsmen of Washington State. It involves our Co-management system and our Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW).

Every year, the WDFW and tribes engage in meetings called “North of Falcon”. These negotiations results in our seasons and our Rules and Regulations Book.

Some of these meetings are open to the public, but unfortunately, the most important meetings held between the Tribal Co-managers of the Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission (NWIFC) and the WDFW are closed to the public. You are barred from attending. There is no video, no observers and no way for us to know what deals they are making until its all over! These secret meetings result in policies and laws being adopted behind closed doors outside the view of the public in a manner contrary to our democratic form of government and may not be the best decisions for our fish and us.

Transparency is the only way WDFW and the NWIFC can restore the trust and confidence of the public in the co-management of fish and wildlife in the state.

We have started a petition to have a live video camera allowed in these meetings, broadcast, to let the public see and hear what is being agreed to. We ask you to join us in sending a clear message that WE MATTER!

Please, add your voice of support by signing the on-line petition.

To find out more and support the Petition, do a search for; Open WDFW/Tribal NOF Change.org


Sincerely yours,
Citizen Sportsmen of Washington, Open North of Falcon

Thank you!! We are seeing a bump in numbers and are expected to pass the 2000 mark with on-line signatures very soon. PLEASE!!

GET THE WORD OUT AND GET OTHERS INVOLVED.

Post a link to the petition on your social media accounts.

We have a twitter account Twitter Open North of Falcon and a face book page Facebook Open North of Falcon as well, so visit those sites and like them. It will help us reach a larger audience.

Again, thank you all for the continued support!

http://app.leg.wa.gov/rcw/default.aspx?cite=42.30

Wouldnt north of falcon, or any other meeting be subject to this law?

Very good question..
According to the Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission (Treaty Tribes) NO. They say these meetings are "Government to Government" and therefor are not. It's interesting to note that WDFW says they want to put a camera in the room, but NWIFC says "No you won't".

The Bureau of Indian affairs spokesperson in Washington D.C. stated "We encourage all meetings between state departments and tribes to be open and transparent, as this creates an atmosphere of trust."

Yes,

Except when you look into the chapter, you find this:

RCW 42.30.030
Meetings declared open and public.

"All meetings of the governing body of a public agency shall be open and public and all persons shall be permitted to attend any meeting of the governing body of a public agency, except as otherwise provided in this chapter."

In this case, this is the WFW Commission, who's meetings are open to the public and where the management agreements that come out of the NOF process are approved....there by complying with the law.

Just saying.

That is the conundrum. WDFW, to comply with state law, needs to have the meetings open, and from what I have been told even when on reservation. The Tribes say "no". So, if you want a fishery for non-Indians WDFW has to play by their rules as nobody will force them to do anything.

I think the larger question is not "are these meetings following the OPMA?" but rather "Why?" Why is the NWIFC so totally against having any real time reporting of what is going on inside these meetings? What type of bad behavior or "deals" are being forced upon us without us having any input until long after the damage is done?

A small live feed video camera will not impact the negotiations. It WILL allow anyone interested to watch the stream and it WILL meet the requirements for full public oversight. It will also eliminate any "mischaracterization" or speculation since it will be live and un-edited.

The only thing it will not do is allow mis-deeds and bad behavior!

So, again I ask. Why not allow a live feed if they have nothing to hide?

I think it is commendable that there is such interest in the NOF process and salmon management. Unfortunately I also think it is a bit like arguing with your neighbor if you should call the fire department or try putting the fire out yourself while your house burns down.

I say this because it is important to understand where NOF comes from. It starts with the Pacific Salmon Treaty between Canada and the USA. The Pacific Salmon Commission implements the terms of the treaty. For the US all actions are subject to the Magnuson-Stevens Fisheries Conservation and Management Act. This act created the regional fisheries management councils. The Pacific Fisheries Management Council and NOAA are responsible for for implementing salmon harvest regulations directed by the Pacific Salmon Commission. NOF is a last step in implementing regional regulations.

Starting with the Pacific Salmon Treaty and in all the commissions treaty tribes are recognized as a separate government entity, not always coequal, but separate. State law cannot supersede other governments. If the tribes choose not to have open meetings that is their right. Why is the house burning down? The Pacific Salmon Treaty expires at the end of 2018. It has been, and is being, renegotiated for the past year. The stated goal is to have the negotiations completed by the end of 2017 so that there will be a year for The Canadian and US governments to ratify the treaty. I would ask how many people on this forum have been following these negotiations and are the meetings open to the public. I would guess not many and I know that the meetings related to chinook could almost be called top secret. If the treaty is allowed to expire it is likely that NOF will be meaningless if not abandoned altogether.

We should be asking what is the US State Department, Department of Commerce (NOAA), and several Federal agencies doing. I won't get into the other treaties (NPAFC and the Columbia Basin Treaty) that have a big impact on Northwest salmon and are also being negotiated.

I believe that the history of NOF goes way back before the PST, which was mid-late 80s. There have been these management meetings going on before that because WA law applies only out to 3 miles. Beyond that it is the Feds so there needed to be a process that dealt with fisheries outside of 3 miles.

As I recall when I played in that sandbox that the public could sit in on the meetings if they were not in executive session. The processes that I was most involved in (Fraser) had industry representatives in decision-making positions and they were expected to communicate back to their constituents. Further, the state folks were expected to answer questions from the public.

PSC provides quite a bit of good information. Especially following the Fraser Panel in-season. You can get an idea how a large run of fish (tens of millions in some years) can be forecast, monitored, updated, shared across two nations, tribes, and still put some fish on the grounds. In the course of a season (the fisheries are primarily commercial/subsistence) they will monitor troll, purse seine, gill net, dip net fisheries and get stock compositions from AK to WA to BC. It can be done.

THANK YOU!

To everyone who has signed and shown support for the petition to end the Secret Meetings of Tribal/WDFW North of Falcon.

We now have reached over two thousand signatures and the numbers continue to grow. Please, keep educating everyone you can. Print out the letter in the post above and help do your part by getting posted in your social media, and in the hands of everyone you can.

There is no question that WDFW is a state agency and must comply with the law. Some can hide behind the "we don't choose to comply because we are special" theorem, but all are state citizens and the law applies to them. It is a VERY simple and straight forward statute, whether the participants like it or not. WDFW is on really shaky ground, but is being held hostage by the politics of those who continue to take the influence of the tribes' huge contributions to political races.

That's it! There are some very strong reasons why folks in control (Gov, Leg, AG) support WDFW's actions.

Thank you Carcassman. We need to go fishing together and solve some of the world's problems.

The Tribes hold the Habitat Card. It is a two-edged sword, though. If they really push it, and win, they can essentially stop development, maybe even really constrain logging and agriculture. That is why the State wants to take the Culvert Case to the Supremes.

On the other hand, if the Tribes lose the Habitat Card then wild fish are totally **cked as the leadership of this state needs growth to grow taxes to support the basic needs of government (schools, infrastructure, prisons, etc).

At some point, there may be a push to buy out the Tribes. Don't know where that boy of money will come from.

Of course, the two little leaders from the US and North Korea could render this all moot.