CCA, PSA, NSIA, and FishNW combined on a joint letter to the Senate Natural Resource and Parks Committee with copies to the House Bill 1660 sponsors yesterday, Feb. 18, before the hearing. The letter is lengthy. With the logos, graphs, and tables, it is too hard to cut and paste into a text field.

The letter has been set up in a Dropbox file for folks to read. I would strongly encourage you to take a look at it.



https://www.dropbox.com/s/e2u8fa023b016fp/SB5844%20Joint%20Letter_FINAL.pdf?dl=0

February 18, 2015

Senate Natural Resources & Parks Committee Members
435 J.A.Cherberg Building
Olympia, WA 98504

Chairman Pearson and Senators Dansel, Hatfield, Chase, Hewitt, McAuliffe, and Warnick:

We write in advance of the Committee’s hearing on SB 5844, legislation to recognize and prioritize the economic, social, conservation, and state revenue benefits of recreational fishing
in Washington State. For far too long our state’s policies have ignored the economic and agency revenue implications of how our fisheries are managed. The result has been seasonsetting
and resource allocation decisions that often stifle the economic, social, and revenue benefits of these fisheries to our state. SB 5844 represents a significant step forward at a time when WDFW and the Legislature are poised to ask even more of recreational anglers in the
form of increased license fees.