Let the Gov. know how you feel

With regard to the Times/PI story surrounding the Makah travesty, along with the continued failings of our beloved WDFW. Please post any responses you get.

Email her;

http://www.governor.wa.gov/contact/govemail.htm

Call her office;

Governor’s Office (360) 902-4111
Fax (360) 753-4110


or, snail mail her;

Governor Christine Gregoire
Office of the Governor
PO Box 40002
Olympia, WA 98504-0002

Already sent mine, Got the standard form responce. " The govornor has no direct controll over the WDFW, please contact them directly." I did hear a few loose rumors the Mr. koening and a few other pople may be loosing their jobs really soon! Lets keep the fingers crossed!

Sent. The governer and wdfw commision as well.

We need a Gov. first

hockana.... we have the first governor willing to help us in quite a while..... what are you talking about? would you rather have a gov. with Rossi's stance on protecting our fisheries? Rossi is a familly friend of mine but no friend to fisheries. give her a chance... she has allready done way more than people ever hoped for or think she is doing.

No matter what your political views, now is the time to let whomever is in the govenor's office know that sports fishers are fed up with the status quo. She seems to be taking notice. Now is the time to keep the preassure on.

Dave is dead on. For the first time in a long time we have some momentum on our side. Do not back off now. Drill her contact info and continue to point out the disparities and inequities of the current situation with Natives, Commercials and Sporties. Also, let her know your concerns for true wild fish. Hit the newspaper contacts, RU and any other state reps you can to try and get some press.

Just sent mine!!! They whill know how i feel about it

Sent Mine:

Please do what you can to protect our fisheries, specifically, the overkill by the Makah's on the Sound and Quinault's & Chehalis Tribes on the Chehalis. Please take a person interest in understanding what is going on here & have the courage to do something about it. Max

I just saw on the news that Christine Gregoire is back in Washington DC trying to save our military bases worth 7 billion a year to Washington state. Do we need to remind her that sportsfishing is worth almost the same to the region. Washington state used to be the Alaska of the Western United States. I grew up in Southern Idaho and all of my dad's friends came to Washington and spent their money. They had pictures of monstrous kings from Westport, Lapush, Neah Bay, and even the Puget Sound. No one even thought of going to BC or Alaska. It was all right here. Now a sport caught salmon in Washington state is not even recognized. In BC they are worth over a thousand dollars per fish! We need to bring this philosophy back. We should emphasize this to her. Washington state needs to fix the broken machine. We are getting our runs back and what is happening to them? They are getting wiped out by greed. Commercial fishermen, tribal and non-tribal are trying to get them all, with the WDFW commission backing them. I think this might be an angle we can get to her with to make sure she stays on the right track. They are looking for money to cover our deficit, how about fishing? Recover our seasons. The Makahs have really put a hurting on us. The fishing starts to rebound they are ready to wipe them out. If we could let the runs recuperate then we would have something.

dat wuz a good'un, fishnut!!!

Just sent my email. I hope sportsfishermen can make a positive change.

I'll give her a chance. This is one issue where she could earn my vote!

write bill finkbeiner - the state republican leader as well. there is another post with his ctc info. he is a fisherman and he needs to know how many of us want change

The Governor may not have direct control over the WDFW but the Director serves at her discretion. I wrote the Governor and asked that she replace Dr. Koenings. Included is my letter;

I am writing to you, Governor Gregoire to ask that you replace Jeff Koenings, current Director of WDFW. Under Dr. Koenings "leadership" our state fisheries have continued to backslide. It is only under public pressure that we have been able to reduce the slaughter of our wild steelhead. Dr. koenings plan seems to be to allow more harvest by commercial interests an reduced opportunity for the sports fishing community.
This state once had world class sports fishing available on both our coastal and intercostal waters. Increased commercial fishing by the tribes and non-tribal fishers have depleted the resources. Sports fishing brings in many times more dollars to the state than commercial fishing ever will. Bottom draggers have destroyed the habitat on our coastal waters and may never be repaired. Intercostal commercial fishing have depleted the stocks of once abundant bottomfish to the point that now most areas are closed to sports fishing.
It is obvious from Dr. Koenings previous work in Alaska that he is pro commercial fishing, our crab and shrimp fisheries in intercostal waters are heavily weighted to the commercial interests. Sports crabbers and shrimpers have continued to see their fishing time reduced while the commercial interests have enjoyed record harvests and extended seasons. Please do your part to correct the problems that we now have in the WDFW under Dr. Koenings leadership. I ask you to replace Dr. Koenings with a more knowledgeable Director who understands the needs of the citizenry of Washington. Doen't just get mad, do something

The Honorable Christine Gregoire
Governor of the State of Washington

P.O. Box 4002

Olympia, WA 98504-0002



Dear Governor Gregoire:



I know you are hearing plenty of input from various factions regarding the Makah salmon overkill, commercial crabbing abuse, nets choking the rivers and numerous other atrocities. As a lifelong Washington resident, and a sportsman myself, I could argue passionately about all those issues. Instead, I want to make a point regarding the fiscal concerns related to the declining fishing, clamming and crabbing resources available to recreational sportsmen.



Sports fishing is a multi-billion dollar a year industry in the northwest; Washington is losing millions or billions of those dollars to Oregon, Canada and Alaska. I read a quote the other day: “Give a man a fish he eats for a day; teach a man to fish he supports the local economy wherever he goes”. We need to think about “wherever he goes” because more and more sportsmen and women are going somewhere other than Washington and supporting other economies.



As a long time State of Washington employee (Director of Operations and Capital Projects, Olympic College) I am painfully aware of the fiscal state of the State. What I don’t understand is why we are willing to spend millions or billions of dollars attempting to attract new business and industry when, in my opinion, we not using everything at our disposal to preserve or enhance what we’ve got.



At Olympic College we are in the process of developing marine biology and environmental studies programs in the hope of educating and training our citizens and future leaders to be responsible stewards of our natural resources. In the State of Washington we need new leadership in the WDFW; we need leaders with the vision, passion and dedication to work towards significant improvement for the business of recreational fisheries and at the same time pull the plug on the bad actors. There are many of us who believe that, in spite of some progress, the State continues to close a blind eye to greed and the plundering of the resources by various tribal and commercial entities. We also believe the WDFW has turned a deaf ear to the passionate pleas from recreational sportsmen.



I am sure you are discovering that many sportsmen and women are active and vocal and, given the opportunity, we are willing to be a part of the solution. There are tens of thousands of us; we fish; we crab; we clam… and we vote. I implore you to please give due consideration to our plight.

I posted the following information a couple of days ago. Not sure if many folks have looked at it, so I copied it to this reply. The bottom line is that the Governor appoints the Commission with the approval of the Senate and the Commission selects the Director. I know that there are some who think the position should be a direct appointed by the Governor. I, for one, like the current process. It allows for changes without the political issue of the Governor being the responsible person.


In response to the concerns over the Governor and the Commission and who has responsibility, I offer the following sections from the Revised Code of Washington and how the chain of command works......


RCW 77.04.030
Commission -- Appointment.
The fish and wildlife commission consists of nine registered voters of the state. In January of each odd-numbered year, the governor shall appoint with the advice and consent of the senate three registered voters to the commission to serve for terms of six years from that January or until their successors are appointed and qualified. If a vacancy occurs on the commission prior to the expiration of a term, the governor shall appoint a registered voter within sixty days to complete the term. Three members shall be residents of that portion of the state lying east of the summit of the Cascade mountains, and three shall be residents of that portion of the state lying west of the summit of the Cascade mountains. Three additional members shall be appointed at-large. No two members may be residents of the same county. The legal office of the commission is at the administrative office of the department in Olympia.

RCW 77.04.055
Commission -- Duties.
(1) In establishing policies to preserve, protect, and perpetuate wildlife, fish, and wildlife and fish habitat, the commission shall meet annually with the governor to:

(a) Review and prescribe basic goals and objectives related to those policies; and

(b) Review the performance of the department in implementing fish and wildlife policies.

The commission shall maximize fishing, hunting, and outdoor recreational opportunities compatible with healthy and diverse fish and wildlife populations.

(2) The commission shall establish hunting, trapping, and fishing seasons and prescribe the time, place, manner, and methods that may be used to harvest or enjoy game fish and wildlife.

(3) The commission shall establish provisions regulating food fish and shellfish as provided in RCW 77.12.047.

(4) The commission shall have final approval authority for tribal, interstate, international, and any other department agreements relating to fish and wildlife.

(5) The commission shall adopt rules to implement the state's fish and wildlife laws.

(6) The commission shall have final approval authority for the department's budget proposals.

(7) The commission shall select its own staff and shall appoint the director of the department. The director and commission staff shall serve at the pleasure of the commission.


RCW 77.04.080
Director -- Qualifications -- Duties -- Salary.
Persons eligible for appointment as director shall have practical knowledge of the habits and distribution of fish and wildlife. The director shall supervise the administration and operation of the department and perform the duties prescribed by law and delegated by the commission. The director shall carry out the basic goals and objectives prescribed under RCW 77.04.055. The director may appoint and employ necessary personnel. The director may delegate, in writing, to department personnel the duties and powers necessary for efficient operation and administration of the department.

Only persons having general knowledge of the fisheries and wildlife resources and of the commercial and recreational fishing industry in this state are eligible for appointment as director. The director shall not have a financial interest in the fishing industry or a directly related industry. The director shall receive the salary fixed by the governor under RCW 43.03.040.

The director is the ex officio secretary of the commission and shall attend its meetings and keep a record of its business.

Dave is right on! sent mine

Sent my letter to Governor Gregoire. I stayed off the Makah issue this time and went straight to the economic issue. As I told the Governor; I and my buddies have cancelled our Sekiu trip in favor of going to Tofino on Vancouver Island. That is about $2500 that the Canadains get instead of Sekiu. I also told her that I am seriously considering leaving my boat at Sooke this winter to Blackmouth fish and if I really like Tofino then perhaps I will leave my boat up there next summer.

I will be staying at Canadian motels, buying Canadian gas, lures, food, etc.

This obviously has nothing to do with the Makahs, but everything to do with the overall state of our fisheries. I encouraged her to consider the economic impacts as more of us decide to take our boats over the border and elswhere. To be frank, I am simply tired of getting left overs, such as they are.