Fly Fishing Forum banner

WDFW Commission just got worse for fish

4K views 31 replies 10 participants last post by  rich_simms 
#1 ·
Latest on the commission. Looks like our new govenor is trolling for votes with people who want to wack and stack a lot of fish. Looks like the fisherman won and the fish loose big time. Get rid of the three most conservation minded commissioners. CG confirms everything I ever thought about her and I can't post it because I will get banned from the board.


Commissioners OUT:
Shroeder
Hunter
Tuck

Commissioners REMAINING:
Ozment
Roehl (both "confirmed" by Senate previously)
Shiosaka
Chew
McBrayer

Commissioners NEW:
Soleman (Save Our Kings)
Gutwiller (Forester)
Perry (Rangeland Expert)
Wecker (attorney supporting Willapa Bay and Forks issues)
 
See less See more
#4 ·
I'm not as pessemistic about this, JJ...I think that changes are definitely needed, and that this is a huge start...expect to see Dir. Koenings scanning the classifieds later this week for a new meal ticket, and that's certainly great news.

Also, the above list doesn't have Holly Ledgerwood on it, and I think she was not a very good Commissioner...her departure is a very good thing.

I've got conflicting reports about Shiosaki...up until this morning, they all said he was gone, too, but all of today's say that he is staying. It would be good if he were to go, too, so we'll have to see how it all comes out.

Losing Tuck and Hunter hurts, but we have an opportunity to get in the ground floor with the new Commissioners, and that opportunity has to be carefully, but fully, exploited, and then we'll see where we're at.

Information is slowly trickling in about the new Commissioners, and I'll post more when I hear more.

Fish on...

Todd
 
#5 ·
DS,

A govenor that gets rid of the conservation minded commission members for a crap shoot on the people. Tuck bad Shiosaki good is the message. Plus a lawyer that supported Forks, a rangeland expert (probably read cattle man). It sure looks like the writing is on the wall for conservation minded people. I hope I am wrong and all these people are conservation minded but looking who she got rid of I doubt it.

JJ
 
#6 ·
FYI

From: Tony Floor


Gentlemen,



Some time today, the Governor’s Office should issue a statement regarding new appointments to the Fish and Wildlife Commission. For many of us, we have worked on this kind of action since last summer. Governor Gregoire has no political capital, yet, she is willing to risk the hit of political disfavor in the name of taking the first step to restore and enhance greater recreational fishing opportunites for us.



This e-mail to you has a simple message. Please consider e-mailing your clientele to take a moment to send her Office a message supporting this bold action. It is unprecedented in Commission politics. With Clyde McBrayer as the fifth vote on a nine-member Commission, in theory, recreational fishing interests have the opportunity to gain ground we have lost under the leadership of Jeff Koenings and Will Roehl.



I urge you tell tell your membership and contacts, try to not focus on those who no longer serve on the commission, this is a new day and we have a golden opportunity. Gregoire took this risk because she believes in our issues. She wants change. She did not do this to enhance commercial fishing opportunities in Washington state.



Soon, the Fish and Wildlife Commission will be called into her office. She will lay down her agenda and we are off to the races. For those new commissioners who do not comprehend her agenda, or choose not to follow, they may want to update their resumes. I believe, this governor is the real deal for sport fishing interests. I hope that I am right. For some of us, I am anxious to begin building relationships with the new guard. I urge you to join me in this effort.



You can send your remarks to the Governor’s Office (see her web page), or, directly to Elliot Marks, her fish advisor. Onward and upward. The train has left the station.



Tony Floor

Director of Fishing Affairs

Northwest Marine Trade Association
 
#7 ·
I am sure the NWMTA likes this. They got rid of some good conservationist on the commission for people we don't know. I doubt she got rid of conservationist and replaced them with Conservation minded folks.

Like I said fisherman have won and the fish look like they have lost.
 
#9 ·
JJ maybe you just posted far too early because last I knew you were a good D. The fish are going to be far better off now. In any violent revolution you loose a few good men and women. But the king is about to loose his head and the new pawns look promising from what I've read. But yes more investigation must be done. I just love it that we got rid of a woman that was a member of the safari club.

JJ take a pill or eat a mushroom it's going to be all right.
 
#10 ·
Reliable information (well, straight from the horse's mouth, actually) puts Solomon on a level similar to that of Tuck, but with perhaps an even more "expert" grasp on steelhead and salmon issues, due to her work with LLTK and the SWC...she also will be looking to a certain steelhead advocacy group for some guidance regarding steelhead...a group that I happen to think has some pretty good ideas!

I think Swecker is looking pretty good, too, but I'm holding off judgment until I hear some more.

Perry and Gutweiler are totally foreign to me...I don't know much about them at all, and can't seem to find any more information than what is in the above press release...we'll have to see.

Losing Ledgerwood, and clearing house at the Department...I think that both those things balance out the potential bad sides, and that I'm getting a little more optomistic...though still very cautious.

We'll see over the next couple of months how it really is going to go down...

Fish on...

Todd
 
#12 ·
I may have spoken too soon but three of the people she got rid of where good conservation minded people and I will hold judgement on these others until I see where they stand.

OC I have never and will never be a good D. Not saying I am always an R but I won't be a D. :hihi: But I have found out some more info about why certain decision were made on who she kept and let go that make me loose even more respect (not much left) for the Govenor. I have come to the conclusion that all politicians are dirty it is just the amount of dirt on them that varies.

JJ
 
#13 ·
This article kind of sums it up. She didn't even talk to at least one of the commission members whom she fired. Wonder why she did it? Wonder whom told her that Schroeder was bad and needed to get rid of him and Tuck but not Fred. Makes you wonder.

From the Peninsula Daily news
http://www.peninsuladailynews.com/sited/story/html/201463

Peninsula loses voice on Fish and Wildlife panel as Gregoire fires Schroeder
2005-03-16
by DARRICK MENEKEN

OLYMPIA -- In an unprecedented move, Gov. Christine Gregoire has fired four members of the state Fish and Wildlife Commission, the group responsible for setting state-wide fishing and hunting rules.

Dr. Pete Schroeder of Sequim, a marine mammal veterinarian whose expertise has been sought at national and international levels, was one of the members to get the proverbial ax.

``It just blows me away,'' Schroeder told the Peninsula Daily News by phone Tuesday night.

According to a news release distributed Tuesday by the governor's office, Schroeder -- the first commissioner from the North Olympic Peninsula in more than a decade -- is being replaced by Charles Perry of Moses Lake.

``Yeah, that's right close to the Olympic Peninsula, isn't it,'' Schroeder said, his voice simultaneously tense and disappointed.

``I can't believe it. Nobody on the commission can understand it and I can't understand it.''

Appointed last summer

Schroeder was appointed to the nine-member commission last summer by then-Gov. Gary Locke and was to fill a position left open when former Commissioner Russ Cahill stepped down.

Schroeder's term was scheduled to expire Dec. 31, 2006.

``I was very disappointed that Pete was released because I thought that he was an excellent member of the commission,'' Will Roehl, one of the current commissioners who survived Gregoire's housecleaning, said Tuesday night.

Roehl, former chair of the commission, said neither he nor current chair Ron Ozment were notified prior to the governor's official word.

``I was taken by surprise,'' he said. ``I thought we had a really good mix on the commission.

``I'm sure the governor has appointed some really good people but I don't know anything about them other than their names.''

Along with Perry replacing Schroeder, Jerry Gutzwiler of Wenatchee replaces John Hunter of Cashmere, Miranda Wecker of Naselle replaces Kenneth Chew of Seattle, and Shirley Solomon of Mount Vernon replaces Holly Ledgerwood of Pomeroy.

Commissioners are paid $100 a day plus expenses, and typically work two to three days each month.

No explanation

Gregoire gave no explanation for the drastic change, a move that empowers four inexperienced commissioners less than a month before an April 8-9 meeting at which statewide hunting rules will be decided.

The future of sport crabbing rules -- an issue that has drawn heated debate around the Olympic Peninsula -- is set to be shaped in May.

``These appointments represent my administration's strong commitment to the sustainable use of our natural resources,'' the governor stated in a news release.

But the question of how educated the incoming commissioners will be about current issues facing the policy-making body is pressing.

``At the very best it's an awfully short period of time to orient these folks,'' Ozment said.

``It puts the commission in a bit of a dilemma.''

He said he knows of no similar mass commission overhaul ever taking place.

Makah fishing connection?

When asked, Ozment added that he believes the move has nothing to do with the recent controversy over Makah tribal salmon fishing.

``There is so much speculation and rumor out there, no I don't think so,'' he said.

``As far as this Makah issue is concerned, people need to just settle down . . . stop the rumor-mongering and finger-pointing.''

Schroeder, 69, is a consultant to the Navy and NOAA Fisheries and is active in habitat restoration and conservation efforts in both Clallam and Jefferson counties.

He was the first commissioner from the North Olympic Peninsula since Dr. James M. Walton ended his service 11 years ago.

Killer whale specialist

Schroeder is best known for his work with killer whales and was the lead veterinarian during the 2002 rehabilitation of Springer, an orphaned orca calf rescued from Puget Sound, treated and released back to the wild.

He has also consulted Canadian officials about their orca work.

``I think the time I spent [on the commission] was extremely productive,'' Schroeder said Tuesday.

``If it would have been down time or a tough time, [my dismissal] wouldn't have been so tough to take.''

He found out about it last week for the first time and said he was never given a chance to comment or speak with the governor, who he met in person a couple of years ago while she was attorney general.

When Schroeder was appointed to the commission last year, Gregoire sent him a letter of congratulations, he said.

Ozment noted the lack of communication -- the governor not seeking commission input before making her decision -- is a concern.

``I wish it could have been done a little differently,'' he said.

``It is the governor's prerogative.''

All Materials Copyright © 2004 Horvitz Newspapers, Inc.
 
#14 ·
Way I see it is the Gov dumped those not yet confirmed by the Senate. If your going to make change that's how you do it. We got important things to take care of and if you went after those officially on the commission it's a long haul. If her main objective is conservation first and how can you beleive it is not when Oregon from the gov down through their entire system is mostly conservation minded and our Governor took notice. Yes we lost a couple of good folks but got at least two their equal and I'm willing to bet we got four who know what direction the gov wants to move. First off we would never have won the statewide C&R because the commission we had could not stand up to the pressure of Forks and to the anti C&R stand of WDFG. We will now have a new head of F&G and hopefully some early retirement from those in the upper reaches of WDFG that we all loath. The Governors intention will be to move the F&G to a more conservation fish freindly department. For the first time real science will be practiced similiar to what the WSC and other objective groups use.

The way I see it this has to be some big time morale booster to all those younger F&G employees we talk with that hate what their department had become.

Hey JJ if Rossi your buddy had become Gov and pulled this wonderful move I would have been the first one to congradulate him. Also this has a lot more than just steelhead in importance just look around at what the commission got accomplished over the last 4 years and it is not very good over the entire spectrum.

Catch & release now has the chance to become statewide because we will have not only groups like the WSC on the right side but it's looking more like we will have a WDFG on our side also. That is the only way the commission can stand up to the Mayor of Forks and her little minded local pols.

It still is not going to be easy because the republicans and the commercials are in bed together, you know all about that. The fight has just begun.
 
#16 · (Edited)
You must remember it was our now Govenor old office the said no to State Wide CnR no exceptions for a two year period when she was AG so she is the one that thought it was too big of a risk not the commission. We had the votes at least for the moratorium to stand up (not that would have been the end all and be all). But it was her office that said no way.

Also only 2 of the members of the commission were confirmed. So the she just dumped all non confirmed members to start over. If she would have dumped all 7 of them that weren't confirmed you know I would have been OK with it. Makes you wonder why she kept the three she did? If conservation was her goal why did she get rid of three of the most conservation minded people on the commission and keep some of the least?

Just asking the questions since everyone thinks this is a fabulous move.

JJ
 
#18 ·
I will revise my stance that we don't know what sort of move it is. What we do know is that she removed some the most conservation minded people on the board apparently without even talking to them to find out where they stand (her right as the govenor) but not the way I would do business.

Will she get rid of conservationist and replace them with conservationists, I hope so but if that was the case why not get of the other three she kept that weren't confirmed.

I am all for sports angling as it is what I love to do the most. And as I said I think the fisherman win while the fish might loose. But I hope I am proven wrong.

So how about why she would keep the three that weren't confirmed?

I will admit I probably have been overly doom and gloom here but from what I see there were other forces at work by groups that don't necessarily support what I support to get good commissioners kicked off the board and one's that I don't agree with kept on. And like I said if she had just cleaned house completely I would feel better about that also. So I guess we will wait and see on a couple issues like: Will the Director be replaced? How do these new commissioners vote? And what direction will she tell them what she want (fish or fisherman).

JJ
 
#19 · (Edited by Moderator)
Seriously you have to understand she got a hell of a fight ahead of her to get the changes needed to help fish. The commercials as of this morning are making phone calls they know their days are numbered as far as getting what they want. And remember that there is much more involved than steelhead here. God the commercials and natives have raped every crab in the sound and F&G have supported it. Her major concern is we have a fish & game department run by a commercial and a department who is not fish or people friendly. And if you worry that she is going to give what little is left to the sporties your wrong. She supports the sport fishing communitty because she believes that most are conservation minded like herself. And you know that is true because we know that over 60% of sportsmen are for C&R, I dare you to say that a large portion of sport fishermen are not conservation minded. I think what we will see or at least what she wants is a department more like Oregon which is a department far more friendly towards its citizens and its fish. I'm hoping that we now will have BC, Washington and Oregon working together in one dirrection and I think we are going to get it.

Your comment about when she was AG is foolish. Remember she worked for the worst governor this state has ever had and his policy was followed because that was her job.
 
#20 ·
OC,

You know very well the AG does not work for the governor anymore than the governor works for the legislature because they are all elected offices. She may well have been playing politics with the C&R issue to get former Governor Locke's endorsement; but that is a far cry from working for the governor and needing to do as he says because that is his policy. The AG does not have to follow any policy of the governor because the AG is the top elected law enforcement officer of the state, not a lacky of the governor.

I still don't trust her because she didn't have to do as the governor said on the moratorium since she was the AG and could not be compelled by the governor to do as he wished; but she did. Remeber elected officials has not power to dictate what other elected officials do. Whether she did it to gain the former governor's endorsement to be the next governor, whether she did it to appease the vocal folks from Forks, whether to appease the legislators opposed to it, or whether to avoid a lawsuit by some of the tribes, she played politics with the issue and took the easy way out. Now she wants us to forget she did this. I much prefer folks who don't do what is politically expedient and do what is right.

And like JJ, I also question why she didn't get rid of the other non-confirmed commission members. I sincerely hope the new commissioners will stand up for the resource; but I am concerned about what the governor will do when the pressure is on and the heat turned up. Her track record of standing up and doing what is right when under pressure is less than steller.
 
#21 ·
You know you republicans are never happy.

We get a Governor who wants a commission and WDFG to be more like what they have in Oregon and you complain. We need a department that looks at real science and that is where she is going with this and in all issues from both sides of the state. Those negative commissioners remaining have now got the message that she wants re- direction on how things are to go. We all hate to see Tuck go and maybe she has something better in store for him.

Even though that commission had 4 fair to good people on it they were weak, they did not get accomplished much of anything. There was no one on that commission who stuck out in a positive manner like some of our past commissioners. If that commission was so good why didn't they fire the director of F&G. Or why didn't they at least speak publicly that things are wrong in the department that they over see. The director has lied, used cover ups and bullsh*t propaganda in so many issues concerning our resources. He has allowed people like Gibbions to spew his bad science from one end of the state to the other. The commission has allowed the commercial crabers to continue to take 36 % of the sounds legal crab when they are only allowed 25%. I can't say that the new commissioners will be any better only time will tell but I do see what the governor is trying to do and that is a positive plus for fish and people by making drastic changes. Those new commissioners sound good to me so far and unless something really funny comes up we need to support them right off the bat to get done what needs to be done.
 
#22 ·
OC,

You are right this young dumb Sometimes Republican just is too stupid to understand the world that all of the older wiser generation has done so well with.

I will step aside to you all from now on and go back in the hole and stop trying to make sense of it all.

JJ
 
#23 ·
OC,

My friend I am neither Republican nor Democrat, I am an old fashioned, conservative independent who doesn't like many things either major party stands for.

I agree the old commission didn't do much and I have been very unhappy with them keeping the current WDFW director and his cronies running the show. I sincerely hope the new commissioners will do right by the resource and that the governor will stand up for doing what is right for the resource when the heat gets turned up. For unless she doesn't bow to pressure, the commission and hopefully soon new director will not be allowed to protect the resource and use science to manage it. Like I already said, her track record of not bowing to pressure when the heat is turned up is not good.

I wait with baited breath to see if she will stand up for the resource when the heat is turned up.
 
#24 ·
It's hard to know if the new gov actually stands for anything beyond remaining gov, especially for the time being. I think it's particularly important to pay attention to the post that included the email from Tony Floor. Salmon/plug-cut herring dragger that he is, Tony seems rather well connected politically here in Oly. He's right; CG has no political capital to speak of. This Commission action by CG was a significant risk, and I think she needs to hear words of appreciation, or at least encouragement, to feel that this risk is worth anything, giving her a reason to at least stand for WA fisheries.

Sincerely,

Salmo g.
 
#25 ·
If she was worried about bowing to the heat then she would not have made the move. This is not the wet noodle Gary the Governor it is a woman who is trying to show she is going to do the right thing and not be a wimp. From what I hear that the major question asked in the interview was, would you be willing to fire the dirrector?
The governors main concern according to an earlier interview with one of the new commissioners was the accountability of the department. That is exactly what we all have been asking for years. I think we all agree that the Washington department of Fish & Game is a dinosaur. Look at the dirrection of just about every other F&G department across the country and you will see that commercial interests are now far less dominate and that the bennifits of a strong environment and it use by its citizens are more important because of better usage and it just is better for the economy. I am frustrated by the fact that our F&G is still geared for the 1950's.

As for when she was AG. When the Governor, the state house and senate want more prosecutions the AG acts in that dirrection even if he/she is for some other solution. She acted under what our governers policy had been, do not rock the boat in anyway form or shape. I hated what she told the commission also but that was policy, maybe Todd can give us more insight into such dealings. That will not happen now hopefully if we have a new dirrection in WDFG. If WDFG says we need C&R on wild steelhead and all the groups that support it say we need it the commission will vote that way and keep it no matter what Forks say. But the commission didn't have WDF&G behind its first vote or second vote this year or the vote we had a few years back. I think we will get it in the future if F&G is restructured to a less unbiased science.

Flytier,
I have no problem with your politics but was concerned with JJ's Politics because he has a prominate place or recently has had a prominate place in the WSC. The last thing we want is that type of quick response from the important members of the WSC even if they are their own personel thoughts. Even old Grandpa over on PP feels it could be a good thing and is willing give credit where credit is due. That is good politics period. JJ is a damn good person and he even catches a fish once in awhile but I have no idea why he took such a path as his first post.
 
#26 · (Edited)
oc-
JJ's concern was much more liberal then you may think. JJ's concern mirrored my concerns as well. If the move was for the betterment of the State's fishes, then why were the most conversation minded of the Commisioners ousted?

I voted for Rossi although I could of voted for CG as well...for me it was a tossup. CG promoted herself as a sportsman....in her campaign ads, she was shown fishing at Westport holding up her catches of salmon. I was worried that the changes she talked about would be those that supported the sportsmen first and the fish second. The initial impression that one gets from these moves is that in fact, they support the sportsmen first and the fish second (hence Grandpa's-over at PP-support of the actions). As I look at these changes, they maybe more conservation minded then I first though BUT I will still be a skeptic until I see proof otherwise.

Like JJ, I want the fish to come first and sportsmen to come second. If the fish are put first, the sportsmen will ultimately benefit.

btw-There is plenty of room in the WSC and on the WSC Board for both sides of the political specturm and for both reactionaries and not. To be an immediate and open skeptic of the ousting of said Commisioners and the appointing of the new ones is in NO WAY anymore of a, and I quote, "quick response" then accepting the moves with open arms such as yourself, Grandpa and so many others did.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top