By: Bob Martin

Bob Martin — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 16:06:57 +0000

Under Dr Koenings: Lousy fish return projections has resulted in day to day openings and closings of sport seasons. It is virtually impossible to schedule a family outing to participate in these fisheries unless you live near them.
WDFW has been empire building. They desire to manage non game species and spend volunteer hours counting non game species while requesting funding for personel to “count game species more accurately” and to develop flexible openings and closings to the hunting seasons. (Day to day openings and closings?)
Hunting seasons have been reduced to reduce hunter take (and participation) according to a letter from WDFW. Meanwhile WDFW has been introducing or protecting predators (cougar, bear coyotes, wolves) that kill prey species and their young just like the pike minnow, bass and walleye and tern populations feed on trout, salmon and steelhead fry. Then when prey populations go down, hunters and fishers again take more season or bag limit cuts until they realize the probability of sucess is so low that they stop buying licenses and tags. If there were NO human hunters or fishers, nature would be in perfect balance which seems to have been a goal of WDFW. BUT without fishers and hunters there would be no fees and license dollars, no sporting goods sales, no sales tax collected and another public agency would be funded from the general fund without generating revenue. WDFW needs a no frills mission, agents with game law authority, and responsibility to maximize hunter/fisher sucess.

Comments on: WDFW director resigns under pressure

By: Bob Martin