Senator Asking For Washington Hunter, Angler Input On Fee Increases

[JimmyHoffa]

yeah, I don't think it would happen either.  The fish hatcheries I think were result of fish having commercial value.  I don't know of wildlife having the same.  Although, pheasant are basically from hatcheries in places.

[Miles]

Bigtex, honest question here so please do not get offended.  Are you on the wdfw payroll and performing a sort of damage control here on hw?  I know you pour a lot of effort into information research with threads like this.  Just wondering the reasoning behind it.

[bigtex]

I dont think BIGTEX is defending the amount but more showing it to be more in line with other states. 

If you know a government worker who says there's no waste in government then they're delusional. Could things at WDFW be better managed? Obviously. Have they lost the publics trust? Obviously. And on and on.

But my point is, when you start looking at other states WA is not outspending the others. Idaho doesn't have to manage the multitude of saltwater species that WDFW does, yet IDFG gets about twice the amount of funding per capita that WDFW gets.

We always hear about the lawsuits impacting the Forest Service and logging. The same thing is continuously happening to WDFW. WDFW and DOT lost a lawsuit a couple years ago to the tribes regarding culverts. WDFW and DOT now has to make every culvert in the state passable to anadramous species. Only going to cost $2.4 billion to fix the 825 culverts across the state. http://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/state-must-fix-hundreds-of-fish-blocking-culverts/

[bigtex]

Comparing budgets with other out of control states.  The minute I saw California as the first reference, all that followed was lost.

You can't compare WA with a state like North Dakota which doesn't have to manage saltwater species. I chose states with similar attributes to WA.

[bigtex]

Bigtex, honest question here so please do not get offended.  Are you on the wdfw payroll and performing a sort of damage control here on hw?  I know you pour a lot of effort into information research with threads like this.  Just wondering the reasoning behind it.

This is all my personal time and personal opinion. I have been critical of WDFW many times.

[Miles]

Comparing budgets with other out of control states.  The minute I saw California as the first reference, all that followed was lost.

You can't compare WA with a state like North Dakota which doesn't have to manage saltwater species. I chose states with similar attributes to WA.

Do you have the info on Maine?

[Miles]

Bigtex, honest question here so please do not get offended.  Are you on the wdfw payroll and performing a sort of damage control here on hw?  I know you pour a lot of effort into information research with threads like this.  Just wondering the reasoning behind it.

This is all my personal time and personal opinion. I have been critical of WDFW many times.

Well thank you for all the information and time you put into stuff like this. 

[Oh Mah]

as for the culverts,,,yep see how antis make things happen that cost outdoorsman and not them.Lets be real in WA. we have flooding almost yearly causing the creeks to swell and create major problems with the salmonoids,that wont change,crossing a creek with a jeep will and does not do any more damage than the flooding does.I do tread light.fires burn owl trees also making the save the spotted owl coalition a waste in my op as well.the list can continue but you get my point.its just BS that the antis come up with that makes no since.you know like all the safety zones popping up in our already declining hunting areas. 

[JODakota]

Comparing budgets with other out of control states.  The minute I saw California as the first reference, all that followed was lost.

You can't compare WA with a state like North Dakota which doesn't have to manage saltwater species. I chose states with similar attributes to WA.

100% spot on. They are not comparable.

[JODakota]

Bigtex, honest question here so please do not get offended.  Are you on the wdfw payroll and performing a sort of damage control here on hw?  I know you pour a lot of effort into information research with threads like this.  Just wondering the reasoning behind it.

This is all my personal time and personal opinion. I have been critical of WDFW many times.

Thank you for taking the time to share your information!

[bigtex]

Comparing budgets with other out of control states.  The minute I saw California as the first reference, all that followed was lost.

You can't compare WA with a state like North Dakota which doesn't have to manage saltwater species. I chose states with similar attributes to WA.

Do you have the info on Maine?

They have two agencies. Dept of Wildife & Inland Fisheries which got $49 million in 2014-15. Dept. of Marine Resources got $19.5 million. So your looking at about $68 million for two years, or about $51 per capita since they have about 1.33 million people in the state. So not that much less per capita then Washington ($58). Do any Google searches and you'll see that Maine's Wildlife department is constantly having budget problems...

The most shocking thing is the Dept. of Wildlife & Inland Fisheries spends about 60% of their budget on law enforcement. Maine's game wardens are also the primary search and rescue responders/managers in the state, compared to the sheriff's department in Washington.

[Oh Mah]

i think the fisheries in this state are over managed.making it cost more.

[Buzz2401]

People feel it is mismanaged but when asked to come up with real solutions they come up with ideas that are unfeasible in our Liberal state.

 What solutions would you suggest?

I don't feel the WDFW is mismanaged.  I would like to see better predator control but until we change the law and allow baiting and dogs that isn't gonna happen.  For fishing I would like to see our senators fight the IPHC so that we could get more halibut quota.  Get sportsman to come together to try and overturn the Boldt decision. As far as funding their budget I would ultimately like to see the state tighten up the free hand-outs to welfare but that isn't gonna happen in our lifetime.  Until we as sportsman come together and fight to remove the handcuffs that are placed on WDFW by the laws that are in place then there will be no change.

 Hounds and baiting are the only solutions for predator control? Does WDFW have authority to change the seasons and quota's?

 What does the Boldt decision have to do with current wolf plan, or our current cougar plan, or hoof rot, or increased late tags, or increased doe tags?

 Curious what "handcuffs" you are referring to?

Hounds and baiting are the most effective forms of predator control.  We already have half the year to hunt cougars and they are the biggest issue.  We have tons of game just to many people trying to kill it.  The handcuffs are current laws, a liberal leaning majority and crazy laws governing native resource allocations.  No matter what people may think WDFW has no way to change the fact that we live in a liberal state.

 Did I say hounds and baiting were not effective?....NO!

 If hounds and baiting can no longer be used, then why not extend the seasons to attain the same results as when we could? This is entirely in WDFW's hands!

 It's not rocket science, the reason is its because WDFW are achieving exactly what they desire to achieve.

 Tons of game, just too many hunters, are you serious? We have 10's of thousands less hunters now than we did in the 80's, and our herds have continued to decline, how can that be?

 Crazy laws governing native resource allocation?...LMFAO, You clearly have not been paying attention because our laws do NOTHING regarding natives!

Didn't say you said hounds and baiting was non effective, I simply said it is the most effective.  We don't need more time to hunt predators we already have yearlong coyote hunting and nearly 6 months for cougars.  WDFW has nothing at all to do with our herds declining ( even though not all herds are declining) urban sprawl and lack of effective predator control has.  True laws may have been the wrong word I should have used treaties.  Thanks for editing out the insult to me.

[JODakota]

Hounds and baiting are not the most effective tool. Trapping is. Period

[Special T]

@bigtex the biggest gripe I have, and many others, is the fact that wdfw seems less accountable to sportsmen. In your opinion how do we make them more accountable to sportsmen?  Are there other states we should emulate ?