Suggestions for the new WDFW director Susewind

[huntnphool]

After spending 20+ years with both the Dept. of Fisheries, then living through the merger with Dept. of Wildlife, I have some very strong feelings / opinions about the current state of affairs and past mistakes. Unfortunately, while I no longer work for WDFW, I continue to see the same mistakes being made, and the continuing saga of poor management decisions. Merger was by far the worse decision made in the history of both agencies (IMHO). They took two agencies, that by most accounts were solvent, and made them into one agency with a huge target on it's back. The move was supposedly made to save money.....obviously that didn't pan out. Wildlife was by and large a fee agency, basically in control of it's own dollars and made decisions that helped the folks that payed the bills.....us! Sure, not all decisions were scientifically sound (Chambers Creek Steelhead), but until mass marking came along, we all caught a bunch more fish! Fisheries existed on both fee and general fund dollars, but prior to 1994, general fund dollars were not spread as thin, and a larger piece of the pie was set aside for all of natural resources. Today, due to population growth and the bleeding heart liberals, all of natural resources get less than 1% of the general fund.

So....on to suggestions for Director Susewind:

Change policies so that every new regulation is reviewed by enforcement BEFORE putting them into effect. If you bother to ask enforcement as a whole, they will tell you that there are many regulations that are simply not enforceable.

Management....so top heavy the whole ship is about to tip over! Just because a large part of outside funding is federal and linked to ESA, it doesn't mean you have to hire more WMS3 positions to oversee these activities.

Science: Former Director Bern Shanks wasn't perfect, but the smartest thing he ever said was "we will be making all of our management decisions based on the best available science". I'm really not sure you could point to any decisions made in the last 10 years that followed this protocol. Management decisions today are made based on money, and who are we going to piss off, and how not to get sued. The only sure way to defend a decision, in fish & wildlife management, is science.

Harvest: Stop commercially harvesting all fish, unless it is a terminal area (lower Columbia SAFE program). WDFW allowed commercial harvest of Herring to go basically unchecked, until several stocks became ESA listed. You can't expect Puget Sound Salmon and Steelhead to recover if there isn't any FOOD!! Ask anyone who has fished Puget Sound for the last 20 years; you simply don't see the bait like we used to. The new plan to produce 10 million more salmon (for Orca Recovery) won't do much good if there isn't anything for them to eat.

Mule Deer: Someone please name me a state where they manage Mule Deer on a 3-point minimum! Due to this management decision, you have practically eliminated the genetics that produce eye guards. In Douglas County, I can show you 30+ two points almost any day of the week, in a matter of hours. I can also show you 2-points pushing 30" that do the majority of the breeding. I have hunted the Winthrop area since 1981, and back then there were more hunters than today, and we would still see 150+ deer everyday, without getting out of the truck. The local wildlife biologist has stated there are as many mule deer today as ever.....people just have to get out in the woods. Really? Just another symptom of the problem, too many biologists who are desk jockeys and need to get outside!

Elk: Spike versus True Spike? Are you kidding me? Absolutely no science behind this decision.....and enforcement will tell you there are many more 1x2 dead elk laying in the Clockum then 1x branch that were killed when it was legal.

The list goes on and on, and if only WDFW would create a citizens panel, made up of people who actually hunted and fished (more than once) as a sounding board for proposed management decisions, they just might win some of us back......

 

[vandeman17]

After spending 20+ years with both the Dept. of Fisheries, then living through the merger with Dept. of Wildlife, I have some very strong feelings / opinions about the current state of affairs and past mistakes. Unfortunately, while I no longer work for WDFW, I continue to see the same mistakes being made, and the continuing saga of poor management decisions. Merger was by far the worse decision made in the history of both agencies (IMHO). They took two agencies, that by most accounts were solvent, and made them into one agency with a huge target on it's back. The move was supposedly made to save money.....obviously that didn't pan out. Wildlife was by and large a fee agency, basically in control of it's own dollars and made decisions that helped the folks that payed the bills.....us! Sure, not all decisions were scientifically sound (Chambers Creek Steelhead), but until mass marking came along, we all caught a bunch more fish! Fisheries existed on both fee and general fund dollars, but prior to 1994, general fund dollars were not spread as thin, and a larger piece of the pie was set aside for all of natural resources. Today, due to population growth and the bleeding heart liberals, all of natural resources get less than 1% of the general fund.

So....on to suggestions for Director Susewind:

Change policies so that every new regulation is reviewed by enforcement BEFORE putting them into effect. If you bother to ask enforcement as a whole, they will tell you that there are many regulations that are simply not enforceable.

Management....so top heavy the whole ship is about to tip over! Just because a large part of outside funding is federal and linked to ESA, it doesn't mean you have to hire more WMS3 positions to oversee these activities.

Science: Former Director Bern Shanks wasn't perfect, but the smartest thing he ever said was "we will be making all of our management decisions based on the best available science". I'm really not sure you could point to any decisions made in the last 10 years that followed this protocol. Management decisions today are made based on money, and who are we going to piss off, and how not to get sued. The only sure way to defend a decision, in fish & wildlife management, is science.

Harvest: Stop commercially harvesting all fish, unless it is a terminal area (lower Columbia SAFE program). WDFW allowed commercial harvest of Herring to go basically unchecked, until several stocks became ESA listed. You can't expect Puget Sound Salmon and Steelhead to recover if there isn't any FOOD!! Ask anyone who has fished Puget Sound for the last 20 years; you simply don't see the bait like we used to. The new plan to produce 10 million more salmon (for Orca Recovery) won't do much good if there isn't anything for them to eat.

Mule Deer: Someone please name me a state where they manage Mule Deer on a 3-point minimum! Due to this management decision, you have practically eliminated the genetics that produce eye guards. In Douglas County, I can show you 30+ two points almost any day of the week, in a matter of hours. I can also show you 2-points pushing 30" that do the majority of the breeding. I have hunted the Winthrop area since 1981, and back then there were more hunters than today, and we would still see 150+ deer everyday, without getting out of the truck. The local wildlife biologist has stated there are as many mule deer today as ever.....people just have to get out in the woods. Really? Just another symptom of the problem, too many biologists who are desk jockeys and need to get outside!

Elk: Spike versus True Spike? Are you kidding me? Absolutely no science behind this decision.....and enforcement will tell you there are many more 1x2 dead elk laying in the Clockum then 1x branch that were killed when it was legal.

The list goes on and on, and if only WDFW would create a citizens panel, made up of people who actually hunted and fished (more than once) as a sounding board for proposed management decisions, they just might win some of us back......

 

[bearpaw]

After spending 20+ years with both the Dept. of Fisheries, then living through the merger with Dept. of Wildlife, I have some very strong feelings / opinions about the current state of affairs and past mistakes. Unfortunately, while I no longer work for WDFW, I continue to see the same mistakes being made, and the continuing saga of poor management decisions. Merger was by far the worse decision made in the history of both agencies (IMHO). They took two agencies, that by most accounts were solvent, and made them into one agency with a huge target on it's back. The move was supposedly made to save money.....obviously that didn't pan out. Wildlife was by and large a fee agency, basically in control of it's own dollars and made decisions that helped the folks that payed the bills.....us! Sure, not all decisions were scientifically sound (Chambers Creek Steelhead), but until mass marking came along, we all caught a bunch more fish! Fisheries existed on both fee and general fund dollars, but prior to 1994, general fund dollars were not spread as thin, and a larger piece of the pie was set aside for all of natural resources. Today, due to population growth and the bleeding heart liberals, all of natural resources get less than 1% of the general fund.

So....on to suggestions for Director Susewind:

Change policies so that every new regulation is reviewed by enforcement BEFORE putting them into effect. If you bother to ask enforcement as a whole, they will tell you that there are many regulations that are simply not enforceable.

Management....so top heavy the whole ship is about to tip over! Just because a large part of outside funding is federal and linked to ESA, it doesn't mean you have to hire more WMS3 positions to oversee these activities.

Science: Former Director Bern Shanks wasn't perfect, but the smartest thing he ever said was "we will be making all of our management decisions based on the best available science". I'm really not sure you could point to any decisions made in the last 10 years that followed this protocol. Management decisions today are made based on money, and who are we going to piss off, and how not to get sued. The only sure way to defend a decision, in fish & wildlife management, is science.

Harvest: Stop commercially harvesting all fish, unless it is a terminal area (lower Columbia SAFE program). WDFW allowed commercial harvest of Herring to go basically unchecked, until several stocks became ESA listed. You can't expect Puget Sound Salmon and Steelhead to recover if there isn't any FOOD!! Ask anyone who has fished Puget Sound for the last 20 years; you simply don't see the bait like we used to. The new plan to produce 10 million more salmon (for Orca Recovery) won't do much good if there isn't anything for them to eat.

Mule Deer: Someone please name me a state where they manage Mule Deer on a 3-point minimum! Due to this management decision, you have practically eliminated the genetics that produce eye guards. In Douglas County, I can show you 30+ two points almost any day of the week, in a matter of hours. I can also show you 2-points pushing 30" that do the majority of the breeding. I have hunted the Winthrop area since 1981, and back then there were more hunters than today, and we would still see 150+ deer everyday, without getting out of the truck. The local wildlife biologist has stated there are as many mule deer today as ever.....people just have to get out in the woods. Really? Just another symptom of the problem, too many biologists who are desk jockeys and need to get outside!

Elk: Spike versus True Spike? Are you kidding me? Absolutely no science behind this decision.....and enforcement will tell you there are many more 1x2 dead elk laying in the Clockum then 1x branch that were killed when it was legal.

The list goes on and on, and if only WDFW would create a citizens panel, made up of people who actually hunted and fished (more than once) as a sounding board for proposed management decisions, they just might win some of us back......

Mule Deer
If there was no point restriction on mule deer I'm afraid we wouldn't have many breeders with any number of points in the NE. Perhaps it should be a 4 point rule or draw rather than 3 point in some units like Douglas County? Maybe it should be two point only for a couple years. We had 2 point only in part of Idaho for several years and the big bucks really flourished. Some people will say draw would be better, but it's amazing how many hunters I talk to from states with draws that wish they had over the counter tags like states in the pacific northwest. Additionally, if youth have to draw we won't be recruiting many hunters.

[vandeman17]

I would be all for seasons, permits or whatever for 2 point mule deer in certain areas.

[Dhoey07]

After spending 20+ years with both the Dept. of Fisheries, then living through the merger with Dept. of Wildlife, I have some very strong feelings / opinions about the current state of affairs and past mistakes. Unfortunately, while I no longer work for WDFW, I continue to see the same mistakes being made, and the continuing saga of poor management decisions. Merger was by far the worse decision made in the history of both agencies (IMHO). They took two agencies, that by most accounts were solvent, and made them into one agency with a huge target on it's back. The move was supposedly made to save money.....obviously that didn't pan out. Wildlife was by and large a fee agency, basically in control of it's own dollars and made decisions that helped the folks that payed the bills.....us! Sure, not all decisions were scientifically sound (Chambers Creek Steelhead), but until mass marking came along, we all caught a bunch more fish! Fisheries existed on both fee and general fund dollars, but prior to 1994, general fund dollars were not spread as thin, and a larger piece of the pie was set aside for all of natural resources. Today, due to population growth and the bleeding heart liberals, all of natural resources get less than 1% of the general fund.

So....on to suggestions for Director Susewind:

Change policies so that every new regulation is reviewed by enforcement BEFORE putting them into effect. If you bother to ask enforcement as a whole, they will tell you that there are many regulations that are simply not enforceable.

Management....so top heavy the whole ship is about to tip over! Just because a large part of outside funding is federal and linked to ESA, it doesn't mean you have to hire more WMS3 positions to oversee these activities.

Science: Former Director Bern Shanks wasn't perfect, but the smartest thing he ever said was "we will be making all of our management decisions based on the best available science". I'm really not sure you could point to any decisions made in the last 10 years that followed this protocol. Management decisions today are made based on money, and who are we going to piss off, and how not to get sued. The only sure way to defend a decision, in fish & wildlife management, is science.

Harvest: Stop commercially harvesting all fish, unless it is a terminal area (lower Columbia SAFE program). WDFW allowed commercial harvest of Herring to go basically unchecked, until several stocks became ESA listed. You can't expect Puget Sound Salmon and Steelhead to recover if there isn't any FOOD!! Ask anyone who has fished Puget Sound for the last 20 years; you simply don't see the bait like we used to. The new plan to produce 10 million more salmon (for Orca Recovery) won't do much good if there isn't anything for them to eat.

Mule Deer: Someone please name me a state where they manage Mule Deer on a 3-point minimum! Due to this management decision, you have practically eliminated the genetics that produce eye guards. In Douglas County, I can show you 30+ two points almost any day of the week, in a matter of hours. I can also show you 2-points pushing 30" that do the majority of the breeding. I have hunted the Winthrop area since 1981, and back then there were more hunters than today, and we would still see 150+ deer everyday, without getting out of the truck. The local wildlife biologist has stated there are as many mule deer today as ever.....people just have to get out in the woods. Really? Just another symptom of the problem, too many biologists who are desk jockeys and need to get outside!

Elk: Spike versus True Spike? Are you kidding me? Absolutely no science behind this decision.....and enforcement will tell you there are many more 1x2 dead elk laying in the Clockum then 1x branch that were killed when it was legal.

The list goes on and on, and if only WDFW would create a citizens panel, made up of people who actually hunted and fished (more than once) as a sounding board for proposed management decisions, they just might win some of us back......

Mule Deer
If there was no point restriction on mule deer I'm afraid we wouldn't have many breeders with any number of points in the NE. Perhaps it should be a 4 point rule or draw rather than 3 point in some units like Douglas County? Maybe it should be two point only for a couple years. We had 2 point only in part of Idaho for several years and the big bucks really flourished. Some people will say draw would be better, but it's amazing how many hunters I talk to from states with draws that wish they had over the counter tags like states in the pacific northwest. Additionally, if youth have to draw we won't be recruiting many hunters.

I hunted elk in a unit that was OTC for 2 points only and Draw for Any Buck.  I saw some absolute mashers in that unit. .....

[bigmacc]

After spending 20+ years with both the Dept. of Fisheries, then living through the merger with Dept. of Wildlife, I have some very strong feelings / opinions about the current state of affairs and past mistakes. Unfortunately, while I no longer work for WDFW, I continue to see the same mistakes being made, and the continuing saga of poor management decisions. Merger was by far the worse decision made in the history of both agencies (IMHO). They took two agencies, that by most accounts were solvent, and made them into one agency with a huge target on it's back. The move was supposedly made to save money.....obviously that didn't pan out. Wildlife was by and large a fee agency, basically in control of it's own dollars and made decisions that helped the folks that payed the bills.....us! Sure, not all decisions were scientifically sound (Chambers Creek Steelhead), but until mass marking came along, we all caught a bunch more fish! Fisheries existed on both fee and general fund dollars, but prior to 1994, general fund dollars were not spread as thin, and a larger piece of the pie was set aside for all of natural resources. Today, due to population growth and the bleeding heart liberals, all of natural resources get less than 1% of the general fund.

So....on to suggestions for Director Susewind:

Change policies so that every new regulation is reviewed by enforcement BEFORE putting them into effect. If you bother to ask enforcement as a whole, they will tell you that there are many regulations that are simply not enforceable.

Management....so top heavy the whole ship is about to tip over! Just because a large part of outside funding is federal and linked to ESA, it doesn't mean you have to hire more WMS3 positions to oversee these activities.

Science: Former Director Bern Shanks wasn't perfect, but the smartest thing he ever said was "we will be making all of our management decisions based on the best available science". I'm really not sure you could point to any decisions made in the last 10 years that followed this protocol. Management decisions today are made based on money, and who are we going to piss off, and how not to get sued. The only sure way to defend a decision, in fish & wildlife management, is science.

Harvest: Stop commercially harvesting all fish, unless it is a terminal area (lower Columbia SAFE program). WDFW allowed commercial harvest of Herring to go basically unchecked, until several stocks became ESA listed. You can't expect Puget Sound Salmon and Steelhead to recover if there isn't any FOOD!! Ask anyone who has fished Puget Sound for the last 20 years; you simply don't see the bait like we used to. The new plan to produce 10 million more salmon (for Orca Recovery) won't do much good if there isn't anything for them to eat.

Mule Deer: Someone please name me a state where they manage Mule Deer on a 3-point minimum! Due to this management decision, you have practically eliminated the genetics that produce eye guards. In Douglas County, I can show you 30+ two points almost any day of the week, in a matter of hours. I can also show you 2-points pushing 30" that do the majority of the breeding. I have hunted the Winthrop area since 1981, and back then there were more hunters than today, and we would still see 150+ deer everyday, without getting out of the truck. The local wildlife biologist has stated there are as many mule deer today as ever.....people just have to get out in the woods. Really? Just another symptom of the problem, too many biologists who are desk jockeys and need to get outside!

Elk: Spike versus True Spike? Are you kidding me? Absolutely no science behind this decision.....and enforcement will tell you there are many more 1x2 dead elk laying in the Clockum then 1x branch that were killed when it was legal.

The list goes on and on, and if only WDFW would create a citizens panel, made up of people who actually hunted and fished (more than once) as a sounding board for proposed management decisions, they just might win some of us back......

  .....I still stay in touch with 3 folks who worked for the pre 94 Game dept and they all pretty much mimic your post word for word, especially about WDFW becoming way to top heavy and the new breed of bios that are booksmart but have no clue whats going on in the real world of our wildlife especially the ungulates, in fact one of them says these new bios "don't like to get their boots dirty" and he's not joking when he says it. !00% agree with your Winthrop area Mule deer observations, my family has hunted the Methow since 1917 and I have told many stories on here including pictures about the hay day of that herd and how it is now a mere shadow of what it once was and is continuing its tailspin. I remember as you do seeing 100,s in a days worth of roaming the hill over there as a kid in the 60,s and 70,s during hunting season, I counted over 200 come up a draw I was watching during a migration that had no animals with an antler, not even a spike all does and fawns, then 5 days later sitting on the same draw we counted 4 different groups of 30 or more head come up throughout the day with around 50 bucks(mostly 2points, 3points and some smaller 4,s) total mixed into the 4 groups and we let them all walk because we knew the big fellas would be coming through in the next couple days. I have litteraly 100,s of these kind of memories and 1000,s of pictures of this once thriving herd. Its just a shame what the mis-management along with the coddling of predators which includes the introduction of a new predator has done to this herd....Great post Fishmaker57.

[Mudman]

No suggestions here.  Its a waste of time.  Fix the system first, please?

[JimmyHoffa]

The WDFW booth at the county fair was real big on predators--cats and bears, with just a little bit on other species (including fish).    Almost like they want to be like park-type agency.

[fireweed]

Focus heavily on improving hunting access.  It is so critical to retention, recruitment and the future of hunting it should be the highest priority program in WDFW. 

Some specifics:
1. Get rid of the hunt by permission scam...and any loopholes that allow people to enroll in programs that don't actually give average sportsmen much benefit.     
2. Substantially increase funding to pay for access agreements.  Prioritize long term agreements to large land tracts.
3. Incentivize landowners to provide access...tax breaks, habitat work, patrols, maybe even limited numbers of tags.
4.  Setup a committee of sportsmen to prioritize how access funding is spent.

Frankly, if wdfw said they needed 30 million to open up all the private western wa timberlands and a bunch of other areas in this state, I'd drive to Olympia to advocate on their behalf.  30 million to pay a bunch of wolf facilitators, management positions etc...they can pound sand.

I agree with the access focus.  There are so many things that could be done to improve access, starting with a look at the tax breaks that industrial timberland gets.  They should not get the full property tax shift (paid for by neighbors) if they charge for non-motorized access.  Several other states do this, but our state won't even look into it because they are scared of big timber.
2. No damage tags (including bear) unless the land is open for free during regular hunting seasons.
3. The WDFW needs to work with the DNR on access.  Many old roads have DNR easements on them that were put there to access state land, and now those DNR sections are illegally locked behind some timber baron's gate, with a fee for entry.  All anyone really needs to do is dig a little, and find that many of these "landlocked" state lands already have state access easements that the DNR can transfer to the WDFW.

4) KISS  Keep it simple, Stupid. 

the effort last year to make the fishing regs easier made them even more complicated.
We need a BS degree in regulations just to figure out how to fish our rivers anymore.  No newbie will ever take up hunting or fishing without someone walking them through this regulation quagmire.   Many of the rules just make violators out of honest people, and others are simply unenforceable.  With all the DNA and new technology, some of the tag/transport rules could be made obsolete.

[satchel3006]

How about a squirrel season? I see squirrels everywhere in the forest yet we can’t hunt them due to the eastern (I think) grey squirrel being protected? That would aid in hunter recruitment for kids and such. I also agree for a year round rabbit season. Rifles for fall turkeys?

[lokidog]

How about a squirrel season? I see squirrels everywhere in the forest yet we can’t hunt them due to the eastern (I think) grey squirrel being protected? That would aid in hunter recruitment for kids and such. I also agree for a year round rabbit season. Rifles for fall turkeys?

Hunting is allowed for Eastern Gray squirrels and  Eastern Fox squirrels.  The Western Grays and all of the little pine/douglas squirrels are
protected.

[satchel3006]

But there’s really no mention of that except under the unclassified wildlife. But it effectively doesn’t matter since at least to my eyes and eastern and western gray squirrel look exactly the same. An actual established season would be much better imo

[bobcat]

Western Grey Squirrels are listed as an endangered species. There's no way they'd have a hunting season on them.

[Bob33]

Western Grey Squirrels are listed as an endangered species. There's no way they'd have a hunting season on them.

"Threatened."

http://app.leg.wa.gov/wac/default.aspx?cite=220-200-100

[bobcat]

Western Grey Squirrels are listed as an endangered species. There's no way they'd have a hunting season on them.

"Threatened."

http://app.leg.wa.gov/wac/default.aspx?cite=220-200-100

Oh okay, just going by memory, but the effect is still the same. No hunting season.