By Bob Brown
With our recent elections keeping a lot of people up half the night, plus the Christmas holidays, weather and football all running together, it is hard to imagine there have been a lot of sportsmen paying attention to what’s been going on in the wildlife department.
One individual who has is state Sen. Kirk Pearson, a Republican from Monroe and chairman of the Senate Natural Resources and Parks Committee. Highly respected by the state’s recreation community, Pearson has been ascribed as their watchdog over the state's Fish and Wildlife Commission, the Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) and its staff.
It was reported in the January issue of The Reel News that what Pearson has been seeing and hearing is a WDFW proposal to increase the cost of hunting and fishing licenses this year and it is not sitting well with him.
According to Pearson, the costs are significant. Overall, recreational and commercial fishing licenses will increase by an average of 30 percent. A recreational license for saltwater salmon, freshwater trout and shellfish license would increase from $55 to $75. Columbia River and Snake River salmon and steelhead will go from $38 to more than $64. Saltwater salmon and sturgeon licenses will increase from $30 to $55.
Hunters will also see on average an increase of 10 percent for their licenses. A migratory bird permit will go from $15 to $25. Deer, elk, bear and cougar big-game hunting licenses will increase from $83 to $93.
All these increased fees amounts are just for Washington residents. For non-residents, the price increases are much higher and will no doubt present problems for the state tourism industry.
According to the WDFW, these costs are expected to help increase productions at hatcheries, such as 700,000 coho at Marblemount and Wallace hatcheries, as well as other projects that seek to enhance Washington’s natural resources and maintain the ongoing operations of the department.
Pearson said he would be holding a public meeting on the department’s proposal to increase license fees. Knowing that most hunters and fishermen can't make the trip to Olympia to testify, Pearson would like to know their opinions on the merits of this proposal, and is asking that all comments be sent directly to him at \kirk.pearson@leg.wa.gov or by postal mail to his Olympia office at P.O. Box 40439, Olympia, WA 98504.
More details about the license proposal are available on Pearson's website at www.senatorkirkpearson.com.
Nothing exciting on the Cowlitz
According to Barrier Dam Campground personnel, except for a few lone-wolf anglers prowling the banks of the Cowlitz River near the dam and Blue Creek, fishing activity has been pretty light. A few bright and dark coho have been caught, plus a few winter steelhead here and there, but nothing to get excited about.
Joe Hymer of the WDFW Vreported that during Jan. 2-8, Cowlitz creel checks counted 14 bank anglers with no catch. No boats were sampled. During that period, Tacoma Power employees recovered 951 coho adults, 28 jacks and seven winter steelhead in four days of operations at the Cowlitz Salmon Hatchery. The employees also released 205 coho adults, seven jacks, one cutthroat trout and five winter steelhead into the Tilton River at Gus Backstrom Park in Morton.
Flows at Mayfield Dam were 9,810 cubic feet per second on Jan. 9, with a visibility of about nine feet and temperature of 42 degrees.
Bob brown lives in Roy and is a freelance outdoors writer. He can be reached at robertb1285@centurylink.net.
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