Govenor and ODF&W commission

[Irishrover]

Our new Governor has nominated Bruce Buckmaster from Astoria to fill a vacant position on the ODF&W commission. Buckmaster does have a long background in the fishing industry. He is the former co-owner of Bio-Oregon. He has served on the Columbia River Sea Lion Task Force, the Oregon Hatchery Resource Center Advisory Board, and is past president of the Oregon Department of Fish & Wildlife’s Native Fish Policy Task Force. He is also a board member of Salmon for All, a commercial salmon fishing advocacy group. From their web site "Founded in 1958 as an association of gillnetters, fish buyers, processors, and associated businesses, our mission is “To provide protection and conservation of Columbia River salmon resources.” Prior to serving on the commission Mr. Buckmaster must confirmed by the state senate. He will make a good fit with Commissioner Laura Anderson of Newport who owns and operates Local Ocean Seafoods. She also currently serves as the Executive Director of FISHCRED, a coastwide organization that represents commercial fishing business in Marine Spatial Planning.

 

[rogerdodger]

I see she also re-appointed 2 current board members (Holly Akenson of Enterprise and Michael Finley of Medford) plus replaced a departing board member with Jason Atkinson. Once confirmed this will give the Fish and Wildlife Commission board it's full compliment of 7 members. Maybe working together the board and Gov. can get more funding into ODFW from sources other than just licenses and tags...

 

[jhop111]

So he's pro gill net anti sport angler. That's my opinion

 

[Irishrover]

Holy Akensen and Michael Finley are good choices and have the background for the position. Finley had quite the job as head of Yellowstone Park. Bob Weber an attorney on the commission is a good guy. I've gone to a couple commission meetings and watched him dig into the issues. jhop111 you are correct and should have some level of concern regarding Mr. Buckmaster. Salmon For All, the board he sits on, fought hard to stop SB 830, the bill that was intended to remove gillnets from the mainstream of the Columbia River. It was through their lobbyist that the Youngs Bay exclusionary zone was put into SB830. Our ODF&W system has the task of administering the resources to provide for both sports and commercial. It is a hard task. Sometimes the commission can become prone to protecting the commercial side of things. It's my opinion that we as sportsmen tend to subsidize the commercial side. Case in point would be the $10 Columbia River endorsement fee. That fee is collected from all sports fishermen who fish any waters that flow to the Columbia and 100% of it goes to a fund for the benefit of the commercial gillnet fleet. Buckmaster and Anderson will work hard to protect the commercial interest, that is understandable, I hope there is enough representation for the sports interest to help balance things out.

 

[rogerdodger]

Holy Akensen and Michael Finley are good choices and have the background for the position. Finley had quite the job as head of Yellowstone Park. Bob Weber an attorney on the commission is a good guy. I've gone to a couple commission meetings and watched him dig into the issues. jhop111 you are correct and should have some level of concern regarding Mr. Buckmaster. Salmon For All, the board he sits on, fought hard to stop SB 830, the bill that was intended to remove gillnets from the mainstream of the Columbia River. It was through their lobbyist that the Youngs Bay exclusionary zone was put into SB830. Our ODF&W system has the task of administering the resources to provide for both sports and commercial. It is a hard task. Sometimes the commission can become prone to protecting the commercial side of things. It's my opinion that we as sportsmen tend to subsidize the commercial side. Case in point would be the $10 Columbia River endorsement fee. That fee is collected from all sports fishermen who fish any waters that flow to the Columbia and 100% of it goes to a fund for the benefit of the commercial gillnet fleet. Buckmaster and Anderson will work hard to protect the commercial interest, that is understandable, I hope there is enough representation for the sports interest to help balance things out.

that is great to hear about Holly and Michael, who are both being retained for another 4 year term. not so good on Mr. Buckmaster but it is important for a 7 member board like this to have some balance...there could be real problems if it was stacked with people that all came from the same side of things...

Jason Atkinson is an interesting guy, a state senator from 2001-2013 and the only Republican ever to receive a 100% rating from the Oregon League of Conservation Voters (100% for 2011 but only 24% rating for 2009))...and described as "An avid fly fisherman, he has sided with conservationists on restoration of the Klamath River and has talked about wanting to be a good steward of the land" but also "a supporter of the natural resource industries and like many Republicans has complained about environmental over-regulation."

http://blog.oregonlive.com/mapesonpolitics/2011/10/sen_jason_atkinson_is_first_or.html

 

[Irishrover]

Now here comes my syndical side, I'm chuckling as I type. Governor Brown will stand for re-election in 2016, so she puts Atkinson on the ODF&W commission to sort of put him on ice as he could be a viable opponent in that election.

This is clipped from the ODF&W Commission web site regarding Holly Akensen "Holly Akenson has been a wildlife biologist and educator, primarily working in rural areas of Eastern Oregon and Idaho. She received her M.S. in Wildlife Resources from University of Idaho and B.S. in Biology and B.S. in Education from Eastern Oregon University. Most recently she worked for Wallowa Resources, providing education and field experiences for youth, university students and the community on stewardship of the natural resources of Wallowa County. Prior to that Holly taught field programs for University of Idaho students and conducted research and monitoring on wolves, cougars, bighorn sheep, bald eagles, and Oregon’s nongame Conservation Strategy Species for ODFW, IDF&G, and the Forest Service. She is a certified Wildlife Biologist. Holly currently works as a wildlife consultant and with her husband Jim, manages their tree farm. She serves on a local board promoting logging history. Holly is an avid archery and rifle big game hunter, angler, and wildlife photographer. She enjoys riding mules and taking a pack string into the mountains" Not a bad resume.

Now remember Theodore Roosevelt was a Republican and he was the guy who really got the conservation thing going. He even hung out with John Muir down at Yosemite.

 

[rogerdodger]

Now here comes my syndical side, I'm chuckling as I type. Governor Brown will stand for re-election in 2016, so she puts Atkinson on the ODF&W commission to sort of put him on ice as he could be a viable opponent in that election.

This is clipped from the ODF&W Commission web site regarding Holly Akensen "Holly Akenson has been a wildlife biologist and educator, primarily working in rural areas of Eastern Oregon and Idaho. She received her M.S. in Wildlife Resources from University of Idaho and B.S. in Biology and B.S. in Education from Eastern Oregon University. Most recently she worked for Wallowa Resources, providing education and field experiences for youth, university students and the community on stewardship of the natural resources of Wallowa County. Prior to that Holly taught field programs for University of Idaho students and conducted research and monitoring on wolves, cougars, bighorn sheep, bald eagles, and Oregon’s nongame Conservation Strategy Species for ODFW, IDF&G, and the Forest Service. She is a certified Wildlife Biologist. Holly currently works as a wildlife consultant and with her husband Jim, manages their tree farm. She serves on a local board promoting logging history. Holly is an avid archery and rifle big game hunter, angler, and wildlife photographer. She enjoys riding mules and taking a pack string into the mountains" Not a bad resume.

Now remember Theodore Roosevelt was a Republican and he was the guy who really got the conservation thing going. He even hung out with John Muir down at Yosemite.

as I recall, Nixon created the EPA through an executive order....

 

[jhop111]

"*it is important for a 7 member board like this to have some balance...there could be real problems if it was stacked with people that all came from the same side of things..."
That's true in theory and also like "just an opinion man". If a balanced board got us to where we're at...Seeing the declines in returns along with increased fees, angler pressure, and decreased angler opportunities makes me wonder if having a pro sport fishery board would be a nice change.
I debated even replying as I'm not eloquent or political. I wont Google up stats to support my opinions. I'm an angler and have commonsense. I hope for better opportunity for all anglers and I don't believe that man will do that for us.

 

[rogerdodger]

...Seeing the declines in returns along with increased fees, angler pressure, and decreased angler opportunities makes me wonder if having a pro sport fishery board would be a nice change.

as you correctly stated, we all have a viewpoint and opinion that is influenced by location and priorities; since returning in 2010, I have seen increased runs, increased fishing opportunities (ref: wild coho), no change in cost (license and tags have been the same since 2010), the increased anglers in our area I attribute to improved economy and better runs..., and I am a huge fan of the CMP. I am very hopeful that we will soon see a perm. 5 wild coho per year limit without catch location restriction (that is gated by NOAA, not our commission). I like seeing more rivers with limited wild steelhead 3/1 retention rules and I hope the new springer runs take hold in the Yaquina and Coos Bay locations....

as for a 'stacked' board, what I would consider really bad is a bunch of 'watch the fish' folks on there with an agenda of expanding marine reserves and totally closing fishing on rivers or going overboard expanding C&R restrictions....or if the majority on the board were of the "harvest all the fish" commercial side of things...

what worries me is the warm water blob OFF the NW coast and the lack of crab being caught so far this year....I hope we don't look back on 2010-2015 as the 'good old days'...

 

[Irishrover]

What ever the makeup of the board turns out to be, it's important that they hear from the sportsman. It doesn't necessarily need to be an adversarial exchange, but when enough voices are heard sometimes good things happen. It really is a political process complicated because ODF&W is only part of the picture. As Roger mentions NOAA, the Feds, play an important role in our fisheries. It was a federal decision that cut our bottom (rockfish) limits this season. ODF&W at the state level were the ones left holding the enforcement piece. The Buckmaster appointment to me is not a good one because it will polarize folks and create unneeded strife. Mr. Buckmaster as a registered lobbyist for the gillnetters and as a board member of Salmon for all, filled a law suite to overturn SB830. They lost that case at the Appeals Court level. If they had won the gillnets would have remained in the Columbia River. It seems to me that Governors staff listened to the wrong folks and did not vet Mr. Buckmaster. On Wednesday April 29th at 3pm in Salem at the state library the Costal Conservation Association, NW Steelheaders Association, and the Northwest Sports Industry Association are having a rally to oppose this nomination. I'll be down there to support their point of view. This is what retired guys do when they are not fishing.

 

[rogerdodger]

On Wednesday April 29th at 3pm in Salem at the state library the Coastal Conservation Association, NW Steelheaders Association, and the Northwest Sports Industry Association are having a rally to oppose this nomination. I'll be down there to support their point of view. This is what retired guys do when they are not fishing.

excellent, I have seen some good stuff on the CCA...and I have sent the Gov. my suggestion that she reconsider whether Mr. Buckmaster is really a good choice for the commission...cheers, roger

 

[Irishrover]

excellent, I have seen some good stuff on the CCA...and I have sent the Gov. my suggestion that she reconsider whether Mr. Buckmaster is really a good choice for the commission...cheers, roger

Way to go. I've done the same.

 

[jhop111]

more facts

more facts

It would appear that public opinion may be ignored. I fish state wide from the Pacific to the snake and log 100 plus days a year on water. My experience and not opinion is that what I stated is true. We sport fishers get less and pay more. Perfect examples are expanding and contracting deadlines. Columbia River endorsement fees ,county parking fees ,increased registration fees on boats harvest windows, quotas, over and under stocking lakes like green peter crescent and Suttle, using salmon plate funds for general salary and not fish production, a soon to be ocean fee with a general increase for all including elderly and vets. Since 2010 we've had dwindling winter and summer and springer runs on many rivers. The last couple years coho and fall chinook have been strong thankfully. Open a sample size beyond the siuslaw and umpqua. You'll never see a 5 coho limit on all rivers that lasts if even considered. Several years ago they were almost non existent and can be again. Coho are literally the bluegill of the ocean and anyone with a pink blue fox can hit 5 which makes them subject to over fishing. Heck it was just a few years ago they sold anglers statewide salmon tags then cancelled the entire fall season without refunds. I am keenly aware if I wasn't as invested financially or time wise as some that my opinion may be more hopeful or cavalier with the current circumstances.