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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Commission Has First Meeting Since Getting Expanded Powers

Compiled From Wire Services

The part-time citizen board to which state voters just gave complete control over the state’s fish and wildlife met Saturday to start gearing up for the job ahead.

And a big job it will be, a roomful of citizens told the panel, the state Fish and Wildlife Commission.

Their message to the nine-member commission: Fish and game management should be based not on what interest groups want, but on what is best for the health of fish and wildlife and their habitat.

Many at the meeting, including several commission members, applauded the Nov. 7 passage of Referendum 45, which shifted control of fish and wildlife from the governor to the commission.

Effective July 1, the commission will have the power to appoint the director of the Department of Fish and Wildlife, who in turn will run the department with its 1,800 employees and $199 million annual budget.

The department is now headed by Gov. Mike Lowry-appointee Bob Turner. The commission, for the first time, will have control over commercial and sport “food” fishing as well as of fish treaties with nearly two dozen Indian tribes.