Undercutting Commission System Unwise

Last fall, organized Washington sportsmen spearheaded passage of Referendum 45 to help reduce political tinkering in fish and wildlife management.

On Wednesday, the state Senate Natural Resources Committee gut-shot the spirit of the measure.

R-45 restored the authority of the nine-member Fish and Wildlife Commission to set policy for the Fish and Wildlife Department and hire its director.

The legislators, however, apparently have refused to approve Gov. Mike Lowry’s appointments of former Congresswoman Jolene Unsoeld and former National Parks Service superintendent Roger Contor to the commission.

Rep. Bob Morton, R-Orient, said he voted against approval in order to give the next governor a chance to appoint “his or her own team.”

The qualifications of Unsoeld and Contor weren’t in question. Morton confirmed he voted against the nominations simply to allow the chief executive elected in November to stack the commission with a total of SIX appointments in the first year of his or her term.

The commission system is designed to prevent any one governor from having a sudden, sweeping impact on fish and wildlife policy. A governor normally would be allowed to appoint three commissioners every other year.

By not approving the Lowry appointments, the senators are preventing the commission from replacing Fish and Wildlife Department director Bob Turner, for whom there is little love among sportsmen or agency personnel.

No qualified candidate of sound mind would take the job knowing that a new governor could orchestrate his expulsion in less than a year.

“Jolene Unsoeld has strong recommendations for commissioner and not a single person testified against her,” said committee chairwoman Kathleen Drew, D-Issaquah.

“There was some discussion of Roger Contor because of steelhead regulations he supported, but I don’t think we should be making decisions on commissioners based on one regulation.”

Drew voted to approve both nominees.

But the Fish and Wildlife Department remains in limbo unless fish and wildlife enthusiasts can convince Morton and other committee members to allow the nominations to go to the Senate floor.

Morton points out that Lowry has had a chance to appoint six commissioners during his term. But if legislators would quit meddling, the commission has a record of being less politically motivated than a governor, regardless of party affiliation.

Remember, R-45 was adamantly opposed by Gov. Lowry, but supported by the Fish and Wildlife Commission, many of whose members Lowry had appointed.

Swan song: The city of Reardan has staked out softball and soccer fields that would require filling portions of a wetland known as Reardan slough adjacent to Highway 231.

For decades, the slough has been a stopover for Canada geese, tundra swans and a long list of waterfowl species.

Squeaky wheels: Numerous changes in area fishing regulations will go into effect March 15 based on comments delivered to the Washington Fish and Wildlife Department. For example:

Muskegon Lake in Pend Oreille County will become a “selective fishery” with a restricted trout limit; bait and barbed hooks prohibited.

Only juvenile and handicapped anglers will be allowed to fish at Bear Lake in Spokane County.

The waterfowl protection area closed to fishing at the southwest end of Sprague Lake has been reduced.

Also, beginning this fall, Clear Lake in Spokane County will rejoin the trout lakes that close Oct. 31 and open on the last Saturday in April.

Only two public comments were recorded suggesting an end to Clear’s year-round season, Wildlife Department officials said.

One of the comments came from Al and Dottie Johnson, owners of Rainbow Cove Resort.

“There’s very little public access, and we’re the only place the public can get out on a dock in the winter,” Dottie said. “But we have no bathrooms to offer people, and we’re concerned about liability, since we can’t always be here in winter.”

Grizzly trial: Edward H. Smith, 18, of Colville, has been charged with the first grizzly bear poaching case in Stevens County.

A preliminary district court hearing is scheduled in Colville on March 12.

State wildlife officials are sketchy with details, except that the grizzly was killed in September. Smith was 17 at the time, but anyone older than 16 is treated as an adult in a case involving game-law violations.

Wildlife agents put together a case based on a tip, department officials said.

Washed out: Landslides and road washouts are effecting a wide variety of sportsmen.

Snowmobilers can’t complete the Jordan Loop snowmobile tour along the Coeur d’Alene River because of a road washout on Cabin Creek above Berlin Flats Campground.

Trout anglers and turkey hunters will be affected by a road washout on the Tucannon River Road above the W.T. Wooten Wildlife Area headquarters.

You can contact Rich Landers by voice mail at 459-5577, extension 5508.

, DataTimes The following fields overflowed: CREDIT = Rich Landers The Spokesman-Review