TVW Coverage - June 21, 2024
TVW Washington's Public Affairs Network
Public Affairs Made Public
The State Democratic Party Convention starts today in Bellevue – TVW will cover parts of the convention starting tonight and throughout the weekend…
The Washington Fish and Wildlife Commission meets all day in Vancouver…
And more…
领英推荐
More from TVW...
Here is what we covered on our produced programs this week.
Inside Olympia: Our three-part series on fish and wildlife management continues this week, as host Austin Jenkins sits down for the full hour with the director of the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW), Kelly Susewind.
Susewind talks about the state of the state’s fisheries, both salt- and freshwater. It depends on the particular run, but fish stocks are generally down from historic levels, especially wild/natural fish, which WDFW is duty bound to manage for. The department has a 10-year fisheries strategic plan that includes co-management with native tribes, which Susewind says is good news for fisheries: “It’s a bit of a forced marriage but it’s working out well in the long run.” Fishing seasons have shortened, and “Any time you’re allocating a scarce resource there’s controversy.”
Regarding wolf management, Susewind says Washington is a model for the nation: “This is an area we should be doing backflips over.” ?Yet, much of the attention is focused on continuing controversy -- and a years-long battle involving WDFW, Governor Inslee, and the Fish and Wildlife Commission over whether wolves should be managed via protocols or rules. Currently, at Inslee’s direction, the commission must develop rules for wolf management – an approach Susewind disagrees with as inflexible, but which the commission must now develop.
Other topics on the table: A recent survey of hunting, fishing, wildlife watching and outdoor recreation in the state; development of a 10-year recreation strategy for WDFW’s million acres of managed lands; spring bear hunting, and cougar hunting; the controversy over a new state conservation policy; what Susewind says is a high level of conflict, and low level of trust, right now between the public and Fish and Wildlife, especially the commission; a thousand-yard buffer around Southern Resident Killer Whales coming in 2025; the controversy over ebikes on trails; following “best available science” in managing fish and wildlife; and more.
?
The Impact: A dam near the town of Centralia is drawing fire from a native tribe and environmental organization, who want it taken out, calling it an insurmountable obstacle for struggling fish runs – but that would upset a water banks agreement, and local officials warn removal of the dam will make flooding worse in Centralia/Chehalis and in the neighboring small town of Bucoda.
For decades a dam on the Skookumchuck River, a tributary of the Chehalis River, provided water for operation of the Transalta coal-fired steam plant outside of Centralia. Today, the steam plant maintains just one coal-fired boiler, and is scheduled to shut down completely in 2025.
The Quinault Indian Nation and the environmental law firm Earthjustice have petitioned Kelly Susewind, director of the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, to demand the Skookumchuck Dam be removed. That would rescind a water banks agreement to use the water behind the dam for other purposes, an agreement recommended for approval in 2021 by another state agency, the Washington Department of Ecology. Local communities want to tap the water for their use, plus they say dam removal would worsen flooding on the already flood-prone Skookumchuck and Chehalis Rivers.
Host Mike McClanahan gets perspectives from both sides of the argument: Earthjustice Senior Attorney Janette Brimmer representing the Quinault Nation; Centralia Public Works Director Kim Ashmore; and Bucoda Town Council Member Steve Lyle.