Editorial So Long
Once again, it’s time to take a quick look back, and a wishful view forward.
Autumn arrives as we send this, the last issue of the year, out the door. Weather is changing, and bait is moving, and the predators along with it.
While this may herald the end of the season in some places, in southern waters, it’s a great beginning, offering plenty to look forward to on the water as this year makes its exit.
Not to tempt the Fates, but I’m looking forward to the next one. It’s past time to put this year in the rearview mirror.
Between a monumental pandemic and all that entails, hurricanes, floods, fires and Americans forgetting we are one nation indivisible, 2020 can’t get the broom soon enough.
Amid the challenges, we have enjoyed some good news, even if it’s only election-year largesse. One of the significant news pieces was the passage of the Great American Outdoors Act, which provides much-needed funding for a variety of initiatives that benefit outdoor recreation. The act really only assures us of the benefits we had due, but at least now those will be ensured in the future, and not up for annual review and/or reallocation.
When the Pebble Mine Project rose from the dead last year, it once again threatened the monumental salmon runs of Bristol Bay, Alaska.
In August, the permitting process was halted when the Corps of Engineers demanded a better mitigation plan for the loss of thousands of acres of wetlands and hundreds of miles of streams.
The Pebble Limited Partnership had 90 days to come up with a revised permit proposal, before the end of November.
Then in September, it came to light that Canadian parent company, Northern Dynasty, had been less than honest with Congress and the Corps permitting process regarding its plans, and amid accusations of influencepeddling with investors, and state and federal officials, its CEO promptly resigned. Maybe this will be the end of it.
Farther south, wild salmon and steelhead runs took a significant body blow.
In September, the Washington Fish and Wildlife Commission voted to increase nontribal gill-netting on the main-stem Columbia River. Four commission members did the right thing, voting for the fish and honoring the ongoing programs to eliminate the impact of gill nets, not only on the target salmon, but also the incidental (dead) bycatch.
The five who voted to expand gill-netting were heard mumbling inanities about more studies needed to determine if gill nets were actually nonselective, indiscriminate killers. Really?
Yeah, really.
Anglers, conservationists and legislators lobbied for the right decision here, to no avail. And from the opposition, the usual arguments, with a familiar ring to them: “They’re trying to put us out of business.”
That’s not the intent. In trying to salvage the remnants of wild salmon and steelhead populations that are rapidly going the way of the buffalo, putting a lethal nonselective gear fishery out of business is simply collateral damage— like bycatch.
So, all in all, maybe 2020 is just another year, full of the good, the bad and the ugly, but with unfamiliar twists. Regardless, thanks for spending it with us, and we look forward to another, perhaps brighter one.
Oh yeah, be sure to vote.
GLENN LAW Editor-in-chief glenn.law@bonniercorp.com