AS THE NEWLY-ELECTED chair of the state House Committee on Rural Development, Agriculture and Natural Resources, State Rep. Mike Chapman effectively controls the purse strings for the state Department of Fish and Wildlife for the next two years.

The Port Angeles Democrat was elected chair earlier this month in advance of the 2021 legislative session, which begins Jan. 11.

It’s a net-positive to have a North Olympic Peninsula lawmaker heading up this committee as Fish and Wildlife continues to rule District 6 from far-flung Montesano and Olympia with little representation, including passing over the well-qualified and knowledgeable application of Sequim’s Dave Croonquist for an open position on the state’s Fish and Wildlife Commission in 2019.

Controversial decisions

Controversial decisions, such as the recent ban on fishing from a floating device on the Quillayute River system, the elimination of winter blackmouth fishing in the Strait of Juan de Fuca and off Port Townsend, the continual lack of recreational angler access to hatchery chinook in the Hood Canal and Skykomish River, all of these topics are worthy of further questioning.

Adding in some funding for more Fish and Wildlife Law Enforcement on the Olympic Peninsula also would be a win. Just six Fish and Wildlife police officers are funded for the entire Peninsula, with only four positions currently staffed in an area bigger than the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

Budget overview

During last Friday’s Fish and Wildlife Commission meeting, department staff shared an overview of the governor’s budget proposals that include strong investments in capital improvement projects to support fish production and habitat restoration.

The proposed state budget also includes resources to prevent spread of aquatic invasive species, increases the department’s ability to provide assistance to landowners that receive hydraulic project approvals and provides gap funding to mitigate shortfalls being felt by other dropping revenue sources that impact the department’s accounts.

Recreational license fees will be used to provide up to $2.5 million toward steelhead spawning surveys, freshwater oversight, a feasibility study to reduce the risk of whale entanglements and work tracking zooplankton, which was first funded as a Southern Resident Killer Whale Task Force recommendation and provides critical insight into the health of Puget Sound.

Not funded in the initial budget proposal is $4.3 million in North of Falcon habitat commitments, which would focus on establishing a current environmental baseline to better measure salmon recovery in watersheds, implement more precise monitoring of freshwater productivity over time and improve fish protection and fish passage compliance.

Legislative POV

Quilcene’s Ward Norden, who lobbied in Olympia for more than 20 years, has his own view of the legislative process.

“I have always maintained that our management of our fisheries has nothing to do with biology and everything to do with politics,” Norden said. “It is all about who has the most influence with the chair of the house committee, money or voters.”

With Chapman in charge, long considered an honest policymaker, maybe the recreational interests on the North Olympic Peninsula can get some attention and some additional funding.

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Sports reporter Michael Carman can be contacted at 360-406-0674 or mcarman@peninsuladailynews.com.