IFPAG Meeting, Part 1 -- Warmwater Program Update

[Don Wittenberger]

WDFW’s Inland Fisheries Policy Advisory Group (IFPAG) met in Ellensburg on Saturday, Aug. 1, and several topics of interest to tiger muskie anglers were discussed. Due to the length of this report, I've decided to split it into several parts. I'll start with the present and future status of the warmwater program.

As many of you already know, Steve Jackson retired as warmwater manager in March and has been replaced by Brian Edie. Brian probably will be in this job for only a short time, as he’s already eligible to retire, and he told me he doesn’t foresee being in this position 5 years from now.

Before I report on his presentation at Saturday's meeting, I'd like to fill you in on his background. He's been primarily a business services and budget guy at WDFW, and given that background, there's a logical reason why he took over the warmwater job, which will become apparent later in my report.

Brian has a bachelor's degree from U. of California and a master's in fisheries science from U. of Washington. He's worked for the state since 1977. Most of his fish management experience has involved salmon and steelhead in the Columbia River and Washington's coastal waters. He was involved in the commercial fishing boat buyback program. Prior to his present position, he was head of WDFW’s oil spill team.

So, how should we react to his appointment to WDFW's top warmwater job? I would say with cautious optimism. He told us (i.e., IFPAG meeting attendees) that he’s “glad to be back in fish management” because that’s what he trained for, and urged us to not let his salmon-steelhead background “scare you,” because he wants to "make the warmwater program a success.” (Whatever that means. Personally, I don't think it means anything; it's just the standard puffery you get from a new incumbent.) From what I've seen and heard so far, I believe his primary management focus will be on guiding the warmwater program's finances through this biennium (July 1, 2009 – June 30, 2011).

Brian tried to paint a rosy picture of the warmwater program's future. Its current financial difficulties, he said, are temporary; and, he said, despite these difficulties most of the warmwater program "is still there, alive and ticking" and "most of the money and people are [still] there." He said the "budget glitch is a short-term issue" and the "warmwater program is still healthy."

These financial difficulties, he said, are not a result of the recession or legislative budget cuts. He said Warmwater Account revenues from license sales have held steady at about $1.4 million per year for the last 4 or 5 years. The warmwater program does have a financial shortfall at this time, but it resulted from an accounting change.

Although the Warmwater Account's income is stable, the money comes in unevenly at various times of the year, with license sales peaking in spring and falling off during the winter months. Edie said the warmwater program spends about $100,000 a month, and needs $400,000 in the bank at the start of the fiscal year (i.e., as of July 1) to carry it through the low-revenue winter months. In the past, WDFW dealt with this cash flow problem by transferring expenditures from the Warmwater Account to the Wildlife Account and General Fund, where they sat on the books "until the money showed up," then transferring them back to the Warmwater Account.

Edie said although this practice “wasn’t illegal,” the Office of Financial Management (an arm of the Governor’s office that oversees the budgets and spending of all state agencies) didn't like it, and in addition, new people in WDFW’s comptroller position “and a couple of other key budget positions” were "uncomfortable with it" because they felt it was “bad business practice” and “hurt the agency’s reputation.”

Consequently, because the warmwater program couldn't shift its short-term spending to other accounts this year, the warmwater program started the new fiscal year on July 1 with only $100,000 and Edie had to make $300,000 of cuts. This was done by, among other things, “reducing and reconfiguring staff” and through "workload adjustments." However, he insisted the warmwater program's "core functions" were retained. He said eastern Washington staffing hasn't "been affected much;" in western Washington, some warmwater staff have been reassigned from Olympia to regions, in order to "improve outreach." He said there has been "some reduction" of lake surveys, and said diet, tracking, and growth studies "will still happen, but not quite as many" in this biennium. The only stocking to be discontinued (for this biennium only) was channel catfish. He foresees a full restoration of these activities to their former levels after this biennium.

In the question-and-answer session following his presentation, Edie suggested one answer to access issues is by showing local communities that warmwater fisheries "are an economic asset to them," and emphasized the need to "educate communities and government" but said these fisheries "have got to be worth something [economically to them" to get them interested.

I asked him if he was willing to assert the importance of warmwater fisheries, which account for a substantial portion of license sales and have increasingly taken up the slack from declining salmon and steelhead angling opportunities, to higher management and the commissioners. He replied that, being able to retire at any time, he's willing "to take risks" and "defend" warmwater fisheries. That's my kind of guy -- if he follows through on it.

[Anonymous]

Excellent report Don!
You covered so many bases with this report alone. It is curious to know about that glitch in the budgeting monies and how they transferred, albeit, temporarily.
So my question is: if the Warmwater Program started the fiscal year with a budget of only $100,000 on July 1, - where did all the money go from the spring sale of licenses, which were earmarked for Warmwater?
And at what point does that come home to us?

What am I missing?

So glad you go to these IFPAG meetings and report back to us; your input and explanations are very important to all warmwater anglers.

Your time to travel there and back: Donated!
Your gas: $2.85 per gallon (Donated)
Your experience and savvy assessment of reading between the lines (Donated)
Your long-term dedication:

Priceless! :study: =d>