COMMUNICATE...Don't Complain

[TubeDude]

[cool][#0000ff]Okay fellow tanglers, I know we all take our potshots at DWR...for management, mismanagement, wierd regulations, etc. But, unless we stand up and make our voices heard we have only ourselves to blame if nothing gets done...or the "wrong" things are done because we didn't get involved.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]The month of June is traditionally when all of the ideas and suggestions from the public...and from DWR biologists...are put into the review hopper and are filtered through the process toward making changes for the following year's proclamation (Fishing Guide). Here is something from the DWR website that you should all read and think about...and then do something about. [/#0000ff]
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Share Your Fishing Ideas with the DWR
[#000000]Please share your ideas no later than June 1[/#000000]
[#000000]Is there a fishing regulation in Utah that you’d like to see change? Or do you have an idea for a new rule?[/#000000]
[#000000]If so, biologists with the Division of Wildlife Resources want to hear from you.[/#000000]
[#000000]The biologists are already working on possible fishing changes for 2010. They need your ideas no later than June 1 to consider them for next year.[/#000000]
[#000000]"2010 is still months away, but our biologists need time to consider your idea and determine how practical and biologically sound it is," says Drew Cushing, warm water sport fisheries coordinator for the DWR.[/#000000]
[#000000]"Please get your ideas to us by June 1."[/#000000]
[#000000]After examining the ideas they receive, biologists will present their final recommendations to the public in September.[/#000000]
[#000000]"We don’t hear from as many individual anglers as we’d like to," Cushing says. "We hope those who don’t belong to a fishing group will share their ideas with us too." [/#000000]
[#000000]Three ways[/#000000]
[#000000]You can share your ideas with the DWR three different ways:[/#000000]
[#000000]- e-mail your ideas to DWRComment@utah.gov [/#000000]
[#000000]- mail your ideas to:[/#000000]
[#000000]Sport Fisheries Coordinator[/#000000]
[#000000]Division of Wildlife Resources[/#000000]
[#000000]Box 146301[/#000000]
[#000000]Salt Lake City, UT 84114-6301[/#000000]
[#000000]- attend your upcoming Regional Advisory Council meeting. You can share your ideas at any of the following meetings:[/#000000]
[#000000]Meeting dates, times and locations are as follows:[/#000000]
[#000000]Southern Region[/#000000]
[#000000]May 12[/#000000]
[#000000]7 p.m.[/#000000]
[#000000]Millard High School [/#000000]
[#000000]200 W. Eagle Ave.[/#000000]
[#000000]Fillmore[/#000000]
[#000000]Southeastern Region[/#000000]
[#000000]May 13[/#000000]
[#000000]6:30 p.m.[/#000000]
[#000000]John Wesley Powell Museum[/#000000]
[#000000]1765 E. Main St.[/#000000]
[#000000]Green River[/#000000]
[#000000]Northeastern Region[/#000000]
[#000000]May 14[/#000000]
[#000000]6:30 p.m.[/#000000]
[#000000]Western Park, Room #1[/#000000]
[#000000]302 E. 200 S.[/#000000]
[#000000]Vernal[/#000000]
[#000000]Central Region[/#000000]
[#000000]May 19[/#000000]
[#000000]6:30 p.m.[/#000000]
[#000000]Central Region Conference Center[/#000000]
[#000000]1115 N. Main St.[/#000000]
[#000000]Springville[/#000000]
[#000000]Northern Region[/#000000]
[#000000]May 20[/#000000]
[#000000]6 p.m.[/#000000]
[#000000]Brigham City Community Center[/#000000]
[#000000]24 N. 300 W.[/#000000]
[#000000]Brigham City[/#000000]
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[#000000]Ideas[/#000000]
[#000000]You can see the ideas the biologists are considering at www.wildlife.utah.gov/public_meetings/next.php starting April 27. The following are two highlights:[/#000000]
[#000000]Community fishing waters[/#000000]
[#000000]Improve fishing at Utah’s 39 community fishing waters by reducing the number of fish anglers can keep.[/#000000]
[#000000]Currently, anglers can keep up to four fish at these waters. To improve fishing, community parks and recreation directors and individual anglers have asked the DWR to lower the limit.[/#000000]
[#000000]"These waters receive a lot of fishing pressure," Cushing says. "Most of the fish we stock are caught two or three days after we stock them. Then fishing usually slows down until we can stock the water again."[/#000000]
[#000000]Cushing says lowering the limit would keep fish in these waters for a longer period of time. And that would improve fishing for everyone. "Each time you went out, you’d have a better chance at catching a fish because many of the fish we stocked would still be in the water," he says.[/#000000]
[#000000]Based on suggestions from the directors and from anglers, biologists recommend lowering the daily limit at the community waters to two fish a day. They’re also recommending that largemouth bass be protected under a catch-and-release only regulation.[/#000000]
[#000000]"Largemouth bass don’t spawn until they’re at least eight inches long," Cushing says. "Very few of the bass in these waters ever make it to that length without being caught.[/#000000]
[#000000]"The community waters that have bass also have bluegill. We need the bass to keep the bluegill populations under control. If the bluegill populations get too large, the bluegill won’t reach a size that most anglers want to catch."[/#000000]
[#000000]Changes at Kolob Reservoir[/#000000]
[#000000]Some anglers who fish at Kolob Reservoir in southwestern Utah have asked the DWR to consider changing the trout limit at the reservoir.[/#000000]
[#000000]They hope the change will bring more families and children to the reservoir to fish.[/#000000]
[#000000]Under the current rules, anglers may fish at Kolob with artificial flies and lures only. They can keep only one trout, and that trout must be at least 18 inches long.[/#000000]
[#000000]After a cabin owner near the reservoir circulated a petition last fall, the Wildlife Advisory Council in southwestern Utah asked the DWR to assemble an advisory committee to suggest various options.[/#000000]
[#000000]"This committee worked really hard, and we appreciate their efforts," says Roger Wilson, cold water sport fisheries coordinator for the DWR.[/#000000]
[#000000]"The committee has come up with a compromise. Their goal is to maintain quality fishing at the reservoir while giving kids a better chance to catch and keep fish."[/#000000]
[#000000]Starting in 2010, the committee recommends that the trout limit be increased to two trout. Any trout kept would have to be less than 15 inches or over 22 inches in length. All trout between 15 and 22 inches would have to be released.[/#000000]
[#000000]Anglers would also be required to use artificial flies or lures from early September through late May of the following year.[/#000000]
[#000000]From late May until early September, anglers would be allowed to use bait.[/#000000]
[#000000]Wilson says the committee is recommending the new rules on a three-year trial basis.[/#000000]
[#000000]For more information, call the nearest Division of Wildlife Resources office or the DWR’s Salt Lake City office at (801) 538-4700.[/#000000]
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[Weekend_Warrior]

Great suggestions TD!! I have been in contact with the Biologists almost weekly now and have learned a lot! Everyone else needs to do the same so they have some grounds to gripe on here too!! []
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[doggonefishin]

[#000000]RE:
"Starting in 2010, the committee recommends that the trout limit be increased to two trout. Any trout kept would have to be less than 15 inches or over 22 inches in length. All trout between 15 and 22 inches would have to be released.[/#000000]
[#000000]Anglers would also be required to use artificial flies or lures from early September through late May of the following year.[/#000000]
[#000000]From late May until early September, anglers would be allowed to use bait."

What do you Southern anglers think of this? When I lived down South, I'd hit Kolob once a year or so and thought it was a nice fishery as it was. I haven't fished it though for about 6 years. Is this a sell out to the locals? Or will the new regs maintain the "quality" fishery that it was?


Sounds like the proposed community fishery regs are spot on for what is needed. Good work there.
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[TubeDude]

[cool][#0000ff]Kolob is not on my "regular" list, and I don't pretend to know all that has gone into considering a regulation change. What I suspect is that DWR is trying to establish a compromise of sorts, between trophy trout anglers and the local contingent who still consider the lake to be a "family heritage"...where they can take the family for some good old fashioned bait chuckin'.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]I suspect that the serious anglers...fishing artificials...will still catch the majority of he larger fish...and then release them. But, the family anglers will be plenty happy with some smaller fish to keep the kids happy and provide a meal or two. [/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]From reports I have reviewed over the past few years, there are a lot of the "locals" who continue to fish with bait anyway. Amending the regulations will take some of the pressure off the COs in the area and make for better community relations among local anglers. [/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]They have recommended a 3 year study. I am sure they will be watching to see what affects the new regs have on angler hours, overall harvest, fish sizes, etc. The bottom line is that DWR wants the angling public to have a good experience on the lake, but not to have a put and take fishery that is cleaned out within days of planting...like the community ponds.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Actually, by bringing the slot into uniformity with the slots on other lakes...Panguitch, Scofield and Strawberry, for example...it should also make it easier for anglers to remember and understand it.[/#0000ff]
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[fsh4fun05]

I know you have nothing to do with it but it would be practical to have a meeting in SLC, if they want opinions you would think they would have a meeting in the capital of our state where alot of people live. Pat, you've got some swing-make it happen [cool].
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[riverdog]

It does seem strange that they don't have a meeting in SLC or any other city in the top 25 for population in Utah. Given the times and places this ensures most of the population of the state can't make the meetings without taking time out from work. Glad they are spending my fishing fees so well[crazy]. My employees would be fired on the spot if they where remotely that incompetent.
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[TubeDude]

[quote fsh4fun05] I know you have nothing to do with it but it would be practical to have a meeting in SLC, if they want opinions you would think they would have a meeting in the capital of our state where alot of people live. Pat, you've got some swing-make it happen [cool].[/quote]

[cool][#0000ff]I don't know whether to be flattered or offended that you would think I could ever possibly have any affect on DWR policies or procedures. I have already had my experiences at "tilting at windmills" when it comes to influencing Division thinking.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Like many others, I have made the trek south, to Springville, to attend RAC meetings that would have been much better attended if they were conducted in Salt Lake County. And, like many others, I have asked the question "WHY?". The answer I got was much like the one I got when my Yuba perch fishing lobby was shut down. It goes along the lines of "THERE AIN'T NO GOOD REASON FOR IT. IT'S JUST POLICY."[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]I am a big supporter of Utah's DWR. I have a lot of respect for what they accomplish in spite of politics and piddly budgets doled out by the state. I also count several of the biologists and COs as personal friends and confidents. All good people. All working very hard to cover large areas and to accomplish seemingly insurmountable expectations...all for less money than they could be making in other states.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]But, there has always been an "us against them" attitude at the top...with the Salt Lake heirarchy seemingly at odds with all of the personnel out in the field...on the firing lines. Top admin in DWR sometimes seem to have the attitude that it is better to "MAKE NO DECISIONS...RATHER THAN RISK MAKING A BAD DECISION." I know that some of the biologists and COs are frustrated by the lack of support...and the outright barriers they have to butt their heads against in order to get anything done that they feel should be done.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]There is a great big building up on North Temple with adequate theater facilties to hold lots of anglers for RAC meetings. There are also lots of schools and other auditoriums in the Salt Lake area that would work marvelously for holding RAC meetings closer to the biggest base of anglers in the state.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]WHY does DWR not hold RAC meetings in Salt Lake? That is a WHY question. If they really want more attendance and more angler input, WHY don't they make it more "user friendly" for anglers to participate?[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]I developed an original philosophy many years ago. It goes "ANY QUESTION THAT BEGINS WITH THE WORD 'WHY'...AND IT HAS TO DO WITH PEOPLE...IS NOT LIKELY TO HAVE A GOOD ANSWER."[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Thankfully, we can see some changes in the overall attitudes. More input is being accepted from outside and more potential solutions are being discussed and implemented. There does seem to be some light at the end of the tunnel...and it is not a train coming from the other direction.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]I applaud their words and their seeming desire to be more proactive. That is why I posted this announcement. I hope it is all because of the right motives...and not just a shameless ploy to sell more licenses.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]CRASH!!!! Just fell off my soapbox.[/#0000ff]
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[PBH]

I honestly feel for you guys. I do. Seriously. I mean, it's ludicrous to think that you might have to drive 45 minutes to get somewhere. I'm with you on this.


I also think we need to have one kind of each fishery within 20 minutes of each household in Utah. Wouldn't that be nice?




OK. So I'm being sarcastic. I'm sorry. The comment just seemed a bit, well, "whiney". If you move the meeting to a different spot, you'll have others complaining about the location. You can't make everyone happy. Someone is going to be getting the short end of the stick. Buck up. If it's important to you, you'll make the meeting even if you have to drive (heaven forbid!) 60 minutes to get there!



(you city folk are spoiled)
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[riverdog]

PBH, It's not that I mine the drive but to make a 6:30 meeting in Springville with the traffic it is going to take me more than an hour. Some of us have day jobs so I would have to take off at least some time to ensure I got there on time. I don't think any meeting has to be in SLC as logical a location as that would seem. However when not a single meeting is held in one of the 25 largest cities in the state I actually doubt it's incompetence as I implied. It is most likely by design. I know we are getting off subject so I am not going to comment on this further. Just curious PBH what you think the rationale of not having a single meeting in any of the 25 largest cities in the state.
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[trollboy8]

How about Sandy or Murray. I could be mistaken, but it seems that these are the most central to the population center of the Wasatch front. Trouble is for the more northern counties (Davis, Weber, etc.). I live in Orem, but I would be more than happy to drive to Sandy, but wouldn't really mind going to Salt Lake or beyond. Maybe they should try having it in Wendover? That might bring out a crowd.
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[PBH]

[quote riverdog]. Just curious PBH what you think the rationale of not having a single meeting in any of the 25 largest cities in the state.[/quote]

I think it has to do with location. Look at Beaver for the southern RAC. Sure, St. George might be the largest city in the south, but how many people from Panguitch, Richfield, or Fillmore are going to make the trek to St. George for a 6:30 RAC meeting? They're in the same boat as you. If it's important to you, you'll make it or find another way to communicate your thoughts \ ideas.

I really think your "top 25 biggest cities" comment is funny. Look at some of those cities. How many of those top 25 are in the Central Region? Further, where is the Central Region offices located? Oh, that's right, Springville. Doesn't that make sense?



Look -- this discussion is really taking away from what is important. Attending RAC meetings is important. Not everyone can attend the meetings, but that doesn't mean that your voice cannot be heard. If you cannot make it to the meeting due to work conflicts, or travel distance, all you need to do is either send some emails or make some phone calls to the RAC representatives for your area.
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