I’ve gotta’ say that the Bureau of Reclamation, DWR and the Water Contractors have to love this spectacle we are making out of ourselves over action by some folks to do what they thought was the right thing for the American River fishery.

While there may be a legitimate complaint with the unilateral action taken, no one that is in favor of saving our fisheries should find fault with the reasons for taking the action. I have talked Dave Ford and there were/are legitimate concerns for the American River steelhead at the low flows We all know that there are some people out there that would “duel to the death” for the right to kill the last fish on the planet. However I’ll have to let the NCCFFF explain why the unilateral action was taken.

I have also talked to Neil Manji, Chief of the Fisheries Branch Dept. of Fish and Game to see what DFG’s take on the closure might be. They are in the process of doing an evaluation of the situation from the fisheries biology standpoint as well as from an enforcement standpoint. As most of us all know DFG enforcement is almost nonexistent due to the lack of Wardens. The bottom line after a long discussion, while there are admittedly some good reasons (Pro’s) for taking the action; the “Cons” may out weigh them. At this time, the Department is “luke warm”, at the most, to the proposed ban and IMHO will likely not support it at the Feb.7th Fish and Game Commission meeting.

As I watch this whole discussion deteriorate into a diatribe about one way of fishing versus another, it is scary as hell! Lost in the vitriol and B.S. is the fact that the real enemy is our own government! The Bureau of Reclamation, the State Department of Water Resources, The Resources Agency and our Governor are the real reasons our fisheries are going to hell in a hand cart, Period!

You all may remember that several years ago the different angling groups/clubs, etc. got together and formed the “Allied Fishing Groups” for the purpose of saving our fisheries from the onslaught of unmitigated development and the every increasing diversions of water from our rivers and Delta. We rallied around the decline of the delta fisheries and the fact that despite disappearing fisheries, the State was pushing the so called South Delta Improvement Process to increase pumping from the Delta. The Allied Fishing Groups sent thousands of e-mails and letters and we got the plan stopped.

Although the Allied Fishing Groups has deteriorated to a somewhat tenuous and fragile association due to lack of resources, Some of us are working on ways to rebuild it back to an effective organization, which if it were such, would hopefully preclude the present kind of unilateral actions.

Back to what I said at the beginning.. In spite of our differences we must keep our eyes on the true enemy. The reason that there are such low flows in the American River right now and the reason we are in this turmoil is because the Bureau of Reclamation allowed too much water to go to the water contractors last year and our state government, the protectors of our “Public Trust Resources” , failed its job by not forcing the BuRec. to keep enough water held back in Folsom to adequately provide for our fisheries This is where our focus needs to be!! Not on each other!! We need to stand together on our fisheries or we can kiss them good by!

Mike