Western Wildlife Law Enforcement Association annual meeting -
"Building Partnerships Through Resource Oriented Enforcement"

Introductory remarks prepared by Jeffrey Koenings, Ph.D., WDFW Director
June 3, 2002

Good morning. I'm Dr. Jeff Koenings, director of the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife.

I'd like to welcome all of you to Washington state. I'm extremely pleased that our Department, under the direction of Chief Bruce Bjork, is hosting this year's annual Western Wildlife Law Enforcement Association gathering.

Next July, the state of Washington will host the WAFWA annual meeting here in Port Angeles and I expect that at that meeting will be the first meeting of the Enforcement Committee of the Western Association. As next year's President, I will work to see that committee established.

This is familiar territory, as I am the first chair of the Legal Committee of the Western Association and I and Neil Wise of the Attorney General's Office have worked hard to establish that committee and make it a working part of every Western meeting.

I am a firm believer that fish and wildlife enforcement is a key part of fish and wildlife management, and without the full involvement of the Attorney General's office, that effort would be diminished. I have worked hard to keep the enforcement program and the Attorney General's office as full participants in the department's decision making processes.

I bring to the WAFWA that same approach and next year we will have both the legal and the enforcement committees as full partners in the Western Association's business.

I'm especially pleased with the theme you've chosen for this year's meeting - "Building Partnerships Through Resource Oriented Enforcement."

I don't think any of us here today would disagree that the demands placed on fish and wildlife officers, no matter what state they work in, are more challenging today than ever before.

As our society continues to change and become more complex, the profession of a fish and wildlife officer also continues to change and become more complex.

To be sure, officers are still performing all the duties they traditionally have been called upon to perform, duties such as enforcing hunting and fishing regulations, managing human/wildlife conflicts and dealing with various public safety and health issues as they pertain to fish and wildlife.

As an example, during the 1999-2001 biennium, our enforcement officers here in Washington state made over 300,000 public contacts and 28,000 arrests, issued 10,000 written warnings and responded to nearly 6,400 problem wildlife incidents.

All of the traditional activities of your profession are important and essential, and no Fish and Wildlife Department can hope to be successful unless its Enforcement Program is successful in carrying out these types of activities.

But, to borrow the title from that classic Bob Dylan song, "The Times They Are A'changing."

Or, maybe more precisely, the times have changed.

Today, to be truly effective, fish and wildlife enforcement requires far more from officers than the traditional arrest of the obvious bad guys or capturing the troublesome bear or cougar.

Today, to be truly effective, enforcement programs must focus on new, expanded strategies emphasizing partnerships, environmental protection, public education, conflict resolution, voluntary compliance and cooperation; and yes, grass roots empowerment.

This philosophy, which we call Resource Oriented Enforcement, is about many things.

It's about establishing new and expanded partnerships and coalitions that enable us to work as teams that focus on fish and wildlife and their habitats. It's connecting people back to the resource.

It's about establishing an honest, ongoing dialogue with the public to build trust and long term relationships that gives the community a legitimate voice in how to deal with its local fish and wildlife issues.

It's about solving local resource issues by tailoring solutions to specific problems and needs.

Simply stated, it's about doing things with and for people, as opposed to doing things to people.

After all, it is my belief that managing fish and wildlife is more about managing people and their expectations than about managing the critters. It's about people's expectations for fairness and that regulations are based on sound biology or science. And it's about trust–people have to have it and we have to earn it.

Under this new philosophy, catching the individual who overbags or fishes without a license is important.

But working with an entire community to protect an entire watershed to ensure healthy fish and wildlife populations for the future in the end is more important. This is Resource Oriented Enforcement. Both resources are covered–the people, and the critters and their habitats.

Of course, some of our best fish and wildlife officers have always adhered to this philosophy - or tried to adhere to this philosophy.

And I would guess that more than a couple have felt hamstrung in their efforts by their own departments, who felt more comfortable confining their officers' activities to the more traditional ones I have mentioned.

But I think the time has come for all officers to adopt this new philosophy, and that the time has come for fish and wildlife agencies to make sure their officers are given the necessary training and tools to carry out this philosophy. That's also being fair.

Here in Washington, under Chief Bjork and his officers, we have made some solid strides in moving in this direction.

Last year, for example, our Enforcement program consolidated all marine detachments under one division to improve coordination within the department and expand partnerships with tribal, state and federal agencies, including the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS).

This effort has allowed us to successfully pool our resources and conduct joint selective fisheries emphasis patrols with the Oregon State Police, NMFS, the Coast Guard, tribes and Canada Oceans and Fisheries - patrols that have paid off handsomely with increased angler opportunity, and at the same time compliance with fish protection rules. Compliance with selective gear regulations allows fishing to continue on hatchery fish while at the same time wild fish, which are listed under the ESA, are protected.

Also last year, in response to growing Departmental and public concerns over dangerous wildlife issues, the Enforcement Program teamed up with biologists from our Wildlife Management Program and our locally stationed Regional Directors to establish locally based dangerous wildlife task forces.

These task forces have brought together local landowners, environmental groups, hunters and others interested in dangerous wildlife issues to address cougar and bear public safety issues, and work towards crafting specific action plans unique to specific areas of the state.

Two years ago, Enforcement, under the direction of Capt. Mike Bireley, teamed up with our Habitat Program to start the Cooperative Compliance Program in the Walla Walla River Basin in response to other federal listings of steelhead and bull trout under the Endangered Species Act.

This program, which you'll be hearing more about during the conference, is designed to inform and assist landowners and irrigators and help them achieve compliance with current state laws regarding fish passage, the screening of gravity diversions and pump stations, and obtaining permits required by the state hydraulics code for the operation and maintenance of such facilities.

By the end of last fiscal year, over 300 landowners had chosen to participate in the program, identifying 424 non-compliant diversions. Eighty-one site assessments had been completed, and more than $700,000 from the state's Salmon Recovery Funding Board and the Bonneville Power Administration had been approved to provide funding for screen materials and devices. We have also helped establish the federal cooperative compliance legislation which this year funneled $4 million into screening efforts within three states and next year that program is scheduled to increase to $6-8 million. This year, Capt. Bireley received the Governor's "innovative manager award" – an award honoring new ideas and approaches to solve problems.

The point I'm trying to make is that our officers are stepping outside their usual and accustomed roles to create and build new partnerships on a variety of fronts, and they are being recognized for it!

I am also a firm believer that people don't change because of something they read–they change because someone they know and trust tells them it's okay. That someone has to be me and it has to be you.

Now change takes time – time for listening, discussing, acknowledging needs, reaching common ground, exchanging ideas about how to make situations "win-win", and ultimately obtaining cooperation to protect fish and wildlife and their habitats that we all care about.

But I'm confident that this new enforcement model is here to stay. Why?

Because as our human populations continue to grow and demands on fish and wildlife populations also grow, and as state governments continue to downsize and face greater challenges with fewer resources, we will need to continue to search for new ways of doing business that are as inclusive as possible; so that decision making is open and transparent.

Again, welcome to Washington state. It is the Evergreen State and Resource Oriented Enforcement will help keep it that way.

Thank you.

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