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Regional Fisheries Enhancement Group
Welcome and thanks for coming today. I see a lot of familiar faces as well as some new ones. Both are necessary for this organization to continue to be successful.
As many of you know, this is the 14th year that Regional Fish Enhancement Groups have been in existence - 14 years since legislation was passed creating local, citizen-led groups charged with restoring and protecting our state's salmon and steelhead resources.
During that time, it is amazing what's been accomplished. Too often we dwell on the rough spots or challenges to our success rather than of celebrating our successes - and there are many!
In the last eight years alone, RFEG's have overseen the completion of nearly 400 fish passage projects, the release of more than 50 million fish, the restoration of 300 miles of river and streams, and the distribution of 340,000 nutrient rich salmon carcasses.
Additionally, RFEG's have collectively completed more than 1,500 other salmon projects including estuary restorations, re-vegetations, surveys, research, and stewardship and education programs.
All of you should be proud of these accomplishments. Very proud, because salmon recovery in all its forms, including fish production projects, is hard, very hard work!
As this work has been carried out, both you as a group and we as your partner agency have changed.
For one thing, RFEG's have grown in number.
We've gone from 12 RFEG groups in 1990 to 14 groups today representing more of the eastern as well as the western parts of our state.
For another, many of our RFEGs are becoming increasingly sophisticated and complex in their organizational structure and in the work they do.
While volunteers are still utilized by RFEG's in significant numbers - there have been over half a million hours volunteered the past eight years alone -, some of you are now responsible for million dollar- plus budgets.
And you are tackling increasingly complex projects that, in some cases, require subcontracting work out to others. That volume of work, that increased complexity requires increased accountability - especially in today's world where funding is becoming increasingly diverse.
These are significant changes in the evolution of RFEG's, and as always, change is questioned by some and embraced by others.
But I think perhaps the most significant evolutionary change occurring is the one we are witnessing now.
And that change is the successful relationships that have been - and continue to be - forged between RFEG's and the lead entities involved in salmon recovery.
RFEG's are increasingly participating in lead entity committees, joining their efforts with the efforts embodied in lead entity strategies.
Indeed, it is my view that we entering a time when those RFEG's seeking to maximize their effectiveness should strive to ensure their work compliments - and is consistent with - those of our lead entities. And that our lead entities embrace and encourage the active participation of the RFEG's in order to maximize the effectiveness of project implementation.
And it is also my view that it is the role of Department of Fish and Wildlife to help the RFEG's and lead entities to be successful in this regard.
There are several reasons why I believe it's important that RFEG's, the lead entities, and the co-managers work together as a team.
First, securing federal and state funding for salmon recovery continues to get tougher. You'll hear more about that later, but as a real time example, my Department currently faces huge challenges on the state level to maintain adequate funding for our mandated programs.
As the newspapers have reported in recent months, the Department of Fish and Wildlife has experienced a legislatively-directed decrease of more than $20 million in general fund-state dollars since 2002. Natural resource agency budgets are now the "decimal dust" of state spending.
At the same time, competition for federal funds is becoming extremely fierce as the federal government grapples with how to adequately fund existing initiatives - and much-needed new ones - against a backdrop of a growing budget deficit.
The bottom line, whether it's on the state or federal level, is that our policymakers in Olympia and Washington, D.C. find themselves faced with expanding demands with little or no new monies. In short, competition for dollars is fierce and sometimes downright nasty.
As such, it is my view that it will become more important than ever for those seeking funding for salmon restoration and protection projects to demonstrate, whenever possible, that their work is part and parcel of the larger salmon recovery initiative that implements comprehensive salmon recovery plans.
That is one reason why I think it is so important that RFEG's, lead entities, tribes and the Department work together as seamlessly as possible. Remember, just because I am not paranoid doesn't mean there aren't those out there looking to exploit those seams.
Second, I think we have entered a new phase with regard to our salmon recovery work.
We have reached a point where our science and the bottom-up infrastructure we have put into place allows us to jointly focus our energies on watershed strategies.
As such, to maximize our effectiveness, it is important that RFEG's and lead entities direct energies to develop and implement priorities for the watershed.
The reason is simple:
To ensure coordination and integration, the lion's share of state and federal dollars are filtered through the Salmon Recovery Funding Board.
And in order to have access to those funds, RFEG projects must compliment the locally-driven priorities of the lead entity strategy.
I know that many of you are doing just this - have been doing this - for some time now.
In South Sound, in Skagit County, in the Nooksack and Hood Canal, and most other areas, the working relationships formed between leads entities and RFEG's, have been tremendously strong and successful.
I know that the RFEG's in these areas - and other areas I haven't mentioned - have been major players in the lead entity process.
I know that RFEG's have played an integral role in prioritizing projects, providing planning and logistical support, and so on.
But I also know that not all is rosy, that we have some rough spots. And it's my intent that the Department works closely with the RFEG's and lead entities to smooth out and work through these differences.
In the months to come, I hope we can build on the relationships we have and strike new ones where we don't.
I have always said the people in this room have something that is essential for salmon recovery - a passion for the work and the local knowledge to get the work implemented.
You, the ones living and working in the watersheds, are in the best position to know what changes need to be implemented to recover salmon in those watersheds. Many of us view this bottom-up watershed approach to craft and implement salmon recovery plans as a national pilot or model for the country. The landscape and bookshelves are littered with top-down models - unsuccessful approaches that have caused budget people to be very skeptical, and to look for other approaches. I think we have that national model right now - and like it or not, you are a critical part of it!
As we endure these tough fiscal times, and as we enter this new phase in salmon recovery, your knowledge and experience will become even more important and more critical to our success.
Thank you.
Advisory Bord Quarterly Meeting
remarks by Dr. Jeff Koenings, WDFW Director
March 6, 2004
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