We have received word from the Office of the WDFW Commission acknowledging the receipt of our letter. They indicated that Chair Smith will be having some conversations with his Commissioners on the issue in the near future. They will be updating us as things progress. Of course, we will keep you posted as we get information. We have once again sent another letter to Chair Loomis, Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission (NWIFC) highlighting the urgent need for her to open a dialogue to end their objection to having a small, live video feed of these negotiations. Last spring, Chair Loomis wrote in her “Being Frank” article of the Northwest Treaty Tribes magazine “One thing we did was get the ball rolling earlier this year. We began our preliminary meetings in January so tough issues can be addressed more quickly.” What that actually means was the NWIFC and WDFW staff began negotiations to form our rules and regulations in January! This is way ahead of any “PUBLIC NORTH OF FALCON MEETINGS” where the department requests our input! So, what is our input really worth? Additionally, there was no public notification from the department, that we are aware of, publicizing these meetings were taking place! This year, we cannot stand idle and have these same tactics used to undermine the publics role in our fisheries. The department needs to inform us through their public relations announcements when and where any Tribal/WDFW meetings are taking place. Why should the fact that they are holding meetings be secret? It’s unthinkable they bar any public oversight from the proceedings, but to bury that they are even holding meetings is absolutely unacceptable! We encourage you to write to Director Unsworth and the Commission immediately and let them know you fully expect them to publicly post schedules of ALL FISHERY MEETINGS held between the Treaty Tribes and the department staff. The Director can be reached at: jim.unsworth@dfw.wa.gov The Commission Chair, Bradley Smith can be reached at: commission@dfw.wa.gov You should also send a copy of your email letter to the WDFW Public Affairs office at: publicaffairs@dfw.wa.gov For all we know, the Department and the NWIFC may have already begun negotiations. There is no time to wait. You must get active now! KEEP UP THE FIGHT! Thank you for all the continued support.