The meeting with WDFW 0n the 26th of Oct was informative and productive. In attendance for WDFW was: Chairman Bradley Smith, WDFW Commission Vice Chair Larry Carpenter Director Jim Unsworth Asst. Dir, Fish Program Ron Warren Asst. Attorney Gen. Mike Grossman Asst. Attorney Gen. Bill Frymire Intergovernmental Salmon Manager Kyle Adicks On our side of the table were: Dave Croonquist Jim (Tug) Tuggle Nello Picinich Greg Larson Perry Menchaca It has always been the intent of our efforts and this petition to bring the citizen back into a fair and equitable place in the ENTIRE fisheries process. A lot of words like “Public Oversight” and “Transparency” have been used to convey that point. The bottom line is, so long as the citizens are not an equal partner in the fisheries management, our system of co-management is not functioning correctly. At the start of our meeting, everyone in the room including both the Chairmen of the WDFW Commission and the Director agreed that having open meetings and open government are vital to our fisheries and an important part of how our government works. These words were echoed by the attorneys that were present. It was encouraging, since we started on common ground. Having the public in those meetings is a good thing, a necessary thing, the right thing! The question is, how to do we get the public back in the meetings? There are some people who advocate for law suits or federal action to try and force the Tribes to agree to open meetings. In reality, that would be a lengthy and costly process both financially and in terms of relationships. After all, by law we are bound to Co-management and to be effective it must be based on trust. For years now, the co-managers have opposed having anyone other those they agree to in the meetings. On the face of this, it sounds obstructionist, however some facts were revealed that lends some insight into the “Why”. In a statement to Alison Morrow of KING 5 News, NWIFC Chair Lorraine Loomis wrote: "The North of Falcon process is part of a longstanding legal obligation for the treaty tribes and state to co-manage fisheries under U.S. v. Washington. NOF involves government-to-government negotiations between treaty tribes and the state regarding how salmon will be managed for the coming year. The State of Washington, through WDFW, represents its citizens in these negotiations. It is the State of Washington's obligation to inform its citizens regarding the outcome of these negotiations. Treaty tribes – as sovereign nations – are not bound by the state's open public meetings laws. For a number of years, tribes agreed to allow some citizen representatives to observe NOF negotiations. That practice ended after the observers publicly mischaracterized tribal and state negotiating positions, further complicating an already challenging process. We look forward to working with our co-managers in the upcoming NOF planning process in the hope of implementing conservative fisheries that will not hamper salmon recovery efforts.” It was confirmed in our meeting that there was some actions by an observer that made the Tribes uncomfortable.  The Tribes solution was to bar the public and observers from the meetings to reduce the possibility this would happen again.  This was done several years ago and yet the prohibition continues. The truth is, we have to accept that responsibility. But, it is also fair to ask the current tribal leaders to work on trust building as well. After all, we share very important responsibilities in reversing the decline of our fish populations along with the protection and restoration of habitat. These are issues that CANNOT WAIT for the lawyers or the Feds or the sky to fall before we begin working TOGETHER. As our previous letters to Chair Loomis have indicated, we feel that with the combined strength of the tribes and the sport fishing community, we have the capability to accomplish some good things in the fisheries and habitat protection. So, back to the question of “How do we get the public back in the NOF meetings?” To start, we formally ask the Tribal leadership to allow a live stream video of the negotiations. Simply and honestly, we all agree that past actions of one observer should not interfere with our abilities to work on fixing this process as we move forward. Trust is vital to cooperation and without it, we end up in the situation we’re in now. We believe replacing observers with a neutral live video stream will prevent mischaracterizing anyone’s position as it only reports what actually happens. Further, it will not disrupt the proceedings as the public are watching in the comfort of their home, not in the meeting room. It also satisfies the Open Public Meetings Law, as it is used currently in many other situations in government. The next step is in the hands of our Tribal Co-managers: It is in everyone’s best interests to bring all of the management process for our fisheries out in the open. We all, tribal and non-tribal, need to see and hear, firsthand the work that is being undertaken. Does it serve any purpose to continue to prohibit transparency based solely on the transgression of one individual that creates the perception of appearing to hold a grudge? We understand the hesitancy based on the issues in the past, but we believe it better to move forward rather than look backward. OUR FISH DEPEND ON IT. We can continue this friction based on events in the past that we cannot change, or we can learn from them and move toward trust. It is up to our co-managers now to decide. Our meeting was informative and the discussion was frank and laser focused on the need to have everyone involved in the fisheries process. We were in agreement that we owe our Co-managers the opportunity to accept our acknowledgment of past wrongs, and to move forward for the greater good. We’ve asked them to engage in the benefits of working together and to begin a new chapter in trust building and cooperation by agreeing to a live stream broadcast as a means to once again allow all citizens the opportunity to work toward better fisheries. In conclusion, we agreed to continue to work together to restore open meetings to the North of Falcon process. We will continue to have follow-up meetings in the near future to review and build on the progress we are making and to inform everyone on the tribal co-managers response to our formal request for a live video stream broadcast.