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53 °F Forecast | Road Cams Friday, April 22, 2005 Today's News | Shop Our Valley | Tempo | Health | Community | Home Delivery | Contact Us SECTIONS Home Page Local News Sports Business Obituaries Life Opinion Tempo AP News Weather Classified Archives Site Map SPECIAL SECTIONS Since We Asked Outdoor Journal Menu Guide How To Guide Health Readers' Choice Real Estate Showcase Real Estate Guide Joy Magazine Homelife Magazine Wedding Guide Passport to the Rogue Valley SHOP OUR VALLEY AutoFinder HomeFinder JobFinder Classified Place an ad TOP JOBS EXTRA Ashland News NIE Personals Movie Times TV Times E The People Volunteer Moving here? eSouthernOregon CUSTOMER SERVICE FAQ's Advertise with us Home Delivery Employment Contact Us Media Kit Oregon Road Conditions & Cams Email Story to a Friend April 21, 2005 Hartman spearheads effort to help warm-water fishing By MARK FREEMAN Mail Tribune Bud Hartman first helped promote warm-water fishing in this state known for its salmon and trout five decades ago, and he’s seen bass and bass anglers treated like second-class citizens long enough. Bass are non-natives, he’ll give you that. But Hartman insists there’s plenty of lakes, ponds and rivers where bass, crappie, perch and bluegill can thrive and create great fisheries without harming the adipose on a native trout’s back. "We’ve been arguing for these critters since they were first brought here," says Hartman, a 68-year-old Portlander who was a charter member of the 47-year-old Oregon Bass and Panfish Club. "We think there’s a place for them where they don’t conflict with native fish." Now Hartman and a host of other bass anglers are essentially trying to tax themselves and others who benefit from warm-water species. They are promoting an Oregon Legislature bill that would collect $5 a year from warm-water fish anglers and place it in an account dedicated to the management and enhancement of warm-water fish. Advertisement Hartman wants one of these so-called dedicated "sub accounts" in the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife budget — similar to individual accounts created specifically for management of everything from bighorn sheep and mountain goats to upland game birds to halibut research. "The old saying is, if you want to dance, you have to pay the band," Hartman says. "Well, some of us want to dance and we’re willing to pay the band." The problem is, no one seems to be able to agree on the price, what currency to use or even where people like Hartman should be encouraged to dance. House Bill 2779 calls for a $5 warm-water "tag," required from everyone angling for warm-water fish regardless if they keep any of the fish they catch. It could also be a $5 annual validation stamp, like a duck stamp. "We don’t know what form it will take," Hartman says. "But a lot of guys would buy that thing." The ODFW estimates the tag could raise a little more than $1 million a biennium. The agency estimates that’s enough to hire two more full-time warm-water fish biologists, a program manager and some seasonals to join the one ODFW biologist whose job is dedicated to warm- water fish. Other options include adding a small amount to the current angling license and dedicating that money to the warm-water program. Hartman’s club and other bass advocates now are barnstorming Oregon, holding public meetings to gauge support for the bill and brainstorm how best to collect the dedicated money. A meeting is scheduled for 7 p.m. tonight at the Pacific Power Service Center, 1480 Williams Highway, Grants Pass. "We’ve been short-shrifted enough," Hartman says. "We feel like we’re not getting enough bang for our buck." Questions remain whether the warm-water tag has broad support among Oregon’s 600,000 licensed anglers, of whom hard-core bass anglers represent just a sliver. Hartman estimates about 2,000 dues-paying members are in 22 bass clubs now in Oregon. He estimates that close to 40 percent of all anglers fish for warm-water species sometime during the year. Police and biologists have raised flags about enforcing it. Trout-fishers at Emigrant Lake, for instance, could be in violation if they accidentally catch and release small-mouth bass if they don’t have the warm-water validation. The warm-water tag debate is getting watched closely by Gov. Ted Kulongoski’s natural-resource policy advisors like Jim Myron. Myron, the former head of Oregon Trout, says whether the bill can get through both houses this session seems "up in the air." If it makes it to Kulongoski’s desk, "I’ll definitely consider recommending he sign it, depending upon the language," Myron says. The language generating the most heartburn so far is the phrase "protect and enhance" warm-water fisheries in Oregon. Most warm-water species here are introduced fish. In many cases — such as small-mouth bass at Lost Creek Lake — the warm-water fish are illegally introduced fish. "We don’t want to be giving the impression we want bass hatcheries and be spreading more warm-water fish across (Oregon)," Myron says. "That could be read into ‘enhance.’" Also, calling for protection of warm-water fish may not be appropriate in waters where the non-native fish are in competition with native fish for food and space. That’s troubling in places like Siltcoos, Tahkenitch and Tenmile lakes, where bass — even ODFW-introduced hybrid bass — have proven to be an impediment to native coho salmon that use those lakes as rearing habitat. "We’ve got these fish spread across the landscape," Myron says. "We can’t ignore the impact they’re having." Hartman says he believes "protect and enhance" deserves to remain in the bill, which also recognizes that bass enhancement should only take place where it doesn’t violate the trout- and salmon-friendly Native Fish Conservation Policy. "I know we’re going to meet a lot of opposition," Hartman says. Opposition aside, the bill also isn’t getting any substantive support from ODFW. The proposed fee is not in Kulongoski’s ODFW budget proposal to the Legislature, and agencies like ODFW have a history of not stumping for measures not in the governor’s budget. "We’re not in a position to support it until that changes," says Rhine Messmer, ODFW’s recreational fisheries program manager. Myron says it’s clear ODFW needs more money to manage warm-water fish and rewrite its outdated and largely irrelevant 18-year-old Warmwater Fish Management Plan. "It might be an uphill battle this session," Myron says. "It’s something that likely will be back next session." That would mean two more years of Oregon’s cast system that Hartman says help keeps a good bass down. "This whole thing has been very unusual, I know," Hartman says. "But warm-water fish have a rightful place in Oregon." Reach reporter Mark Freeman at 776-4470, or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home | Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life | Opinion AP News | Archives | Site Map | Community | Classified Copyright © 1997-2005 Mail Tribune, Inc. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions | Website Feedback Free Music Downloads Conference Calls - $50/Month Home Security Systems Trunks, Footlocker, Trunk, Footlockers home equity loans helzberg Distance Education Diamonds Online Poker Slippers Student Loans tcg student loan consolidation teleconferencing Memory Foam Mattress w2 forms Tatoo Tatoos Advertisement s