Northwest Fishing Reports

I was told that if a infraction happens on a lake due to fishing regs. The funds are placed in a state slush fund & aren't given to fish & wildlife. Anyone know is this true?

Yes, sorta. The county gets some, maybe the town gets some, maybe the state gets some. It's my understanding the WDFW doesn't get any, and THEY put in all the work. Stacie mentioned it, but I forget what all she said.

I believe it goes into Gregoire's latte fund.

It would be nice if the money from the tickets or violations go to the department of fish and game. They are doing all of the work like Amx said. The state cut money from thier department so they need all of the funding they can get. We all know the enforcement officers are understaffed. Plus I wonder if the money from red light cameras goes into the state general fund or the city's pockets.

I believe the red light camera money goes to the city that rents the cameras and pays the company in Az to run them. I don't think the state gets any of the money.

That's correct. We do not see that money. I'm not sure the reasoning behind it. I'll see if I can get more info.

Thats just assanine. That money is the WDFW's. They make the rules that are being broken. They should atleast get half. And thats at minimum!

ResQ wrote:Thats just assanine. That money is the WDFW's. They make the rules that are being broken. They should atleast get half. And thats at minimum!

I am not defending the way it is done, but in other states this is done the way Washington does it as a way to ensure honesty. For example, we all say that the Highway Patrol must have a quota when we see extra cops on the road. What would we all say about the WDF&W?

I am not saying the Fisheries and Wildlife people are dishonest, it is just a method of making them above reproach.

BUT they do have a quota. Just sayin. And they get the money.

Due to the structure of various laws our Enforcment money is filtered back through the county and has been done so for quite some time. It has nothing to do with honesty issues or anything like that.


stace

I believe the reason is that the rules are laws, most likely Washington Administrative Codes (WAC's) or Revised Code's of Washington (RCW's) and therefore it is state money, not agency money. As stated above other agencies like State P, and Sheriff's departments don't get the money from tickets either for the same reason, they are ticketing basted on state and county law, not agency rule. It makes sense that the money goes into the state fund. WDFW is a state run agency, and therefore the state dictates how much funding they receive annually, unfortunately DFW is the lowest peg on the economic ladder in our state and receives the least funding and most cutbacks annually. There is incentive to write tickets, however. The more tickets that are written the more overall revenue is produced for the state, and therefore the state has more money to dole out to the various agencies, so more tickets = more funding in the long run. It is not a perfect system, but it has been operating in this manner for decades.

The money goes to the county.

Anyone think that Washington State taking funds from Fish & Wildlife is WRONG!! Washington fish & wildlife are struggling to rebuild boat ramps, fishinng docks & maintaining the sport we all love. Something should be done about this. Anyone have ideas? Maybe a new Initiative I-2011 ?

Its not wrong since the agency is WASHINGTON Department of Fish and Wildlife, it is there money to do with as they please. It is unfortunate that DFW gets the short end of the stick, but when it comes down to it the state can do whatever they want.