Good evening, Chair and members of the Board. My name is Larry Pryor, Chairman of the Northwest Fisheries Enhancement Group. I’ve fished the Cowlitz River and advocated for it for more than thirty years.
I want to start with a compliment, and I mean it sincerely. Tacoma Public Utilities has earned a strong reputation across the Northwest and nationally. That comes from the leadership of this Board, of Director Jackie Flowers, who chairs the Large Public Power Council, and of General Manager Chris Robinson, who chairs the Public Power Council. When public power leaders look for a well-run utility, they look at Tacoma. You should be proud of that.
Unfortunately, Cowlitz River fisheries management does not share that reputation. The reverse is true. We are seeing serious declines in adult returns, fishing closures, low harvest rates and very limited recovery of wild fish, on what once was the most popular salmon and steelhead river in the Northwest.
Your peers in the utility sector see what happens on the Cowlitz too. Utilities across the Northwest and the country look to Tacoma as a leader, If it isn’t corrected, it will stain the reputation this utility has worked so hard to build in the power sector, with its peers, with regulators, and with the agencies and tribes Tacoma will need as partners in relicensing.
Tacoma has told this Board, and to the public, again and again, that “We are committed to restoration of salmon and steelhead populations on the Cowlitz River.” So, the question is a fair one: are these just words, or are they a commitment?
Director Flowers and Mr. Robinson, We’re asking you directly to take ownership of the Cowlitz fisheries. Not to delegate it, but to own it the way you own reliability, rates, and the power supply. Ask your team the hard questions. Expect results to be reported to you and to this Board: adult returns, survival from smolt to adult, cost per returning fish, harvest, and natural-origin wild fish returns, compared against neighboring rivers. Hold the fisheries program to the same standard of excellence you hold every other part of Tacoma Power.
And I want to be clear about why I’m here. This isn’t only about raising awareness and accountability. We want to work with you. The anglers, the conservation community, and fisheries professionals I work with have decades of experience on this river and in hatchery management, and we’re ready to put it to work alongside Tacoma to turn the Cowlitz around.
You’ve shown what this utility can do when its leaders make something a priority. We’re asking you to make the Cowlitz one, and we’re offering to help.
Bring that Leadership to the Cowlitz!
Thank you.
Larry Pryor a concerned Cowlitz River fisheries advocate and Chairman, Northwest Fisheries Enhancement Group (NWFE)
6 So 2nd Str. Suite 809, Yakima WA 98901 509-292-6410 https://nwfe.org/
