1. You have been noticeably more visible than just about any previous director, appearing at everything from an international bear conference to a general staff assembly. Are you enjoying your time doing this?

   I'm having a ball, even with all of the work. When I appeared at a general assembly of the DFG, the staff were all pleased that they had a chance to see the Director and ask him questions. Besides going to all of these meetings, I've been doing some fun things like appearing on radio shows and showing up at the ISE show in San Mateo.

2. You have been quoted as trying to get the Fish and Game back to its roots, especially law enforcement. What is your vision for the Department with the budget cuts that it faces?

   The DFG director has to serve lots of constituents and we have to cover as many areas as we possibly can. The Department intersects aspects of all California living; "Fish and Game" now is not a straightforward issue. However, fishing and hunting regulations were the first conservation tool used in California and were initiated by fishermen and hunters.

   When I left the DFG as Chief Deputy Director 3 years ago, the budget was in good shape, with an infusion of general fund money. The DFG historically received little money from the general fund, The Davis administration and legislature added the Marine Life Protection Act (MLPA) to the DFG's plate, in addition to increasing California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) reviews and the Headwaters Forest HCP. Senate Bill 271 added North Coast stream restoration to the DFG's duties.

   Unfortunately, revenue from CEQA, stream restoration and other funding sources wasn't as much as expected. The Department of Finance then ordered us to make cuts and shift into funds from the relevant propositions and initiatives.

   Meanwhile, they froze the Department's ability to fill positions. If not filled in six months, the positions go away and we have to start from scratch to justify the positions. After a series of reduction drills, there was a patchwork of vacancies with no rhyme or reason regarding the Department priorities.

   Cutting staff isn't an option - it takes a six to 18 month process. What this leaves you with is cutting the discretionary expenses such as fuel, overtime, operating and maintenance expenses and seasonal aides. But the people in the program will say, "Wait a minute, I got fish, I need food and I got trucks."

   There is a disconnect between the cuts and the programs - and there are dramatic consequences of not having the money available. The Department has to support the governor's budget, but with certain discretion allowed. We have to close books this fiscal year without a deficit.

   The California Performance Institute has been analyzing the operation of state law enforcement agencies so they don't have duplication. First, we aim to combine communications in a 24 hour, more reliable state wide system. Second, we aim to consolidate law enforcement in a law enforcement academy, combining the DFG, State Parks and other state agencies. The goal is to get the same product, but serve more than one agency.

   Faced with all this, we're looking at using the DFG as a safety net where we do not have the capacity in the private or non-profit sector to provide the services.

   The bottom line is that I can't close the books with a deficit. We can't overspend our budget expense - as Director, I'm personally liable for it.

3. The fish hatcheries are in trouble, due to funding cutbacks. How is the DFG going to continue supplying trout and salmon to anglers in light of these cutbacks?

   Regarding our hatchery management, it is pretty innovative. Two things we are planning to do to help the situation with the hatcheries is (1) obtaining our full mitigation monies for the steelhead and salmon hatcheries and (2) looking to private enterprise to run the hatcheries, since people in tourism-based communities recognize that hatcheries are important to the local economies.

   The hatchery program, consisting of 14 trout and 8 salmon and steelhead hatcheries, has been adversely affected by both funding cuts (close to $2 million in fy 03-04) and employee losses due to attrition and temp help cutbacks (loss of 44 positions, of which 27 are permanent and 17 are seasonal aides, representing about 20 percent of the workforce).

   Our Hatchery Operations Committee has worked hard to look at the overall program and minimize impacts to anglers the best way possible.

   Outside funding sources are being sought. In Mono County, approximately $20,000 was offered by local governments last summer which allowed about a half-dozen temporary workers to continue through the end of the year. In San Diego County, a donor has come forward allowing those waters to continue to be stocked, which had been temporarily halted because there was no budget for overtime out of the nearest hatchery, Mojave. More of that type of participation is needed.

   Mad River Salmon and Steelhead Hatchery is in the process of ramping down and will be closed unless outside help is identified. Others in trouble are the Merced River Salmon Hatchery, Mojave River Trout Hatchery and Hot Creek Trout Hatchery, which all could close unless other funding sources are identified.

4. Where do "Fishing in the City" and "Becoming An Outdoorswoman" fit into your vision?

   Both are important, but both programs have been impacted by FY03-04 cuts. I participated in the "Fishing in the City" Program kick off at Southside Park in Sacramento with Jimmy Yee of the Sacramento City Council in 1994. The program gives kids in the urban areas a chance to learn about fishing. When kids relate to fishing and realize that local waters support life, they take the ownership over getting our streams to stay healthy. They realize that if they put a pollutant down a storm drain, it will impact fish in the local stream or lake.

   Fishing in the City is still in operation, but funding has been reduced. However, events are still occurring, and last December, about 10,000 rainbow trout were planted in a dozen Bay Area urban lakes as part of the program, so Fishing in the City is by no means eliminated. BOW was eliminated at the end of 2003 and its two employees were reassigned.

5. Last year an estimated 12,000 to 15,000 threatened spring chinook salmon perished in Butte Creek because of warm water conditions. Do you have any plan to remedy this situation this year?

   The restoration of spring run chinook on Butte Creek is a big success. With $32 million spent for fish passage and providing water supply, the fish came back in large numbers. However, the spawning habitat has been limited - there are more fish than available habitat.

   Fish passage for adults getting into the system and for juvenile fish going downriver has vastly improved. Regarding water supply, we are working with water suppliers in the lower creek.

   In the upper reaches of the creek, there is a mixture of Butte Creek and imported water from the West Branch of the Feather River and Round Valley Reservoir. If the water warms up during the summer, it is difficult to cool it down unless the water released is very cold. It's tragic to see adult chinooks die off, but an estimated 4,000 to 6,000 adult fish did spawn last fall.

   The question is how we can monitor Butte Creek and improve flow into the upper reaches? We are seeing an outstanding outmigration from the smolts, in spite of the fish kill. My view is that we have limited spawning for spring chinooks in the upper reaches of the creek.

   We have been working with PG&E and the feds to identify ways to provide additional cold water. PG&E has provided funding to conduct pre-spawning mortality surveys and we have met all requirements. The problem is we have a relatively low-elevation watershed there that gets warm, so it wasn't a screwup, but circumstances we have.

6. Does the administration have any plans to expand fishing opportunities, thereby increasing license revenues, in light of the downward trend in license sales?

   The Department is always looking to expand fishing opportunities, even though it might not seem that way to the average angler. A good example is the Department's work on the new fishery at Diamond Valley Lake in southern California. This is a word-class fishery that is very close to huge population centers. Department fisheries biologists are responsible for that outstanding fishery.

   We have also developed an incredibly popular inland salmon program that we hear great things from anglers about all of the time. This is a program that has involved anglers working with our fisheries biologists to develop new fisheries that provide amazing fishing opportunities for fish like kokanee.

   As of March 2004 we have some concrete examples of expanded fishing opportunities. We have extended the season two weeks for fall-run chinook in sections of the San Joaquin, Stanislaus, Tuolumne, and Merced rivers because those fisheries can handle some additional harvest. On the Trinity River, there will be year-round fishing in some sections where the river was closed for a couple of months.

   We are very close to recovering the Paiute cutthroat trout population so that anglers can have an opportunity to catch and release this rare and wonderful trout. And we continue to work toward recovery of a number of other fish species, which would allow fishing opportunities for those species.

   We also have high hopes that the Bay Delta Sportfishing Enhancement Stamp funds will allow us to develop additional fishing access and improve other aspects of Bay-Delta fisheries. We also are excited about our recently adopted Strategic Plan for Trout Management, which will help the Department and our stakeholders to best manage our trout fisheries. Stakeholder involvement is a big part of our future trout management plans.

   These are just a few examples of some of the new fishing opportunities that have experienced improvement in recent years.

7. What things can sportsmen do to assist you as Director in restoring fisheries and increasing fish populations?

   One part of the answer (that people might not like) is to inform people that our work is not inexpensive, and we have additional responsibilities than we did 20-30 years ago. Restoring fish populations is multi-faceted, including habitat improvement, water issues, enforcement, fisheries management, working with a variety of stakeholders, etc. Increasing fishing opportunities is not as simple as raising more fish and stocking them, though that is important. So a large part of assisting us is to simply understand that we are being forced to do more with fewer resources.

That said, we can always use constructive ideas for how to better manage the state's resources. Anglers can do this by working through the Commission process during our regular regulations cycles, or by contacting the Department with your ideas.