Dicks scheduled to discuss salmon recovery at commission meeting Aug. 21 in Olympia

U.S. Rep. Norm Dicks is scheduled to meet Aug. 21 with Washington Fish and Wildlife Commission to discuss the state's integrated approach to salmon recovery during the second day of the commission's two-day public work session in Olympia.

That discussion, scheduled to begin at 3 p.m., will focus on a salmon-recovery strategy that addresses habitat, hydropower, harvest and hatchery issues.

Members of the independent Hatchery Scientific Review Group, including Dr. Lars Mobrand, John Barr and Lee Blankenship, will then brief the commission on current efforts to evaluate hatchery reform as part of the Puget Sound and Coastal Washington hatchery Reform Project.

The commission, which sets policy for the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW), is scheduled to begin its two-day meeting at 8:30 a.m., Aug. 20, at the Phoenix Inn, 415 Capitol Way North, in Olympia.

After a morning training session Aug. 20 on commissioner roles and responsibilities, the commission is scheduled to review and consider approval of WDFW's proposed 2008 supplemental budget requests and to hear an update on the department's proposed capital program action plan.

On Aug. 21, the commission will resume its training session at 8:30 a.m. and turn its attention to the issue of salmon recovery at 3 p.m.

The public is invited to attend the work session, although no public comment periods are scheduled either day. An updated agenda is posted on the commission's website at http://wdfw.wa.gov/com/aug2107.htm.