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Supervisors report federal advocacy on fisheries and Last Chance Grade; local officials flag elk overpopulation and disease concerns
Summary
Supervisors described testimony to the Pacific Fishery Management Council, federal advocacy in Washington, D.C., and ongoing local efforts to address elk overpopulation and hoof rot disease. They urged continued data collection and federal engagement on fisheries and public‑lands infrastructure projects.
Supervisor Howard reported that Del Norte representatives testified before the Pacific Fishery Management Council and urged better local data collection to inform stock assessments, particularly for ground fish and salmon. Howard said the absence of local stock data has hampered reopening of fisheries and that an RFP to reanalyze stock assessment methods could allow locally collected creel and charter data to be used.
Howard also summarized time in Washington, D.C., where he met federal staff and legislators’ offices to press for funding and attention to projects including Last Chance Grade and power‑line redundancy issues identified after the 2023 fires.
Separately, Supervisor Wilson and others reported on elk management difficulties. Wilson described two large elk herds causing property damage, spread of hoof rot disease and an ongoing shortfall in effective population counts. The Del Norte Fish and Game Commission has increased tag availability and has adjusted hunt‑administration rules to allow adjoining private properties to combine acreage for tag eligibility, but supervisors said operational constraints and administrative staffing have limited uptake of tags and the effectiveness of current measures.
Why it matters: Howard framed fisheries data collection and federal engagement as critical to reopening commercial and recreational fishing seasons off the Crescent City coast. Supervisors said the Last Chance Grade project and federal funding decisions affect county recovery and infrastructure resilience. Elk overpopulation and hoof rot were described as persistent local problems that affect residents, private property and agricultural operations.
Selected quotes and details
- On fisheries: Supervisor Howard said, “the data still isn't being collected,” and noted local creel census data is currently not incorporated into federal models but could be if methods change.
- On federal advocacy: Howard described meetings with congressional and federal agency staff about Last Chance Grade, fire recovery funding and power‑line redundancy.
- On elk: Supervisor Wilson said staff had removed “roughly about 200 of the elk over the last few years” from one herd but that disease persists and counts are uncertain because many animals range out of sight.
Next steps: Supervisors asked staff to continue advocacy on federal funding and to support efforts by the Fish and Game Commission to increase tag usage and address depredation. They also encouraged support for an RFP re‑examining stock assessment methods so that locally collected data can be used in federal fishery models.
