L&I audit show funds missing; report argues that ESA should limit salmon protected; grizzley bear release from Canada pulled back

Washington Farm Bureau NewsWatch March 26, 2004

WASHINGTON FARM BUREAU NEWSWATCH

March 26, 2004 No. 29
AN AUDIT RELEASED WEDNESDAY FOUND THAT THE STATE DEPARTMENT OF Labor and
Industries cannot account for $5.8 million in workers' unemployment
compensation premiums collected from employers, but never deposited in the
bank. (Associated Press, March 25) The audit found that L&I recorded
payments of $542,630,733 between July 2002 and December 2002. However, only
$536,974,568 was deposited. At the time, according to the audit, the agency
did not do a daily reconciliation between payments and deposits. L&I insists
the money isn't missing.

The 263-page audit, which covers state agency
spending for fiscal 2003, also found:

* The Department of Employment Security paid at least $221,677 in
unemployment benefits to people who weren't eligible, including 15 people
who were in prison at the time and 92 who gave Social Security numbers that
were fake or belonged to people who were dead.

* The Department of Fish and Wildlife spent $5.8 million to buy thousands of
acres of land or easements without the approval of the governor or the
Legislature.

A SCIENTIFIC PANEL FORMED BY THE NATIONAL MARINE FISHERIES SERVICE TO review
its salmon-recovery efforts has published an independent report in the
journal Science arguing that only naturally spawning salmon should be
protected under the Endangered Species Act, and not genetically similar
hatchery fish. (Seattle Times, March 26) The report conflicts with a legal
decision issued by a federal District Court judge who ruled that the
fisheries agency cannot list naturally spawning fish for ESA protection
without also including genetically identical hatchery fish. The six-member
panel also contends in the Science article that NMFS censored its opinions
about hatchery fish from its formal report for the agency. NMFS, however,
said the panel's recommendation was inappropriate and was excluded because
it went beyond science and what the panel was asked to do, and into the area
of public policy. NMFS is under a court deadline to decide by March 31
whether to delist eight of 26 populations of Northwest salmon currently on
the Endangered Species list.

STATE OFFICIALS HAVE REACHED A TENTATIVE AGREEMENT WITH GROWERS IN Douglas
County to extend the Apple Capital Recreation Loop Trail. (Wenatchee World,
March 25) Some growers, however, are still unhappy with the proposal,
despite the state's offer to add wildlife-friendly wire fences along the
east side of the trail whenever it runs adjacent to farmland. Douglas County
approved a shoreline development permit for the 5.1-mile extension in
January, but about 20 growers, beekeepers and residents of Baker Flats have
appealed the decision. They contend the trail could interfere with the
operation of their farms and open them up to lawsuits and vandalism from
trail users.

OFFICIALS SAID WEDNESDAY THAT THE CANADIAN GOVERNMENT PLANS TO release
grizzly bears far enough north in British Columbia that it's unlikely they
would wander south of the border. (Wenatchee World, March 25) Canada has
already scaled back the number of bears it plans to release as part of a
North Cascades recovery program from 25 to just six over the next five
years. They will be released north of Highway 3, which runs across the
southern portion of the province and is considered a possible barrier to
grizzly migration.