I want to remind anglers who plan to fish for salmon and steelhead this year, that there will be an extra fee when they buy their fishing licenses. There is a new salmon and steelhead endorsement stamp required this year, and it’s there for a good reason. The money raised through the sale of the stamps will go toward the evaluation of selective fisheries on the Columbia River and its tributaries. It will also be used for other management activities, including fisheries enforcement, data collecting and monitoring. A good example of the benefits of the new fund is future potential steelhead fisheries on the Wenatchee River. In order to have a season, when fish are abundant, it is required that the fishery be monitored, and the hatchery to wild fish catch be reported. Due to budget cuts at the state level there could be no money available to conduct the required monitoring and a steelhead fishery on the Wenatchee would not be allowed. The purpose of the fund is to provide the Department of Fish and Wildlife with the money to monitor and therefore open the river to sport fishing. To learn more about the endorsement stamp, go to my web site and the Links Page and look under Endorsement Stamp.