This ISRP review is the second post-provincial review of the Moses Lake Fishery proposal that was originally submitted for funding in the Intermountain Province. The Council requested the first ISRP post-provincial review in the Intermountain Province project selection process (see PDF, and brief Moses Lake addendum), in which the Council decided to address the ISRP's "do not fund" recommendation (see attachment 2 for ISRP FY01 review) by providing the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) the opportunity to revise the proposal further to address the ISRP's final comments. WDFW committed to review the project design at the state level. On that basis the Council agreed to seek additional ISRP review of the revised proposal. The ISRP reviewed WDFW's revised project design (see attachment 1). Although the proposal was improved, the ISRP found the proposal continued to need significant revision and input from a senior aquatic ecologist who would be a long-term partner in the work.
In December 2001, the Council recommended that WDFW utilize $10-$20K out of the project's placeholder budget to secure an independent senior investigator to function as a long-term partner in the work. This senior researcher would work with WDFW staff to design a research plan and its associated task-based budget for Moses Lake. The Council further recommended that the new research plan incorporate the ISRP recommendations, and that the ISRP review the plan before additional funds are made available.
On April 29, 2002, a new plan was provided to the ISRP for review. Our recommendations and comments on this new plan are provided in the report.
