Bill Bakke

The very mention of Bill Bakke's name strikes fear in the hearts of those bureucrats at ODFW. Bill has been at forefront of wild fish conservation for many, many years. He founded both Oregon Trout and Native Fish Society and if anyone ever could be arrogant and full of pride about their accomplishments it would be Bill but he is far from that.
Bill has also made a ton of enemies over the years but it is an impressive list of enemies. Whether it be logging industry robber barons or hydro-electric plunderers you can bet they know Bill Bakke.
I admire Bill as much as any figure out there in the fishery management arena because he has one goal and one goal only! The restoration of Oregon's wild salmonid population.
Many think Bill is too radical and wants nothing more than to shut down fish hatcheries. It's a much more complex issue than that and I believe there is nothing radical about wanting a responsible hatchery management plan.
Bakke's Native Fish Society forced ODFW to take a long hard look at the way hatcheries, particularly those in the Tillamook area we being managed or should I say mismanaged.
Bill comes to the ODFW hearings more prepared than those he is going up against and that drives the "let's dump a gazillion hatchery fish into system" proponents nuts.
Bill is an avid fly fisherman and his October Caddis skating steelhead fly is legendary among steelhead anglers.
I guess I would consider myself a Bakke Disciple.