John Long, a longtime Columbia River salmon angler, has been selected as the new regional director of the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife.
He succeeds Guy Norman, who retired on June 30. The regional director supervises department operations in Clark, Cowlitz, Skamania, Klickitat, Wahkiakum and Lewis counties.
A native of Richland, Wash., Long has worked for the Department of Fish and Wildlife since 1994, when he started as a scientific technician based in Ellensburg on the Yakima River project. He was statewide salmon manager, based in Olympia, from 2007 until earlier this year.
Among his other jobs with the agency have been stints working with fisheries in Grays Harbor, Willapa Bay, Spokane and south Puget Sound. He’s represented Washington in both the Fraser River and Southern panels of the international Pacific Salmon Commission process.
Long graduated from Central Washington University in 1993 with a degree in biology, specializing in fish, wildlife and ecology.
He will start his new job on July 16 and anticipates being in the Vancouver regional office about three days a week. He has a home to sell in Shelton in Mason County, but hopes to be relocated by the time school starts for his two sons in September.
Long said a decision has not been made yet if he will serve as Washington’s vote on the Columbia River Compact, which sets commercial fishing seasons. He’s often listened in on compact conference calls in his job as statewide salmon manager.
“My passion is teamwork,’’ Long said. “I’ll spend a lot of time building the team…I’m really excited to go down and work with the team.’’
Long said he’s a “dyed-in-the-wool fisherman.’’
He remembers fishing for salmon and steelhead as a youth in the Ringold area of the Columbia River near Tri-Cities. He enjoyed flyfishing while a student in Ellensburg. He’s fished at Buoy 10 in the Columbia River estuary for many years, plus for spring chinook at Cathlamet, Wind River and Drano Lake.
“I like to fish for springers, but the North of Falcon process (March through early April ocean salmon season-setting proccess) really overlapped,’’ he said.
Long admits he knows little about the hoof disease affecting elk herds particularly in Cowlitz and Wahkiakum counties.
“I’m looking forward to getting involved on projects that are not fish-centric,’’ he said. “It will be exciting to get in on the wildlife and habitat end of things.’’
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