complete

204the negotiatorpretty fast once we had the president of the United States and theCanadian prime minister saying, ‘Get it done.’”A marathon negotiating session at a hotel in Vancouver, BritishColumbia, capped a long and frustrating process. In March 1985,President Ronald Reagan and Prime Minister Brian Mulroney,signed the highly anticipated Pacific Salmon Treaty, ending, at leasttemporarily, the fishing feud between the United States and Canada.“The president really did want something tangible to take withhim to Canada,” said Slade Gorton, at that time a U.S. senator, of thetreaty’s expedited route through Congress.“This is the best deal possible for all sides given the state of theindustry and the resource,” declared Garnet Jones, Canada’s topnegotiator. “This gives us the ability to truly manage stocks on acoast-wide basis.”The deal was made with three guiding principles: minimize interceptions,minimize disruptions of existing fisheries, and manage thefishery to conserve stock. The newly formed Pacific Salmon Commissionthat would navigate issues consisted of eight members, fourfrom each country. Among its provisions, the treaty reduced the fishharvest in Canadian and Alaskan waters by roughly 25 percent.“Everybody gives a little,” said then-U.S. Senator Dan Evans. Noteverybody was satisfied. “To make this treaty happen, Alaska bled,”said Earl Krygler, a delegate from the Alaska Trollers Association.Politics can intervene, even for an optimist like Billy. The elder hasa long history with the Nisqually Tribe. Over the years, he held variouspositions including vice chairman, council member, and fisheriesmanager. Then, in 1985, there was a falling out. “[The tribe] cut myfunding,” Billy recalls. “But I’ve got a bigger picture in my mind.”The nwifc reorganized in 1985, allowing Billy to be elected aschairman at large.Billy’s positive attitude helped secure an agreement with the timberindustry in the mid-1980s. For all the importance of forest productsto the Washington economy and American life—an industry