Not a silly question at all, Bob. Many of the members of the Okanogan County Fly Club asked the same question. They didn't get a real staight answer on the issue.
In talking with a couple of DFW game bosses during my various fishing trips back to my hometown, here is what I have heard. Several years ago, the threat of the NMF coming in and taking over was quite real. In order to prevent this from occuring, many decisions were made to close down river systems and tributaries in the Okanogan and Methow Valleys. In hind sight, both DFW game bosses agreed off the record that many of these closures were mistakes and done out of panic versus logic. They wanted to show the NMF that they were implimenting a plan and it got to the point of repressive regulations. As you noted, in just about every region of those two valley's, there are several streams that are closed to fishing. Fast forward to this Fall. The DFW re-opened the Okanogan River to steelhead fishing for the first time in years. The Methow has had it's regulation reduced so that fishing for trout under 20 inches is acceptable in certain regions. I didn't hear if they opened it up to steelheading or not. All of the repressive regulations have not been repealed but they have eased a bit. There a still several that make you scratch your head but that is the DFW for ya. Since moving to Spokane 15 years ago, I haven't kept up on the politics of region as much as when I was growing up in the region but I know the Methow is a sore subject with anybody from that region. Maybe one of the other fella's can add some concrete information for you since mine is all gleaned from my old contacts and BSing over coffee with the game bosses Mike
