Commisioner Fink in his own words on the Fish lake issue.

I want to thank Commissioner Fink for this email. He is very willing to answer questions and talk about issues. Here is what he said when Duluth Politics asked him about the fish lake issue.


It is interesting how political figures can be sucked in when someone starts pointing fingers. This is a case of guilty of nothing by association. The DNR hosted a meeting in late March that they described as a result from some pressure by a Metro area legislator. They discussed the results of a shock test on a portion of Fish Lake. The issue was, should the DNR impose special regulation (maybe slot limits) on Fish Lake. Thirty people attended the meeting. The DNR presented data collected and projected future outcomes based on that data. They said it would take approximately 5 years before they would be ready to impose special regulations under the current process and presented a time line.

Several weeks later, while discussing my recent purchase of a property on Fish Lake, I was informed of the meeting. I was told that the majority of the people at the meeting agreed that special regulations seemed like a good idea. Maybe as many as 28 out of 30. I was also asked why it would take 5 years to complete the public process. So on April 1, I wrote a letter to Senator Chaudhary asking him that question and suggesting that he use his influence to shorten the time frame or recommend stocking the lake during the study period.

The Senator called me about 10 days later and ask if I had personally talked to the DNR. When I replied 'NO' he gave me the name and telephone of a DNR contact. For the next few weeks, I researched the issue. I found that 75% of the people attending the meeting voted at the beginning of the meeting in favor of special regulations. The same poll was taken at the end of the meeting. This time 60% were in favor. But the final poll was somewhat miss leading because some people had left and the blanks were considered a "NO" vote. Still more that half were still in favor. My research also showed that when the meeting was over the attendees believed that the DNR was about to begin the long process. The DNR said they clearly told the group that they would be taking no further action on this subject.

It took until May 7th to complete my research and analysis. The late on May 11th I wrote a second letter to the Senator describing what I found. It was mailed the next day. I went to the cities for a different meeting on that Wednesday taking a copy of my letter with me. The senator called me late in the day although I did not speak to him but I did meet up with him. He encouraged me to go to the house meeting with him and I did but I had not seen his bill. I showed him my letter. It was at that time he went to Dill on the House floor asking for a short amendment to be added to the house bill while the bill was being debated and he used my first letter as supporting evidence to move forward.

No one but the Senator knows why he did not introduce the amendment into his own bill or why he waited so long or why he believed that a law was need. It is this lateness that has caused all the trouble. But since I sent the original letter which I have always confirmed, I became a contributor. And to my political enemies they have been presenting my efforts as self-serving. Yet, I was just doing my job.

I have a reputation of getting things done. You can come to me for results. And Environmental and Natural Resources is my speciality. I did not act on impulse. The information was not bad as proof by the DNR's own data shows. And since I am not a fisherman, I will not benefit by catching more fish since I already do not catch any (although I do buy a Fishing License and have since I bought my boat in 2005). The lake also has a reputation as well as of have no fish (walleye) which the DNR again confirmed as being somewhat true. While this was never about me that is an easy sell for my opponent. In Pretty Woman, Julia Roberts said "the bad stuff is easier to believe" whether it's true or not.