Is WDFW working for Weyerhaeuser?

[HntnFsh]

Just takes me to the log in page

[X-Force]

I don’t see the problem.

I’d imagine WDFW may not ask for a license unless there was a dead animal in the back or if they suspected someone didn’t have a permit… riding around in the woods doesn’t mean you have to have a hunt license.

[fireweed]

Just takes me to the log in page

From the Lewis County Auditor online records document search page type  720413 into the AFN box and hit search.

[bbarnes]

They are for a fact being paid by timber company’s call WDFW OR ASK FOR PUBLIC DICLOSURE ........ I’ve had a huge concern about this for years WHO ARE THE SERVING........ Secondly no different than the Pinkertons of yesteryear........Thirdly our tax dollars are paying to train state employees that have now became private security guards ......... the list goes on and on of why it’s a conflict of interest no different the there biologist sitting on boards blocking your access to hunt........   

[fireweed]

I called and emailed.  Here's the answer:
Good afternoon.  I received your email regarding WDFW Officers patrolling private lands under contract, I want to provide you with the current status of those efforts.  WDFW Police has multiple Law Enforcement Service contracts throughout the State with large industrial timber owners to provide patrol services on certain properties.  These contracts, paid for by the landowner/timber company, are at an overtime rate and also reimburse vehicle mileage and other mandatory items.  I don’t know the specifics of all the contracts Statewide, but I oversee or manage patrol contracts with Weyerhaeuser, Green Diamond and Rayonier here in Region 5.
Regarding your question about working as a team, there are times when the landowner or their representative request our presence at a particular location or gate and, if it fits in with patrol priorities, we will try to work with the landowner.  At other times we are patrolling these properties individually to check for compliance with entry rules and permit requirements, among other things.  This relationship has proven to be mutually beneficial to WDFW and the landowners regarding closed season/illegal hunting activity as well as trespass and other types of criminal conduct discovered during our time there that affects the property owner.  These contracts allow my staff, as well as staff elsewhere in the State, to be present at locations and times we might otherwise not be there.  As these patrols are overtime, we are on the landscape for extended periods of time and can spend general patrol hours on public lands and rivers, locations that are a priority for us to be present.

I emailed a follow up question about check stations, since this sounded like the joint effort between WDFW/Weyerhaeuser that had happened over the weekend :

 We work hard to not mix a wildlife check station, that being a staffed location along a road (not a highway/interstate) where hunters/anglers are required to stop and be checked for compliance with hunting or fishing regulations, licenses requirements and/or harvested species, and a private land permit check.  Non-hunters/anglers are not required to stop at ourcheck stations and can continue past.  As this is the case, we try hard to not mix a landowner checkpoint and our wildlife check stations since it would be viewed we are stopping everyone, something that is not allowed.  If a landowner such as Weyerhaeuser has an employee checking access permits at a gate, it is simply that, and they check to ensure a person is supposed to be there – we can do that too.  It’s like a person going to a concert, they need a ticket to get in and proof of entrance, and landowners are allowed to check for certain items if there were conditions on the person/persons entering and remaining on the premise – legal stuff here, I won’t go any further than that limited comparison.  If we observe a subject is hunting or engaged in a hunting activity during a gate check, we can ask some questions at that point and inspect required items.  There are a number of occasions where individuals using a Weyco permit are doing nothing related to hunting or fishing, therefore our inspection authority cannot be used to temporarily stop them (Firewood collection, sight-seeing, just driving around, etc.), but we can check for a Weyco permit and adherence to their rules. 

[fireweed]

I also had a follow-up phone call and brought up the fact that many of these roads where they are enforcing corporate policy have PUBLIC EASEMENTS on them, many going to public land.  He was very aware of that fact.  I offered to send a list of all the roads I know of that have legal easements to state or federal land. I proposed a "what if" scenario of someone walking on a road with a copy of the easement in their pocket and being checked by a game warden.    He said "When we get into these gray areas, we don't act, because its the right thing to do."  (yes this is a direct quote) Whether or not the message gets sent down to the on-the-ground ranks is another question.

The take-away is that the WDFW is being hired to check permits FIRST, and game regulations SECOND and on private land they can stop anyone, while in other circumstances this practice is banned.  The political pressure BigTex referred to is real!  The Cowlitz County sheriff refused to check permits while on Weyerhaeuser land, stating his office was not corporate security, but the practice was still controversial.  The County Commissioners refused to renew the contract and now apparently, the risk manager nixed the practice over liability and insurance concerns. 

The truth is that the road easement situation is too complicated for WDFW to sort out on the ground. WDFW should have a policy of NOT checking for access permits when they are on any road that can or could be used to access public land. 

I'm all for WDFW enforcing Hunting and Fishing Regulations, but not being a Mall Cop for Big Timber!