Washingtonians for Wildlife Conservation

[WWC]

The WWC is a coalition of individuals and groups and serves as the focal point of public involvement, grassroots activism and fundraising to the benefit of all Washington State conservationists, sportsmen and sportswomen. Our group members and supporters include Washington State Archery Association, the Washington Waterfowl Association, Bremerton Sportsmen Club, Working Dogs for Resolution Conflict, Washington State Trappers Association, 5 chapters of Safari Club International, Seattle Sportsman's Conservation Foundation, Hunter's Heritage Council, Northwest Sportsman's club,  Paul Bunyan Rifle Club, Twin City Sportsmen and the Borderline Bassin Contenders, just to name a few. The WWC - A place for every group and individual in the state to rally in support and in the defense of our outdoor future!

The WWC was formed in 1995 in an effort to fight the ban on hounds and bait (I-655) promoted by state and national animal rights extremists.  A few years later, a group of hunters tried without success to get an elk bill heard, until a lobbyist helped them.  This group of hunters realized there is no power in Olympia without a lobbyist and the Hunters Heritage Council was born.  The WWC was an original member of HHC and remains an active, voting member to this day.  The HHC consists of nine, select, outdoor and natural resource organizations dedicated to political action on behalf of the hunting and related communities, with a full-time lobbyist in Olympia.   In it's 23 years of existence it has killed every piece of anti-hunting legislation introduced, a record second to none.  It produces bill reports for its member organizations during session.  The Hunters Heritage Council is the only organization that does electioneering on behalf of the hunting community, it endorses candidates at all levels of government and has the only pro-hunting Political Action Committee (PAC), the Hunters Heritage Council PAC, HHC PAC.  WWC spreads action alerts on behalf of HHC, and to coordinate phone trees and letter writing campaigns when political issues demand it.

But a movement can only be as strong as the individuals willing to be actively involved. That is why we had our keisters handed to us in the I655 fight in 1996, and it's why we lost trapping in 2000. Our enemies were more committed to ending these activities than we were to saving them. It takes time and money to pass or successfully defeat citizen initiatives, mount legal challenges and lobby our legislature. And though we lost to these well-funded national animal rights groups, we made progress between the hound ban in 1996 and the trapping ban in 2000. Our increased organizational structure, membership, and effort are clearly evident when you compare the numbers: In 1996 we lost I655 by a margin of 2:1. Four years later we lost I713 needing less than 5% more of the vote. We came close but not close enough. And that is why we are asking that every individual and outdoor group in the state join and support this glorious unity effort by joining the WWC.

If you care about the future of our outdoor lifestyle and responsible wildlife management, please lend a hand and support the efforts of the WWC, and HHC. The effort inspires me everyday and I hope it inspires you as well. Together we can preserve and defend our honorable outdoor heritage. The WWC is a 501 (C) (4) non-profit corporation. We are all volunteers. No one gets paid. Virtually every penny donated and raised goes directly towards preserving our outdoor future and the promotion of responsible wildlife management. If you belong to a Club ask them to Join, if they have been a member make sure they have renewed and are current.

http://www.w4wc.org/index.html

https://huntersheritagecouncil.org/index.html

[JeepWrangler]

I'm joining up.

Hope everyone who see's the original post can do the same.

[WWC]

I'm joining up.

Hope everyone who see's the original post can do the same.

This is great and we hope many other sportsmen will add their voice and contribute money.

WWC has many members here on Hunt-WA. Some represent organizations, some are past WDFW bios and game wardens. Most want to remain vaguely anonymous for a variety of reasons. With this Spring Bear fiasco we recognized that many on here are motivated to do something, but lack authoritative leadership. Sportsmen on here have moved forward with great ideas, but half correct facts, or calls for action directed in ineffective directions.  It is not our goal to engage in debate around the campfire, but to inform sportsmen for timely, informed calls to action and education. We have reached out to sportsmen via Facebook for the past couple of years, but realized we are not reaching many forum members here.

[huntnnw]

need to do better with getting the word out on this. I didnt even know this existed. More involvement in social media, sports shows etc. You are not reaching enough people or the potential in members.

[Skyvalhunter]

You posted this on the right forum in look for support. Hopefully this will increase the membership of these groups

[Elkaholic daWg]

  Joined and shared

[trophyhunt]

Web site didn't work for me, I'll try again at home.

[Karl Blanchard]

First off, thank you WWC for posting and welcome to huntwa

With that said, why now? And by that I mean where was this post rallying the troops before the bear vote in the council?  I want my money going to organizations that are proactive not reactive. As huntnw mentioned, I've never even heard of WWC or HHC.  Its very easy to reach people via social media these days. Maybe another volunteer dedicated to SM and PR is in order. Ive been saying this entire time post spring bear loss, where are  and where were our hunting rights organizations? Folks that were paying attention knew this was coming but besides a thread on this forum there was no call to arms 

Please don't don't take my comments as a personal attack as its not intended that way as I'm sure WWC has done some great things that we don't know about but if WWC and HHC want folks to part with their hard earned money they need to see what its going towards    anyone on this forum thats been around will attest that I'm the first guy to put up or shut up so give me a reason. What is WWC and HHC going to do to help get our spring season back?

[JeepWrangler]

I am going to stick my neck out here... Hunters need to be supporting each other more:

I'm as guilty as some others for not being super aware of W4WC.

That's my fault.

I'm fixing that by joining their organization with a Membership.

W4WC has been active since 1995.

Just because they didn't post a lot on your favorite social media platform does not mean they were not leaving a digital foot print of all the good positive work they have been doing.

It's just as easy to reverse search an organization on the internet as it is to complain that you don't know someone exists.

W4WC has been busy. It shows all over the internet the good works they have been involved in.

Before complaining about those who are busy being an asset to Conservation, please take a moment and do a little easy research.

~ end of rant ~

[Karl Blanchard]

As I stated before, that wasn't a complaint, it was meant to be constructive criticism. If its taken as complaining and a defensive position is the go to then it becomes telling that maybe there is in fact an issue with promotion.

You're new here and don't know me but as I stated, I'm the first guy to put my money where my mouth is and I do in fact do my homework but when the fast majority of hunters have never heard of you, thats an issue.

I pose my question again, does WWC and HHC have a game plan to get spring bear back?

[Karl Blanchard]

And fyi, when I Google "washington state hunting rights organization" WWC doesn't come up.

[Tbar]

First off, thank you WWC for posting and welcome to huntwa

With that said, why now? And by that I mean where was this post rallying the troops before the bear vote in the council?  I want my money going to organizations that are proactive not reactive. As huntnw mentioned, I've never even heard of WWC or HHC.  Its very easy to reach people via social media these days. Maybe another volunteer dedicated to SM and PR is in order. Ive been saying this entire time post spring bear loss, where are  and where were our hunting rights organizations? Folks that were paying attention knew this was coming but besides a thread on this forum there was no call to arms 

Please don't don't take my comments as a personal attack as its not intended that way as I'm sure WWC has done some great things that we don't know about but if WWC and HHC want folks to part with their hard earned money they need to see what its going towards    anyone on this forum thats been around will attest that I'm the first guy to put up or shut up so give me a reason. What is WWC and HHC going to do to help get our spring season back?

There were several posts by @SpecialT and I believe @bushcraft spelling out the threats. It's spring bear, it sucks, but it's probably a good wake up call to all consumptive users. I mean all consumptive users, the fish are in their cross hairs as well.

[Karl Blanchard]

Yep and I saw those and emails were sent. Hence my comment about the posts. I was unaware they were representing WWC though

[bearpaw]

I want to thank WWC for becoming officially active on the H-W forum, there were already numerous WWC members here but not in an official capacity. 

As has been mentioned there were posts asking members to send messages regarding the spring bear issue, I don't think many people really thought it would be taken away. Now that we lost spring bear it's easy to point fingers and say someone else should have done more, but in reality if we all look in a mirror many of us will see who should have been more involved.

I think we all should look forward in a positive manner, try to be more involved, and hopefully the WWC can recommend actions we can all take in the future to be more effective.

[Rainier10]

Just joined at the $100 associate level.

Click here to learn more and join if you can.

http://www.w4wc.org/membership.html

[Mtnwalker]

Glad to see you guys on here, but fully agree with what a few others have said. I'll reiterate a response I had on another thread toward HHC because it applies equally here as well. I have been a hunter in WA for two and a half decades, and I've also never heard of either of these groups (WWC or HHC) until now. I'm not overly involved in the political side of hunting but I do believe I'm more informed than the average hunter. I have also been actively searching for Washington-specific orgs that are having a net positive impact at the state local level and are worth donating my hard earned money, and maybe time, to. So like Karl said, where have you guys been? I'd think a site like this would be ground zero for an organization like WWC to get their word out. A common problem I see among pro sportsman orgs is they assume people in the game already know who they are and they really don't do enough to get their name and mission statement out there to the general sporting public. Hopefully that can be remedied going forward.

[bearpaw]

Just joined at the $100 associate level.

Click here to learn more and join if you can.

http://www.w4wc.org/membership.html

Good job Raninier10! 
I was going to do the same, I think this is our best option, the most organized group to help prevent further season losses.

But it seems they only accept google pay online?

@WWC
Can you take paypal? What other payment methods are accepted for membership, where would a person send a check?

[Rainier10]

Just joined at the $100 associate level.

Click here to learn more and join if you can.

http://www.w4wc.org/membership.html

Good job Raninier10! 
I was going to do the same, I think this is our best option, the most organized group to help prevent further season losses.

But it seems they only accept google pay online?

@WWC
Can you take paypal? What other payment methods are accepted for membership, where would a person send a check?

I clicked on add to cart and then checkout and it allowed me to pay with my credit card.   There was also an option for a mail application at the top of the link I provided and you can send a check with that application.
mail in membership application
http://www.w4wc.org/uploads/3/4/7/0/34704266/membership_flyer_2018-03-10border_snoqualmie.pdf

[Karl Blanchard]

Just joined at the $100 associate level.

Click here to learn more and join if you can.

http://www.w4wc.org/membership.html

Good job Raninier10! 
I was going to do the same, I think this is our best option, the most organized group to help prevent further season losses.

But it seems they only accept google pay online?

@WWC
Can you take paypal? What other payment methods are accepted for membership, where would a person send a check?

you can pay with credit card. Add membership to cart, select cart (top right corner) then check out.

[Angry Perch]

Just joined at the $100 associate level.

Click here to learn more and join if you can.

http://www.w4wc.org/membership.html

Ditto

[Special T]

First off, thank you WWC for posting and welcome to huntwa

With that said, why now? And by that I mean where was this post rallying the troops before the bear vote in the council?  I want my money going to organizations that are proactive not reactive. As huntnw mentioned, I've never even heard of WWC or HHC.  Its very easy to reach people via social media these days. Maybe another volunteer dedicated to SM and PR is in order. Ive been saying this entire time post spring bear loss, where are  and where were our hunting rights organizations? Folks that were paying attention knew this was coming but besides a thread on this forum there was no call to arms 

Please don't don't take my comments as a personal attack as its not intended that way as I'm sure WWC has done some great things that we don't know about but if WWC and HHC want folks to part with their hard earned money they need to see what its going towards    anyone on this forum thats been around will attest that I'm the first guy to put up or shut up so give me a reason. What is WWC and HHC going to do to help get our spring season back?

There were several posts by @SpecialT and I believe @bushcraft spelling out the threats. It's spring bear, it sucks, but it's probably a good wake up call to all consumptive users. I mean all consumptive users, the fish are in their cross hairs as well.

I learned about WWC from Bushcraft on here. One of the sportsmen organization was a past supporter and it fell off the organizations radar but renewed after some investigation. I joined Washinton Waterfowl Association and realized they belonged as well.  The Facebook page seems to have relevant information posted so I have shared some of it here from time to time. The fact is we all need to find a consistent way to be involved. One of the things I love seeing on here is the "done" posts. Hopefully WWC joining  the forum will provide a rally point to push back against the Anti hunting forces. They are gunning for us. They unify and raise more $ for the fight while we bicker between weapon types, Indians, and who is unfairly getting a shrinking slice of the pie.

[wadu1]

Associate Membership as well.
I agree with Karl, this org is hard to find on the web. I didn't know our sportsman's club was a member, it's listed on the WWC site. I did verify with the office that the club is still paying membership. I will be adding it as a talking point at the next BOD meeting (12/30).

[Special T]

Glad to see you guys on here, but fully agree with what a few others have said. I'll reiterate a response I had on another thread toward HHC because it applies equally here as well. I have been a hunter in WA for two and a half decades, and I've also never heard of either of these groups (WWC or HHC) until now. I'm not overly involved in the political side of hunting but I do believe I'm more informed than the average hunter. I have also been actively searching for Washington-specific orgs that are having a net positive impact at the state local level and are worth donating my hard earned money, and maybe time, to. So like Karl said, where have you guys been? I'd think a site like this would be ground zero for an organization like WWC to get their word out. A common problem I see among pro sportsman orgs is they assume people in the game already know who they are and they really don't do enough to get their name and mission statement out there to the general sporting public. Hopefully that can be remedied going forward.

I've been a long time members of Silver Arrow Bowman archery club. What I can tell you is that recruiting members to work on the course, glue targets and such is 10x easier that finding someone to maintain the website and advertise and keep everyone informed.  I highly doubt my experience is much different than other volunteer organizations.

[Karl Blanchard]

Glad to see you guys on here, but fully agree with what a few others have said. I'll reiterate a response I had on another thread toward HHC because it applies equally here as well. I have been a hunter in WA for two and a half decades, and I've also never heard of either of these groups (WWC or HHC) until now. I'm not overly involved in the political side of hunting but I do believe I'm more informed than the average hunter. I have also been actively searching for Washington-specific orgs that are having a net positive impact at the state local level and are worth donating my hard earned money, and maybe time, to. So like Karl said, where have you guys been? I'd think a site like this would be ground zero for an organization like WWC to get their word out. A common problem I see among pro sportsman orgs is they assume people in the game already know who they are and they really don't do enough to get their name and mission statement out there to the general sporting public. Hopefully that can be remedied going forward.

I've been a long time members of Silver Arrow Bowman archery club. What I can tell you is that recruiting members to work on the course, glue targets and such is 10x easier that finding someone to maintain the website and advertise and keep everyone informed.  I highly doubt my experience is much different than other volunteer organizations.

I can believe that for sure. Its a specialized skill. Gotta be someone out there thats willing to do it though 

I can say that if I was strictly just browsing the internet and came across WWC's webpage I don't think I'd be swiping my card. Heck their volunteer page hasn't been updated since 2018. There's no mention of past battles fought. Nothing selling themselves and saying to me give them your money Karl. I swiped my card because of you supporting them Special T. Plain and simple. You've been a rock solid member of this forum for years and your continual knowledge of the issues is always appreciated. Now that I'm a card carrying member, I hope to be more informed of the backdoor fighting that has apparently been raging on our behalf 


I'll pose my question again...what was WWC's plan to combat the loss of spring bear and now that its gone, what is the plan moving forward?

[Special T]

Like a lot of folks wanting to do something it has left me scratching my head. Yelling at director  Susewind hurts us. The 3 commissioners Baker, Koontz, and Smith don't care what we think. Carpenter screwing us is strange and Linville seemed to be the swing vote normally.
The state Natural Resource Committee is dominated by anti hunters. Normally that is who you would write but VanDeWege is a HSUS supporter So how effective is it? If anti hunters are running the Committee  then why did they not bring them up for a conformation vote? Top that with Carpenter ran for city council in Mount Vernon which would have made him in illegible,  and yet he was reappointed. He is chair again and the swing vote Linville is vice chair.

Smith is dumb and seems to be the lightning rod of sportsmen anger. She can probably  be ousted. Is her overt anti hunting talk and association cover to put in More "reasonable" commissioners... that will still screw us, and allow Koontz to stay on? Whom BTW I personally think is the most dangerous person on the Commission. He has just the right background to question and manipulate the numbers. Evidence of this is hispush to lower the management objective in the blues.

This stuff can get really inside baseball so it's hard to know, so I'm Curious as well.

[Karl Blanchard]

Larry's vote is the one that really stings and his lack of clarification seems telling of what likely went down behind closed doors.  At least with the anti's we know what we are up against.

If procedure was indeed violated and rcw's broken as some have posted in other threads, why is nobody taking legal action? The anti's seem to be made up of lawyers and millionaires ready to back them. Is there no hunting rights lawyers out there ready to take up the fight? These are just general questions ive been pondering and honestly don't know the answer to them. They are not directed at any organization so nobody flame me for asking 

[Special T]

Larry's vote is the one that really stings and his lack of clarification seems telling of what likely went down behind closed doors.  At least with the anti's we know what we are up against.

If procedure was indeed violated and rcw's broken as some have posted in other threads, why is nobody taking legal action? The anti's seem to be made up of lawyers and millionaires ready to back them. Is there no hunting rights lawyers out there ready to take up the fight? These are just general questions ive been pondering and honestly don't know the answer to them. They are not directed at any organization so nobody flame me for asking 

My hypothesis is that, in general, the WDFW operates from a position of weakness. Meaning that  those whom can apply pressure get more. Sportsmen rarely sue so likely as the easiest to overlook.  I am not a lawyer, but if we look at the national sue and settle techniques  something approaching that is likely at play.  Since the Antis are constantly suing and hunters rarely do it's easier to take from sportsmen one slice at a time. Sportsmen have not built up the protest/advocacy infrastructure the Antis have... not to mention hunting sporting goods companies are cheap. They don't actually want to engage the fight. They want non confrontational habitat groups. Which is one of the reasons I no longer belong to them... but I digress

[WWC]

In a different thread it was asked "Where were the sportsmen groups?" and screen shots of different sportsmen groups posts. So I thought we would share a couple of screen shots of our Facebook page metrics. We share this without judgement or bragging but just want to show we are doing something, and that we recognize that we can always do more. It is part of the reason we are here. Converting information into action is the most important part to sharing calls to action. If you are on Facebook you can help by "Liking" the page and sharing posts to your personal page. Sharing to groups help but as you can see from the call to action "before post" and "after post" more people showed the bad news than the call to action. Facebook has gone through some interesting changes and sharing on personal pages has increased reach.

[WWC]

Just joined at the $100 associate level.

Click here to learn more and join if you can.

http://www.w4wc.org/membership.html

Good job Raninier10! 
I was going to do the same, I think this is our best option, the most organized group to help prevent further season losses.

But it seems they only accept google pay online?

@WWC
Can you take paypal? What other payment methods are accepted for membership, where would a person send a check?

We take credit cards and old fashioned checks, and it appears that Karl explained it. The Google Pay does have a predominate place implicating it is the main way to join but that is not the case.

[WWC]

These are some screen shots of the letter sent by Hunters Heritage Council sent in October well before the deadline for the first submission. Some details have been trimmed for the sake of privacy. WWC and HHC had speakers lined up to give testimony but Commissioner Carpenter told the public written testimony had equal weight. We also know that member organizations wrote letters as well.

[brokentrail]

Associate membership completed.  I will say @WWC, an explanation of the different membership levels would be good to have somewhere.  I was conflicted if I should have a family membership or associate but since associate was 100.00, I chose that one so you have more to do "things" with.

[WWC]

Associate membership completed.  I will say @WWC, an explanation of the different membership levels would be good to have somewhere.  I was conflicted if I should have a family membership or associate but since associate was 100.00, I chose that one so you have more to do "things" with.

Individual and Family tend to be for those groups.  Organizations can join as an associate member but have no voting rights. Organizational Voting Members are for your shooting or sportsmen organization. If you wanted to donate a sum larger than $100 we will work out with some personal conversation.

Money is always important, however representing large contingents of Washington sportsmen is what makes our voice strong.

Hunters Heritage donations to the PAC are for pure politicking. You can mail a check but have to include the form on the Website for disclosure purposes.

[WWC]

One of our outreach programs is our educational and touch booth.  Before Covid we had it set up at the State Fair, The Sportsmen show, and the Bighorn show in Spokane. The fair is one of the most important public outreach events we participate in. The general  non hunting public are exposed to pro hunting  information and kids get a chance to handle skulls and furs.

[jackelope]

Signed up. Associate member. Thanks for fighting the fight, WWC.

[Mtnwalker]

Will WWC be making a recommendation for new commission appointments, or backing a particular applicant(s)?

[KFhunter]

Ya,  I liked that guy applying for the NE WA position, the lawyer.   

I joined WWC a while back, didn't prolly do it proper though...haven't seen an email or anything back. 

[Karl Blanchard]

Will WWC be making a recommendation for new commission appointments, or backing a particular applicant(s)?

 

I'd also still like to know what they are doing to help get spring bear back besides FB posts?

[jackelope]

@WWC

[Special T]

I want to see a plan for some action just as much as anyone...  but you guys do realize all the things your talking about require lots of reading, strategizing and coordinating...all done by volunteers.

[Hunter4Life]

There is a candidate that that both HHC and WWC will be backing for the empty Koontz position.  I'm not at liberty not mention the name at this time, but it will be a coalition candidate that hunters, fishermen, and the tribes will all agree on and be a balance candidate in accordance to RCW 77.04.040.  This candidate is hardcore on hunting issues.  I will announce the name so soon as I am free too.  This is the Western Washington position.

We are moving hard to return spring, looking at all the options to us.  Our board meeting is in two days.  One we are looking at is to file a petition with the Commission.  The Inland Northwest Wildlife Council is filing their own petition.  Anyone with questions can PM me personally.