Hey everyone, wanted to post a reminder here on the upcoming commission meeting. The final commission meeting of the year is on December 14th through 16th and this meeting will be fully on zoom. Signing up for public comment will probably start this Thursday. This meeting will end the year for the commission and give a tease for next year. This is a very important meeting as the commission will be voting on a predator hunting petition from anti-hunting groups like Washington Wildlife First and others. This petition will lower bag limits and seasons on cougar and bear hunting. This is word for word what Lorna Smith and Melanie Rowland have discussed doing. If the petition is accepted, this will eventually lead into a full ban on predator hunting which is a wishlist for antis. We need to explain to the commission how predator hunting is ended and support department staff as they present the science to back predator hunting. This vote will most likely be very close and we need all the support we can. This is a meeting over zoom so it should be a lot easier to attend.
The commission will also hear a spring bear petition and have a discussion on rules of procedure. I imagine this is to get commissioners like Lorna and Rowland under control. Its well known that those two and things with the commission have gotten so crazy. Elections for chair and vice chair positions will also be held. Currently, Barbara Baker is the chair and Molly Linville is vice chair. I don't expect too many changes but show up to support Commissioner Linville as she is one of our biggest fighters. The commission will also be briefed on the lands 20/20 initiative. This will give the department around 10,000 acres of new land. We need to show up to speak at this meeting. Speak about what hunting means to you, speak about the success of conservation and just how hunting is conservation, share stories beyond just the financial contributions, talk about your support for department staff and bring up the actions of the commission and call them out on their stuff. We need a presence at every meeting, we can't let off the steam. Hope to see ya'll there!
