Everyone,
IMPORTANT-A Bill has been drafted and sponsored! IMO dissolution of the Commission and making WDFW a political appointed cabinet post instead of reform goes against the studies findings as well as is just plain nuts and will remove any hope of keeping politics/agendas out of rule making. This can be found in other HUNTWA groups. The Antis are all over social media and the various different anti groups all link arms on things like this. We must also do this. Many of us belong to various groups, or interact with others. Get the word out!
https://nwsportsmanmag.com/bill-would-dissolve-wa-fish-wildlife-commission-authority-move-wdfw-to-governors-cabinet/?fbclid=IwY2xjawIH6g1leHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHTUXiE3EZj4JFuJXZ0_k3eJRi8JSC4mw6pLH8VBsAwXM3ZWMRWIo5wpgKA_aem_5A03BIDfbdbtnGoIywlnJw Hot topic floating around; The Ruckelshaus Review as you all (hopefully) know found that the Commission is dysfunctional at best. It appears that Legislative action will be needed to right the ship so to speak. There are many outdoor organizations discussing this and this is an area that if it goes bad can really sink us.
Claire Davis of WA Wildlife First is supposedly already drafting a bill (and has a sponsor) that would dissolve the Commission and make WDFW Director a Cabinet position. This would make it a pure political position and with our liberal governor, a death sentence to folks like us as antis would have a one-stop shop.
Kelsey Ross of the Conservation Coalition, a non-trapper but a backer of us, sent the blurb to me. She also posted on our Facebook page, but not surprising, there's no one commenting:
So basically Claire Davis of WWF got into a legislators head when non-game/diversity funding was passed a couple of years ago. She pushed for a review of WDFW and the department in order to get the Commission dissolved and WDFW placed into a cabinet agency. It is easier for them to get their way with one person.
Goal was to have review put on by Evergreen State College.
It ended up being the Ruckelshaus Center. The review went on over a year.
Of course the commission was found to be a disaster from the 110 individuals/reps that were spoken to… because it is.
Report came out late December. It provides 3 options/recommendations: 1 leave the commission as status quo. Not a good solution.
2 dissolve the commission and create a cabinet agency with single appointed director. What the antis want.
3 reform the commission and provide accountability, oversight.
This is a brief a summary, there is more.
This will be decided upon in the legislature. We will have to move fast to push for option 3. Antis are rumored to have crafted a bill and already have a sponsor. I believe it.
Also, Howl For Wildlife is holding a Virtual Townhall this thursday evening that you can join on this very topic. Info here:
https://www.howlforwildlife.org/holdwfwcommissionaccountable?utm_campaign=jan_18_2025&utm_medium=email&utm_source=howlforwildlifeThis is a crucial discussion for us to be part of, and a way to connect with other outdoor groups. I myself am also curious as to how HHC and WWC are approaching this. I'm also forwarding this to the WSTA BOD via email...
