The day before the March Commission meeting, WDFW Commissioner Rowland published an op-ed in the Methow Valley News. While commissioners have First Amendment rights, Rowland is currently under investigation by the Governor’s office over allegations of collusion, malfeasance, and corruption.Her op-ed appeared official, never clarifying she was speaking as a private citizen.
The piece cherry-picked the Commission’s mandate — highlighting one portion while ignoring the rest. Sorry Melanie, you can’t support half the law and condemn the department for following the other half.
She defended removing the spring bear hunt despite support from department biologists. Claims of “following the science” fall flat when that science was ignored. The result? A respected biologist lost, revenue gone, and a favorite hunt stripped from sportsmen.
She says she’s not against hunting — yet celebrates reducing cougar opportunity and keeping wolves listed, despite downlisting being recommended by department biologists.
On public records, she dismisses the Sportsmen’s Alliance as “out of state,” though they represent thousands of Washington members. Conservation Coalition of Washington has also provided records supporting allegations of collusion with anti-hunting groups, ethics issues, meeting disruptions, and etc.
She complains about investigation costs and time- but from all the records we have this was long overdue. If these allegations were not so clear or if she just resigned maybe this wouldn’t be a problem.
Her claim of “just exchanging emails” with citizens that represent the majority is not reality. Her close relationship with the state’s leading anti-hunting and self-proclaimed animal rights group funded by a billionaire — is clear from all of our records. And last time we checked.. billionaires and animal rights groups don’t represent Washington.
She says she’s open to hunting groups, yet declined repeated invitations and has refrained from replying to emails.
Her op-ed appears to urge supporters to pressure the Governor to keep her in place. Continuing to divide stakeholders isn’t the answer. Melanie, you should step down. You certainly do not “protect balance”.
Read the article yourself and let us know what you think!
https://methowvalleynews.com/.../my-turn-protecting.../
