These emails show what was happening behind the scenes in the days after the request for 4 of our commissioners was made by WDFW Director Kelly Susewind.
First, Melanie Rowland sends Lorna Smith a link to article from Columbia Insight.
She calls it a good piece ( we don’t agree and found the piece heavily slanted, using terms like “Hunters argue for right to kill mothers with cubs”), but flags a major update: the Governor had already authorized a formal investigation into commissioner conduct.
That clearly caught them off guard.
Rowland then admits their letter to the Governor was “a bit late,” and that guidance to Smith from the Attorney General’s office turned out to be wrong. We have some of that record to share next.
In other words, they had already sent letters defending themselves — only to realize those letters came too late, after the decision had already been made.
Columbia Insight reports that four letters — including ones from Rowland and Smith, other commissioners, and Director Kelly Susewind — were leaked and formed the basis of the story.
Days later, Rowland tells Smith she also sent at least two of those four letters to a Methow Valley News editor “in case [she] would like to advise other news organizations.”
Rowland shared both the Susewind investigation request and the commissioners’ response — and confirmed the Governor had already agreed to the investigation. She also made clear she and Smith were among those targeted.
Why were Lorna Smith and Melanie Rowland coordinating responses and sharing materials tied to their own case with the media? It looks to some people that they may have been trying to control the narrative with the public and manage the fallout.
Either way it is certainly not a good look when you are in the spotlight for potential government malfeasance and being investigated.
