WDFW - Abuse Of Power or Unequal Discretion

[bearpaw]

Last night I attended a meeting with concerned citizens and with two Washington legislators. Unfortunately a third concerned legislator was unable to attend. During the meeting I mentioned that I was fairly active on this forum and I was asked to contact members of this forum looking for information.

The group is documenting cases where there has been an abuse of power by the WDFW. Several concerned citizens told stories of what had happened to them in what they considered to be an abuse of power by the WDFW or instances in which their rights had been violated.

I want to make it very clear that this group is not on a witch hunt. The group members are all upstanding citizens who are pro law enforcement and pro-WDFW. I listened to several stories of praise about WDFW personnel. But the concern the group has is that there may be some cases involving violations of citizens rights, unequal discretion by WDFW personnel, abuse of power, or internal coverups occuring within the WDFW. The group and the legislators want to find out to what extent these abuses may be occuring across the state.

The legislators want documented instances where there has been abuse, but they made it clear they only want verifiable instances where the WDFW has violated your rights or abused their power. They do not want complaints because you were busted for doing something illegal and you are still mad about getting caught.

If you feel you have been the victim of abuse or have information about abuse, unequal discretion, or violations of citizens rights involving the WDFW, please feel free to contact me. If it is sensitive info that you would prefer to discuss directly with the group leader or with a legislator I will put you directly in touch with them and you do not need to explain a thing to me. Feel free to call me at 509-684-6294 so we can talk off the record and I will put you in touch with the appropriate people.

[boneaddict]

Nice of them to do a probe.   All good reports from me though.  I have never had a bad experience with them.  I wish there were more of them out there than there are, and any time I have ever been questioned out in th ewoods, I was happy to see them doing their job protecting my/our resource.

[boneaddict]

Since you have their ear, you might question why they cannot have a member on this site to answer questions etc.  The gentleman that was on here before (before your time) did a good job of clearing up misconceptions.  Apparantly he was forced by the department to leave.  He was a great resource, and as moderators we made sure he didn't take any crap or abuse from disgruntled members.  For the most part everyone was very respectful and appreciative.

[jackelope]

i will echo what Bone said it's nice to see they are looking into issues...they should be if they have happened. my contacts with them have only been positive.

thanks for taking the time to be the middle man on this, Dale.

[DOUBLELUNG]

All of my contacts with game wardens have been positive.  Some were gruff, some were friendly, none were out of line.  I understand and expect them to try to discover any violations I may have committed; that said, the only time I was ever in violation when checked (Wyoming turkey, detached and notched tag but forgot to sign), the game warden was a bit gruff, but just handed me a pen and told me to fix it.

I did have a bit of a standoff when I was 14 with a NH State Trooper playing game warden.  It was about 2 weeks before trout season, and I had just landed the biggest brook trout of my life, about 16" and 2lb.  He walked down from the highway and told me fishing season was closed, and to release the fish.  I told him that stretch of river was open year round, with a reduced 2-fish limit outside of the regular trout season.  He stated I was wrong, and to release the fish (I was in waders, mid-river in late February or early March).  I said I was right, and would wait there if he wanted to check.   He must not have been sure, since he went back up to his car, and after a while drove away. 

[Kain]

No complaints for enforcement officers.  They have all been very polite and even helpful.  My complaint is that there are not enough of them.  Most of my issues or complaints would be for the commission and making rules that step on our rights or eliminate hunting oppurtunities for lame reasons.  (dogs for coyote, cougar season,  CPL required for carrying during archery and ML).

[bearpaw]

Hopefully there is not a widespread problem. However there were some very creditable people with a few disturbing stories which definetely got the ear of the legislators.

One common concern seems to be if the Dept is moving in the right direction with enforcement now making traffic stops, checking woodcutters, etc.

I was actually worried about making the post, there are some wdfw personnel that I consider friends that I do not want to disrespect. And I was worried about making someone mad who might try to target us. But like I told the wife, the group is only looking for information and we are not doing anything wrong. We should not be afraid to act in the civic cause.

[bearpaw]

Bone....are you asking for someone from legislature or from WDFW...to be a member on the forum.

[jackelope]

Dale...we had a guy who worked for wdfw on here unofficially answering questions occasionally. he'd let us know when the draw results were coming, etc.
pm sent.

[gasman]

Dale, thanks for all your help and support.

Youa re a great rep for us sportsmen's

[DOUBLELUNG]

One common concern seems to be if the Dept is moving in the right direction with enforcement now making traffic stops, checking woodcutters, etc.

I could NOT agree more.  Once the Enforcement Program chief came on from State Patrol, it got pretty hard to tell.  Our Fish and Wildlife Enforcement Officers need to be focused on protection of fish and wildlife resources. 

[bearpaw]

It is no easy job for the WDFW or the Commission to try and manage our resources and to satisfy all the people of Washington. Right here on this forum all of us never agree on any issue the same way. Just imagine the job they have satisfying all of us hunters, fishermen, commercial interests, non-consumptive users, and the greenies. We are all residents and they do have a responsibility to manage for the residents of the state.

Seems to me this is all the more reason to keep our agents focused on wildlife. But that's just my opinion.

The purpose of this thread was to find out about any abuse that could be occuring so I better stay focused on this thread......

If anyone has anything to report, let me know and I will pass it to the people who want to know. We all know there are a lot of good people in the WDFW, but it can't hurt to check for any corruption.

[Kain]

Well it is encouraging that there is not a slew of complaints and WDFW bashing. 

[Dmanmastertracker]

 It just dawned on me who you were, sorry I'm slow at times.

Welcome Dale.

[bearpaw]

Kain, Yes I agree, I was a little worried about a bashing session too, I didn't want that to happen on this thread...but so far so good.

dman....I'm probably in the dark more than anyone here on who's who....send me a pm so i know who you are.