Alert: SB 6813 - WDFW Elimination

[roadhuntking]

Well according to some inside sources, and one involved in confrence via phone yesterday, it sounds positve in favor of the bill and that they (whoever is involved, dnr, wdfw employees, and you and me) won't know anything until September.  So take that for whatever its worth, I got it in a short hey how ya doing conversation this afternoon.

[washelkhntr]

Take this for what it is worth, which might not be much.... My mother in law was down there yesterday because of all the hearings and she was there for something else, but she did tell me when she got home that the Queen Bitch herself is pushing this hard and pushing all democrats to approve it. She has already put it into her 2011 budget plan that is in the works right now. My MIL was shocked about how many down there are onboard with this plan.

[whacker1]

Still no news posted on http://apps.leg.wa.gov/billinfo/summary.aspx?bill=6813&year=2009 on the outcome of the meeting on the 17th.  This is very unusual that they haven't posted the outcome of this meeting.  Also very unusual that they had a public hearing following the bill cutoff on 2/16.  I spend a lot of time following many bills in Olympia, and this is the first time I have seen this scenario played out in the last 8 years.

[whacker1]

I sent an e-mail to Sen. Bob Morton from the 7th district  to see if one of his staff could tell me what transpired and what we can expect going forward.  Sen Morton sits on this committee, so I think he will be able to help shed some light as to what transpired.

[WDFW-SUX]

I cant wait to hear the news..

[Pathfinder101]

So, forgive me if I am confused, but if WDFW is eliminated, does that mean that it will be administered by the comissioner of public lands?  Peter Goldmark?

[whacker1]

yes, peter goldmark is the elected commissioneer.   

[Pathfinder101]

In that case, I think we would probably be better off with what we currently have, no?

[whacker1]

You are correct - DNR would not do any favors to the WDFW. 

The current situation, even though flawed, is far better than what we would recieve for service under a much larger agency with a reputation for not performing.

[Kain]

Make sure you guys contact your Legislators and let them know how you feel.

http://apps.leg.wa.gov/DistrictFinder/Default.aspx


 I sent a completely different email to mine than I did to the WDFW. 

"The Commission will no longer be able to provide the public a direct avenue to exert control over the agency that sets important hunting and fishing rules."
 
We dont need politics involved in setting hunting and fishing rules anymore than they already are.  Especially in this state.

[Kain]

my email to my reps.

Just writing to let you know that I oppose this bill.  Our wildlife management is far to critical and intricate a resource to be lumped together with another department.  If there are redundancies between the departments then I ask you to fix the problems not just mash together department.

This statement is from the WDFW http://wdfw.wa.gov/commission/sb6813_statement.html  I completely agree with this and ask that you read their statement and respect the consequences of this to our fish and wildlife.

The impact on the governance of WDFW is our preeminent concern. In passing Referendum 45 in 1995, the voters of Washington empowered the Fish and Wildlife Commission with supervisory authority over the Department director for a purpose: to guarantee that fish and wildlife management would be both directly responsive to the public and insulated from political pressures.  As is the case in states around the country, the Commission process was designed to assure that the interests of long-term conservation would not be compromised for short-term political ends.

Thank you for listening,
Naithan Kain

One Response so far:

Hi Nathan, thanks for contacting me about this bill. Should it come to a vote before the House I will certainly keep your comments in mind when making my decision.


 Jim
 Rep. Jim Moeller

So far no response from the WDFW for my other letter.   

[Wacenturion]

"The Commission will no longer be able to provide the public a direct avenue to exert control over the agency that sets important hunting and fishing rules."

Sadly they do very little exerting............they are just part of the problem, and as responsible.

[WDFW-SUX]

I've never seen them not accept exactly what the game dept wants.

[Kain]

You guys might be right but I saw some good things come out of the survey they did.  They did seem to be listening to the results whether we liked them or not.  We just need the hunting and fishing community to get more involved.  I see too many guys just giving up thinking they wont be listened to anyways.      

[bearpaw]

I've never seen them not accept exactly what the game dept wants.

I have seen them direct the Dept to check into other avenues and I have seen them go against the Dept, but it is not often.

no, but I have been watching the wa.gov web-site and they haven't put any updated information on it.  It was weird, because the hearing was actually scheduled for 2/17, which was one day after the cut-off deadline.  This is the only bill that I know of that was this way, so I am hoping the bill is dead, but we won't know for sure until we see what came out of yesterday's meeting.

Unfortunately from what I understand, a bill is never completely dead, they can be brought back to life, even in following years.