Hey Bigtex, The old department of "what" signs? the agency was properly named then.....F&G
No it wasn't. Prior to 1994 there were two seperate dept's the Dept of Wildlife and the Dept of Fisheries. In 1994 they merged them together to form WDFW. Then even farther back there was the Dept of Game and the Dept of Fisheries.
Many of those brown signs that are on roads that point to WDFW boat launches actually say Dept of Wildlife and were posted prior to 1994. Many of the wildlife area signs also refer to the Dept of Wildlife, those of you that frequent the LT Murray Wildlife Area have probably seen these.
WRONG!!!
Prior to 1994 it was the Washington Department Of Fish and Game, Or Game dept. NOT wildlife dept Fisheries was salt water, Fish and Game was fresh water
Combined the 2 and we got WDFW And now they're worried about tweetie birds, frogs, backyard sanctuaries and whatever else the politically correct bunch in control of this state want.
I WAS WRONG!
We are both wrong. It was 1987 the name changed from Game to Wildlife and I didn't think that happened til 1994...Sorry! In 1987 was when Olympia decided to start Meddling and things got political and well.....
Fom WDFW website
A Brief History of the
Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife
March 1890 - The first Fish Commissioner was James Crawford, appointed by Governor Elisha Ferry
1891 - State Legislature appropriated funds for a salmon hatchery.
1895 - The first salmon hatchery was built and dedicated in 1895 on the Kalama River.
1915 - Legislature passed a new Game and Game-Fish Code that provided for a Chief Game Warden and a Fish Commissioner both managed under Chief Game Warden L. H. Darwin, Department of Fish and Game
1921 - Legislature abolished the Fish Commission and replaced it with a Department of Fisheries with a Division of Fisheries and a Division of Game and Game Fish.
1932 - An initiative separated food fish and game fish and created a Department of Fisheries (food fish) under an appointed Director and a Department of Game (game fish) under a six member commission.
1987 - Legislature changed Department of Game, with a Commission-appointed director, to Department of Wildlife with a Director appointed by the Governor.
1994 - Legislature merged Department of Wildlife and Department of Fisheries, creating Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW). WDFW has a 9-member Commission and the WDFW Director is appointed by the Commission.
