Post by: RC on January 21, 2025, 03:56:40 PM
WA Fish and Wildlife Commission has its problems, but we should keep it
If you told me two years ago that I would be writing a piece to defend the Washington Fish and Wildlife Commission, I’d have questioned your sanity. My criticism of them over the past five years has been frequent, public and strident. That’s why I hope you will pay attention to my message about how important the commission is to Washington’s wildlife.
The commission’s structure needs to be fixed, not eliminated or replaced. Unfortunately, replacement is the goal of special interest groups — such as Washington Wildlife First — which are pushing to have the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife made a cabinet position with a single governor-appointed director. This would rob many constituents of their voice in wildlife management decisions while subjecting our wildlife to the capricious whims of partisan politics. Furthermore, such a move would force the WDFW to compete with other cabinet agencies for funding.
Our wildlife is too precious to subject it to that level of risk and instability. This is why very few states in North America operate under the cabinet model, and almost none operate without a commission. Commissions are designed to give various stakeholders a voice; anyone from animal rights advocates to hunters can express their concerns. It’s also designed specifically to insulate wildlife policy from the pendulum swing of partisan politics. Allowing one person to control all our wildlife resources is courting disaster.
The current commission — nine governor-appointed members — is dysfunctional. I was recently a panelist at a Wolf Advisory Group meeting, and I asked a room full of staff biologists if they felt like they were treated respectfully by the commission. The answer was an awkward silence and one biologist miming the “my lips are sealed” signal. Our scientists are frequently berated during meetings while simply trying to present the data that taxpayers are funding. This hostile work environment has resulted in the loss of key staff, such as carnivore biologist Stephanie Simek in 2022. (Simek was named executive director of the New Hampshire Fish and Game Department in 2024.)
Sadly, issues with the commission do not end with a mere lack of professionalism. Citizens from all backgrounds have cited examples of internal commission rule violations and violations of Washington state law, particularly the Public Records Act and the Open Public Meetings Act. Other problematic issues include a lack of understanding of how to work with tribal co-managers; the inability to follow procedural rules; and an enormous amount of time spent on concerns around black bears and cougars, although both are listed as species of least concern by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. Meanwhile, we have 25 species in Washington that are endangered yet receive almost no attention from the commission.
The commission structure works in most states. What is missing in Washington are guardrails for commissioner behavior. Right now, the appointment process is pro forma, and the governor who makes the appointments in the first place is the only one capable of removing commissioners. Such circular structures of accountability equal no accountability at all, and moving the agency to a cabinet position will only magnify the problems we see today.
A recent report by the William D. Ruckelshaus Center was clear that when it comes to correcting the current issues with the commission, establishing the WDFW as a cabinet agency is only the “optimum choice” if “there is not sufficient political will” to make the accountability reforms outlined in their review. The cabinet agency is a fallback plan, and a bad one at that. I am asking our legislators to do better, and I am asking the people who care about wildlife to make sure they know the political will exists to protect it.
Post by: pd on January 21, 2025, 04:07:28 PM
I don't subscribe to the Seattle Times, so I can't see who wrote this piece. Who was the author?
Post by: dwils233 on January 21, 2025, 05:27:15 PM
Thanks for posting this.
I don't subscribe to the Seattle Times, so I can't see who wrote this piece. Who was the author?
Ryan Garrett, frequent commenter/attendee of Commission meetings and host of the hunter farmer artisan podcast
Post by: MADMAX on January 21, 2025, 06:13:28 PM
Thank you
But remember those ladies on that commission are far smarter than any of us mere deplorables
Post by: Smokeploe on January 21, 2025, 06:38:38 PM
Post by: MADMAX on January 21, 2025, 06:45:27 PM
Post by: hughjorgan on January 21, 2025, 06:46:57 PM
https://www.howlforwildlife.org/nolameducks
Post by: MADMAX on January 21, 2025, 09:06:47 PM
Post by: EnglishSetter on January 21, 2025, 10:38:42 PM
Just because they have PhD’s in certain fields really does not make the smart just educated by the left wielding college professors. I have seen many people with 3 to 4 PhDs that seem really smart but really dumb as a brick. I watch my neighbor who had 3 PhD’s make a form for a set of stairs. Then he HUNG the form on an A-frame and poured 6 yards of concrete into it. Needless to say the form was NOT Anchored, all most all of the concrete spilled out onto the sidewalk covering him in concrete. Along with education you need good ole common sense. To make things work right. That is why I trust some one who has experience in the field that they are suppose to be governing. I have yet to see any common sense from those left handed nuts!
"I know lots of people who are educated far beyond their intelligence" - Lewis Grizzard
Post by: bearpaw on January 22, 2025, 05:49:25 AM
Let’s your legislators know that inslees lame duck appointment can’t stand.
https://www.howlforwildlife.org/nolameducks
Thanks for posting, I signed and I donated to help them operate:
https://www.howlforwildlife.org/nolameducks
Post by: Elkaholic daWg on January 22, 2025, 07:30:04 AM
Post by: jstone on January 22, 2025, 08:35:44 AM
Post by: jstone on January 22, 2025, 09:49:20 AM