But there is a state agency entrusted with preserving, protecting, and perpetuating wildlife that isn’t living up to that promise: the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW).
That’s the motivation for all our work, and why we are launching ‘Not My WDFW’; a campaign to restore science, ethics, and accountability at the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife.
Join us in demanding better from the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, starting with a Director who reflects your values.
Sign the petition for a new WDFW Director: Kelly Susewind must go
We now understand that our future is inseparable from the fate of the wild lives with whom we share this planet, and most Washingtonians believe we have an ethical duty to protect animals for their own sake.
Washington law recognizes that wildlife “belongs” to all the people in the state, and the Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) is obligated to “preserve, protect, perpetuate, and manage” wildlife for current and future generations.
But WDFW does not serve all of us.
State law shields the Department from democratic accountability, and its policies and practices have lagged far behind public values and expectations.
Even though most WDFW funding comes from general tax dollars, its priority is to serve those it regards as its “customers”: the small share of Washingtonians who hunt (2-4%), fish (8-17%), or trap (<1%).
WDFW management still treats living beings as products to be “harvested,” not species to be preserved or individuals to be respected.
It prioritizes recreational “opportunity” over species conservation; allows trophy hunting of rare, vulnerable, and declining species; spends millions breeding and “planting” animals like pheasants and trout for killing; and wages war on carnivores to maintain a “surplus” of game animals for hunters to kill.
WDFW still allows “recreational” trapping of “furbearers” like beavers, foxes, and bobcats, despite its cruelty.
A devout bear hunter, Director Kelly Susewind has vowed to bring back the spring bear hunt that 80% of Washingtonians oppose and only 8% support.
And the Department allows people to kill coyotes at any time, for any reason, using any method; a policy backed by only 16% of voters.
Instead of serving you, WDFW serves special interests, including the trophy hunting lobby and powerful industries.
As a result, Washington taxpayers fund the execution of state-endangered wolves for powerful players in the beef industry, even when they leave their cattle to roam unprotected in public forests.
Until the courts shut it down, WDFW defied a 1995 voter initiative allowing the use of hounds to hunt bears who damaged commercial tree plantations.
And the agency is pumping out more and more hatchery salmon to please the commercial fishing industry, ignoring the damage it is doing to threatened and endangered wild salmon and our southern resident orcas.
The time for change is long past.
Learn about why WDFW Director Kelly Susewind must be removed, and sign the petition.
Our temporary restraining order saved the Sherman wolf family for now, but they need you to speak up to ensure it is not renewed.
Real change comes from a three-part strategy:
Working alongside an extremist out-of-state gun rights organization to reinstate spring bear hunting.
Learn more
Killing endangered wolves for the beef industry, dismissing science, animal well-being, and public values.
Learn more
Ignorning science essential to saving Southern Resident orcas from extinction.
More info coming soon
WDFW Director Kelly Susewind elevates trophy-hunting and narrow industry interests.
Learn moreYour support helps ensure a better future for Washington’s wildlife.
