What You Need to Know and Do This Week: April 3, 2024

The Action Roundup contains what you most need to know about actions to take to support wildlife management reform as well as upcoming events.

Urgent Notices and Actions

WDFW has issued a revised Gray Wolf Periodic Status Review, along with a CR-102 proposing a rule to downlist wolves from endangered to sensitive, and a  Determination of Nonsignificance for the new rule under the State Environmental Policy Act.

    • Comments on both the proposed rule and the SEPA determination are due at midnight on May 6. The Commission is scheduled to vote on the downlisting in July. It is not yet clear whether the public comment period will be extended.
    • We encourage you to enter brief comments on the SEPA webpage as soon as you can, to ensure that people visiting the site will see a balanced perspective. You can also comment on the SEPA determination by emailing SEPA_GrayWolf@publicinput.com.
    • You can comment on the proposed rule by entering text in the box on this page, emailing graywolf2024@publicinput.com, or leaving a voicemail message at 855-925-2801 (project code 6505).
    • For context, you may want to reference last year’s Gray Wolf PSR, the 2023 version of the Petracca study on which the original PSR was based (and which the new PSR still references), and the final, peer-reviewed version of the Petracca study published in January 2024.

Events

WDFW Commission Meetings

  • The Washington Fish & Wildlife Commission will meet April 18-20 in Olympia. There is no posted agenda yet, but the website’s Year-at-a-Glance indicates that the Commission will hear a briefing on the annual wolf report, decide whether to adopt the draft Best Available Science Policy, discuss cougar rulemaking, and decide whether to approve a Scatter Creek timber sale.

Other WDFW Meetings

  • WDFW’s 2024 Aquatic Species Restoration Plan Symposium will run from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on April 17-18 at Centralia College, 600 Centralia College Blvd., Centralia, WA. The symposium promises the chance to “hear project success stories, get details on landowner involvement, and visit a site in person to learn about creative opportunities to reduce flood damage while providing habitat benefits for aquatic species.” Register and find more information here.
  • WDFW will hold a Solar and Wind Guidelines Stakeholder Workshop from 12-4 p.m. on April 26. Register here to join.

Other

  • Dr. Deborah Giles will discuss killer whales and answer audience questions for Dive In, an online event held by Ocean Elders at 3 p.m. on April 9. Register here.
  • Together with the environmental rights organization Talking Rivers, Nimiipuu Protecting the Environment will co-host the online event Who Looks After Water: A Conversation about Water’s More-Than-Human Guardians at 3:30 p.m. on April 9. The event “will focus on how more-than-human beings (such as Trees, Wolves and Eels) are fulfilling their roles and responsibilities towards the ecosystems they call home, while playing their part in maintaining an ecosystem balance that keeps all life flourishing.”
  • The Pickford Film Center in Bellingham will screen the documentary The Trouble With Wolves at 1 p.m. on April 14. After the screening, a representative of Wolf Haven International will give a talk.

More Action Items

  • WDFW, FWS, and the Kalispel Tribe Natural Resources Department are proposing to reintroduce bull trout into Sullivan Lake in Pend Oreille County. Bull trout are listed as threatened under the federal Endangered Species Act and are a candidate for the state Endangered Species Act. Members of the public can weigh in by entering a comment at wa.gov/sullivanlakebulltrout, emailing SullivanLakebulltrout@publicinput.com, or leaving a voicemail at 1-855-925-2801 (project code 6058). The deadline to comment is April 30, 2024.
  • WDFW is seeking public input on 2024 proposals for Washington’s ocean salmon fisheries.
    • The Pacific Fisheries Management Council, which manages west coast ocean fisheries, will meet April 5-11 at the Westin in Seattle located at 1900 5th Avenue (agenda here). You can access this meeting online on this page, which will also contain instructions for testifying in person or online when available. You can also submit written comments on agenda items via the public portal. See this page for the council’s draft motions.
    • You can submit comments on WDFW’s North of Falcon public input page as well, either directly on the page, by sending an email to 2024nofrecreational@publicinput.com, or by leaving a voicemail message at 855-925-2801 and entering project code 3210.
  • The public comment periods for the bald eagle and peregrine falcon draft status reviews are open through May 27, 2024.WDFW is recommending that both species remain delisted. Please send your comments to TandEpubliccom@dfw.wa.gov or by mailing Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife ATTN: Taylor Cotten, P.O. Box 43141, Olympia, WA 98504.
  • WDFW is asking the public for information on the ground squirrel to assist in the determination of the species’ conservation status. Send your observations to TandEpubliccom@dfw.wa.gov or by mailing Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife ATTN: Taylor Cotten, P.O. Box 43141, Olympia, WA 98504. Reports will be posted to the species status review page. (WDFW has not provided a deadline.)