What You Need to Know and Do This Week: March 8, 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

Actions

      • Please send action alerts, write to commissioners, and testify at the March 14-16 Commission meeting to urge the Commission to move forward immediately on the bear and cougar rulemaking petition it approved on December 15, 2023, so that new rules to curb excessive mortality can take effect before the 2024-25 hunting season. See our action page for more information.
      • If you have not done so already, please register to speak during the March 14-16 Fish and Wildlife Commission meeting in Olympia (agenda here). We hope you will be able to join us in person, but you can also testify over Zoom (here are Friday and Saturday Zoom links).
        • You can choose to speak during Open Public Input from 8:30-10 a.m. on Friday, March 15 (item 2 on the agenda) or from 8-9:30 a.m. on Saturday, March 16 (Item 12).
        • There will also be an opportunity for testimony on the Orca Periodic Status Review (PSR) at 3 p.m. on Friday, March 15 (Item 10 on the agenda) and the Gray Wolf PSR at 9:45 a.m. on Saturday, March 16 (Item 13 on the agenda).
        • Register here to testify during any of these periods.
        • For more detail on the Commission meeting, see below in “Events.”
      • 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.
        • Although it is still early in the process, we encourage you to enter brief comments on the SEPA webpage. 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).
          • The Commission will hold a public hearing on the downlisting proposal at 9:45 a.m. on March 16, which will include an opportunity for public comment (register here to speak on Agenda Item 13).
        • You can reference the talking points we developed related to last year’s proposal. Although the general principles remain the same, please keep in mind that some of the specific information is now outdated. We will develop revised talking points analyzing the new PSR, proposed rule, and the SEPA determination.
        • 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.
        • Please support WDFWs recommendation in its Orca Periodic Status Review that the species retain its classification as endangered on the state endangered species list.  The Commission will be holding a public hearing on this recommendation at  3 p.m. on March 15, which will include an opportunity to comment (register here to speak on Agenda Item 10).

More Action Items

  • WDFW has opened the three-year hunting season-setting for 2024-2026 for public comment. See this page to read the rule changes and comment. You can also submit input by email, by calling 1-855-925-2802 and entering project code 1378, or by mailing Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife ATTN: Wildlife Program, P.O. Box 43200, Olympia, WA 98504. March 25, 2024 is the deadline to submit comments through any of these methods. There will also be a virtual public hearing on season-setting on March 26; please pre-register here by 8 a.m. that day to give comment. (WDFW has not provided a time for the hearing yet.)
  • WDFW will start the North-of-Falcon salmon season-setting process, beginning with a presentation of initial salmon forecasts developed by WDFW and tribal co-manager fisheries biologists from 9 a.m.-3 p.m. on Friday, March 1 at the Office Building 2 Auditorium, 1115 Washington Street S.E. in Olympia. The main session of the March 1 meeting will be available to watch via Zoom webinar. Participants must register in advance. The public can provide input on potential fisheries here and can see the full North-of-Falcon schedule here. Although the Commission delegated the season-setting process to Director Kelly Susewind, please copy commissioners on your concerns about the new hunting rules.
  • 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.)

Upcoming Events

Washington Fish and Wildlife Commission meetings.

From March 14-16, the Washington Fish and Wildlife Commission will meet in Olympia at the Natural Resources Building at 1111 Washington Street SE, Olympia.  You can view the full agenda here. Please come in person to testify (or just attend to show your support for fish and wildlife), or register to testify over Zoom if you cannot make it in person. Registration for all public comment is here. See above in “Urgent Notices and Actions.”

  • The Commission’s committees will meet on Thursday, March 14.
    • From 8 to 10 a.m., the Big Tent Committee will discuss a recent report on the levels of fishing, hunting, and wildlife-related recreation in Washington; an update on the draft Conservation Policy (which the Commission has submitted for tribal consultation); and an update on the development of the  Best Available Science Policy.
    • From 10 a.m. to noon, the Habitat Committee will hear an update on the Growth Management Act.
    • From 1 to 3 p.m., the Fish Committee will hear presentations on Puget Sound Shellfish Monitoring & Management, Policy C-3609: Puget Sound Crab Fishery, and Policy C-3610: Puget Sound Shrimp Fishery.
    • From 3 to 5 p.m., the Wildlife Committee will discuss the cougar management framework, which we expect will include a presentation from agency scientists about their latest cougar research, as well as a discussion on how to proceed with a new draft rule in response to the rulemaking petition the Commission approved in December.
  • On Friday, the Commission will hear a staff presentation on cougar science and discuss the next step in the development of a new cougar rule, hold a public hearing on the Orca Periodic Status Review (see above), and hear a presentation on a new wildlife area plan. It will vote on a land transaction and several petitions: a petition from two retired state fisheries biologists to ban bait and delay fishing seasons until June in Puget Sound rivers and tributaries to protect juvenile steelhead; a petition to lift fishing limits on yellow perch in Fish Lake, Chelan County; a petition to institute a wildlife control officer training program to allow wildlife control officers to respond to conflicts and authorize lethal control; and petition to create “eastside and westside deer tags.”
  • On Saturday, the Commission will hold a public hearing on the Wolf PSR and proposed rule (see above), before doing a meeting debrief and adjourning to executive session (which will be closed to the public).