Urgent Notices and Actions

• Please continue to send comments opposing the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife’s CR-102 proposing a rule to downlist wolves from endangered to sensitive and its Determination of Nonsignificancefor the new rule under the State Environmental Policy Act. Although the official deadline has passed, you can still submit comments up to the day of the vote (July 19, 2024); however, these comments may not be included in the official decision record.
  • You can comment on the proposed rule by emailing commission@dfw.wa.gov.
  • See Washington Wildlife First’s updated talking points.
  • For context, you may want to reference the updated Gray Wolf Periodic Status Review, last year’s Gray Wolf Periodic Status Review, the 2023 version of the Petracca et. al study on which the original PSR was based (and which the new PSR still references), and the final, peer-reviewed version of the Petracca et. al study published in January 2024.
• Please continue to submit comments supporting the Commission’s proposed CR-102 on cougar-hunting. Although the official deadline has passed, you can still submit comments up to the day of the vote (July 19, 2024); however, these comments may not be included in the official decision record.
  • You can comment on the proposed rule by emailing commission@dfw.wa.gov.
  • See Washington Wildlife First’s updated talking points.

More Action Items

• The draft Periodic Status Review for the Columbia Basin pygmy rabbit is now available on WDFW’s website. The public can submit written comments on the document via email or by mailing the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife ATTN: Taylor Cotten, P.O. Box 43141, Olympia, WA 98504. The comment period is open until August 27, 2024.  WDFW’s proposal is to keep the species on Washington’s endangered species list.
• WDFW will host an in-person and online public meeting on June 26 from 6-7:30 pm to discuss plans to treat West Medical Lake in Spokane County with rotenone to remove goldfish and other fish considered detrimental to trout. Members of the public may tune into the meeting onMicrosoft Teams or call into the meeting by dialing 1-564-999-2000 and entering the conference ID: 731 965 05#, or participate in person at the WDFW Regional Office, 2315 North Discovery Place, Spokane Valley, WA 99216-1566. A State Environmental Policy Act (SEPA) addendum has been issued for the proposal and is now undergoing a public comment period. The addendum and supporting documents are available on the WDFW’s SEPA webpage. Members of the public can submit comments on SEPA determination online or by email through the public input comment portal, or by mail to Kenneth Behen, Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, P.O. Box 43200, Olympia, WA 98504-3200.
• Please submit comments on the old-growth forest plan. The plan is a proposed amendment to management plans for national forests, but it does not call for an outright ban on cutting old-growth trees.
  • The proposal will be available for comment beginning Friday, June 28 in the Federal Register. Online comments may be submitted via a web form. Letters must be submitted to: Director, Ecosystem Management Coordination, 201 14th Street SW, Mailstop 1108 Washington, D.C. 20250—1124.
  • For more information, please see this article in The Seattle Times.
• The Spokane Hatchery Renovation determination of non-significance is available for public comment until 5 p.m. on July 1. Send your comments to SpokaneHatcheryRenovation@PublicInput.com or comment directly at https://publicinput.com/SpokaneHatcheryRenovation.
• The David Suzuki Foundation is organizing a letter-writing campaign opposing the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion. Tanker traffic is expected to increase sevenfold in the Salish Sea because of the expansion of the Trans Mountain Pipeline, imperiling Southern Resident killer whales.
• Please send your thanks to Congressman Troy Nehls (R-Texas) for moving to ban “wolf whacking,” or chasing down and running over wolves with snowmobiles, on federal lands. You can reach him via his assistant at Curto@mail.house.gov.

WDFW Commission Meetings

• The Commission will meet online on July 19 to vote on the proposed cougar rule and proposed wolf downlisting, according to the Department’s Year-at-a-Glance.