6 WDFW Commissioners Get Nod From Senate Committee

Six Washington Fish and Wildlife Commissioners received do-confirm recommendations during a voice vote by a state Senate committee this afternoon, with only scattered opposition.

Gubernatorial appointees Tim Ragen, Woody Myers and John Lehmkuhl all drew unanimous support from the nine members of the Agriculture, Water, Natural Resources & Parks Committee following their public hearings last week, while one senator objected to Melanie Rowland, and Jim Anderson and Vice Chair Molly Linville drew two nays apiece.

All of their appointments, which are subject to confirmation by the full Senate, can now advance for a possible confirmation vote in the upper chamber of the legislature. Commissioners can still serve if one isn’t taken.

Meanwhile, the other three members – Chair Barbara Baker and Commissioners Lorna Smith and Steven Parker – of the citizen panel that oversees WDFW policies and hires and fires its director will join senators next Monday and Thursday afternoons for public hearings on their appointments.

It is somewhat unusual to have so many Fish and Wildlife Commission members appear before the natural resources committee during the legislative session, but it’s also a chance for them to go on record before lawmakers to detail their background and professional working lives, tell why they are interested in serving on the commission, and take questions from senators.

If Baker’s, Smith’s and Parker’s public hearings next week are anything like the first six, Sen. Kevin Van De Wege (D-Sequim), who chairs the committee, and Sen. Jesse Salomon (D-Shoreline), who vice chairs it, will inquire about their thoughts on Columbia River fishery management, gillnets and pound nets, while Sen. Shelly Short (R-Colville) will ask questions around Northeast Washington ungulates and commission strife, and Sen. Keith Wagoner (R-Sedro Woolley) might fish around for Skagit Valley elk problem solutions and the price of hunting and angling licenses.

Van De Wege and Salomon were the two nays against Linville – their same vote as at her 2022 hearing – and Anderson, while Short was the objector to Rowland.

The last time an AGNR vote directly affected a commissioner’s term was in 2013 when David Jennings received a 4-0 “without recommendation” referral, leading to the pulling of the Olympia man’s appointment by the Governor’s Office.