



Headlines
-
WA Fish And Wildlife Commission Buys Sekiu Boat Ramp, Parking Area
The Washington Fish and Wildlife Commission has approved buying the boat ramps and parking area of a Sekiu fishing resort, securing public access to angling and boating opportunities on the central Strait of Juan de Fuca.
-
Blackmouth Opener Pushed Back In Marine Areas 5, 10 And 11
Washington salmon managers have pushed back the winter Chinook openers off Seattle, Tacoma and Sekiu to try and “extend opportunity later into the season,” while the first two marine areas will also open four days a week, Wednesdays through Saturdays rather than daily.
-
Big Trees At WDFW Hatchery Grounds Vandalized
As if attacks on salmon production aren’t enough, vandals have taken chainsaws and axes to trees at WDFW’s Puyallup Fish Hatchery, leading to some old trees having to be taken down to keep the public safe on the grounds of the 120-acre facility.
-
North Of Falcon 2025 Begins Later This Month; Chances To Comment On WA Salmon Seasons
The annual salmon-season-setting process for Washington kicks off February 28 with the fish forecasts, and will include a number of meetings with anglers and chances to provide input on the shape of 2025-26 fisheries.
-
2 Bills In Olympia Would Tweak Fish And Wildlife Commission Appointment Process
Two bills that would tweak the nomination process for Washington Fish and Wildlife Commission appointments have dropped this week, with one creating a committee of stakeholder groups to make recommendations to the governor and the other tasking counties with filling half a dozen seats.
-
The Dalles Pool To Open For Sturgeon Retention This Saturday
Columbia River sturgeon managers played it conservative, approving only the first of two proposed The Dalles Pool retention opportunities later this month, but they do plan to revisit the fishery following this Saturday’s opener.
-
Oregon Mule Deer Migrations Mapped In Latest USGS Report
The migratory corridors, winter grounds and stopover points on the way to and from summer range of more than a dozen Central and Eastern Oregon mule deer herds are detailed in the latest edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s Ungulate Migrations of the Western United States.
-
Young Tokul Creek Hatchery Steelhead Stocked In Palouse’s Rock Lake
Another Eastern Washington lake is being stocked with Westside steelhead, this time Rock Lake on the Palouse, and they’re expected to provide a good fishery in coming years if the past is any guide.
-
Comment On WA 2025 Hunting Rule Proposals, Including CWD-related Statewide Baiting Ban
WDFW is taking public comment on tweaks to the 2025 hunting regs as well as a statewide ban on baiting or feeding deer, elk and moose to try and limit the spread of chronic wasting disease.
-
2 Wolf Bills Heard In Olympia As Colville Tribes, WDFW Also Detail Management, Game Numbers
Washington wolves were the subject of a two-hour committee meeting in Olympia this morning as WDFW and tribal managers outlined the recovery of the species and lawmakers held public hearings on a pair of bills, one of which would require that packs be downlisted across the state.
-
2 Late Inslee Fish And Wildlife Commission Appointments Rescinded
Former Governor Jay Inslee’s controversial last-days appointments of two Washington Fish and Wildlife Commission members have been rescinded.
-
Washington Lawmakers Introduce Bill To Ask DC For Marine Mammal Act Modifications
A bipartisan group of Washington legislators has filed a bill in Olympia asking Congress and the Trump Administration to modify the Marine Mammal Protection Act to allow lethal removals of sea lions and harbor seals and other actions in more of the state to save ESA-listed Chinook and other salmon populations.
-
OHA, CCA, Steelheaders Pitch In To Double Rewards For Snagging OR Fish Poachers
Rewards have doubled for people whose reports of snagging, overlimits or illegal fish introductions lead to an arrest or citation, thanks to cash backing from three organizations.
-
No Cowlitz Smelt Opener Next Wednesday, Saturday
“This is a test of the Emergency Smelt Opener Notification System.” That’s what you might consider this morning’s email from WDFW about whether the lower Cowlitz River will open next week for dipping as this winter the agency tries out a brand-new way of setting potential openers and alerting the public to any opportunities.
-
Washington Senators Propose Sharp Fishing, Hunting License Fee Hikes
With a large budget deficit forecasted and calls from Olympia for reduced spending on state programs, a pair of Washington legislators have introduced a bill that would sharply increase the cost of sportsmen’s licenses, though seniors would at least get a break on the hunting side.
-
Fishing With 2 Rods Again Allowed For Willamette Springers, Most Other Fish
ODFW is again allowing the two-rod validation on the Willamette River for spring Chinook and other game fish except sturgeon this season, with the rule going into effect March 1 below the falls and April 1 above there.
-
Bill Would Dissolve WA Fish & Wildlife Commission Authority, Move WDFW To Governor’s Cabinet
A bill slated to drop in Olympia Wednesday morning would make WDFW’s director a political appointee again and turn the Washington Fish and Wildlife Commission into an advisory panel.
-
Lower CWD Prevalence Seen In Mule Deer Herds With High Hunter Harvest Rates
Federal and university scientists say that a relatively high level of buck harvest in mule deer herds over the long term – and even over shorter periods – can help keep CWD in check, a “promising” use of hunting to manage a growing problem.
-
Orgs Sue NMFS Over Pace Of Olympic Peninsula Steelhead Listing Petition Review
Two litigious environmental organizations are suing the National Marine Fisheries Service over the speed at which their request to list Olympic Peninsula steelhead under the Endangered Species Act is being considered.
-
Washington Lawmakers Hear From Ruckelshaus Center On WDFW, Commission Review
The Washington legislature’s House and Senate’s Agriculture and Natural Resources Committees heard from staffers at the Ruckelshaus Center on their 76-page report looking at WDFW and the Fish and Wildlife Commission’s governance structure, mandate and more this week.
-
Jim Kujala, Washington ‘Sportsman-Conservationist Extraordinaire,’ Passes Away
Rest in peace, Jim Kujala, a Washington man once described in this magazine as an “elk hunter and sportsman-conservationist extraordinaire” for all of his years spent pursuing wapiti and volunteerism since age 16 with multiple state and federal wildlife and wildland agencies.
-
Skagit, Sauk Opening February 1 For Wild Steelhead C&R
Seven-day-a-week fishing for wild steelhead will open February 1 on portions of the upper Skagit and lower Sauk Rivers, WDFW announced this afternoon.
-
Just Over 7,000 Skagit-Sauk Wild Winter Steelhead Expected Back
“One of the best forecasts” for Skagit-Sauk wild winter steelhead of recent years is out and state and tribal fishery managers are expected to announce rules and regulations for this season soon.
-
Heads Up On New Cowlitz Smelt Dipping Wrinkles
There are new wrinkles coming to smelt dipping in Washington’s Cowlitz River, but if you’ve ever taken part in razor clam openers on the state’s coast, you’ve got this.
-
USFWS Disbursing $1.3+ Billion To Fish And Wildlife Agencies For Conservation, Access
Over $82 million in federal excise taxes on hunting and fishing gear and boat fuel is set to flow to Northwest fish and wildlife agencies for managing critters, producing fish, conserving land, educating hunters, and operating shooting ranges and wildlife disease labs.
-
Brant Season A Go In 3 Washington Counties, But Not Skagit
Brant hunting will open as scheduled this month in Clallam, Pacific and Whatcom Counties, but with 1,000 fewer birds than the minimum count needed, season will remain closed in Skagit County, WDFW announced today.
-
2 Wolves Lethally Removed From Depredating Pack In SE WA
WDFW lethally removed a pair of wolves from the Columbia Pack yesterday in response to a series of confirmed and probable calf depredations in the Blue Mountains foothills.
-
Pikeminnow Reward Season To Open Early At Select Stations
Pikeminnow season will start early this year at three stations on the Columbia River.
-
SCOTUS Slaps Away Public Land Grab Attempt
Western hunters and anglers will be breathing a temporary sigh of relief after the Supreme Court of the United States today declined to hear a state of Utah bid to wrest 18.5 million acres of public land away from the federal government.
-
WA BHA: ‘Last-minute’ Inslee Commission Appointments ‘Undermine Public Trust’
Governor Jay Inslee’s waning-hours appointments to the Washington Fish and Wildlife Commission are blasted by the state chapter of Backcountry Hunters and Anglers as undermining public trust, abandoning stakeholder input and transparency, contradicting recommendations in the recent Ruckelshaus report, and deepening wildlife management conflicts he’s created.
-
Ferry County Woman Named To WA Fish And Wildlife Commission
A Northeast Washington woman active in the regional Rotary Club has been named to the Washington Fish and Wildlife Commission, state records show.
-
Linville Won’t Be Reappointed To WA Fish and Wildlife Commission
Molly Linville, the Douglas County rancher and former federal wildlife biologist, will not be reappointed to the Washington Fish and Wildlife Commission, a loss of a key vote for sportsmen.
-
NMFS: Increasing Juvenile Sablefish Off NW Coast May Compete With Young Salmon For Food
The National Marine Fisheries Service reports on a new paper that explores the overlap of increasing numbers of voracious juvenile sablefish, also known as black cod, and young salmon off the Northwest Coast, theorizing that it may put Chinook and coho smolts “at a competitive disadvantage” given their similar diets.
-
Preliminary Outlook For 2025 Columbia Fall Chinook Run Issued
The preliminary outlook for Columbia fall Chinook in 2025 calls for a return to the mouth similar to and maybe even better than last year’s actual run, which came in at 123 percent of forecast.
-
WDFW Set To Begin Blacktail Deer Study
Washington wildlife biologists plan on capturing blacktails in GMUs 522, 550 and 556 east of Longview to test best ways to monitor the elusive deer and “more accurately” estimate their populations.
-
In Latest CWD Move, WDFW Bars Region 1 Wildlife Rehabbers From Taking In Deer, Elk, Moose
WDFW is barring wildlife rehabilitators in far Eastern Washington from accepting deer, elk and moose as part of its latest emergency measure to help prevent the spread of chronic wasting disease in the state’s big game herds.