Hundreds Of YTC Elk, Deer Permits Scrubbed After Army Suspends Most Recreation

The suspension of most recreational activities on the Yakima Training Center in Central Washington by the US Army due to a “hiring freeze” and upcoming military training has blown up hundreds of elk and deer special permits that were otherwise going to be available there this big game hunting season.

The news comes amidst WDFW’s annual special hunt application process and has the agency deleting all permits for Game Management Unit 371, Alkali, which overlaps the vast shrubsteppe landscape that’s home to the federal installation between Ellensburg and the Columbia.

WDFW spokeswoman Jennifer Sepulveda said on Tuesday that hunters who have already applied to the unit are being contacted to make another choice. This year’s deadline is May 28.

The state agency learned about the change verbally from the Army on May 8, a week ago, she said.

According to a press release from the public affairs office of the Yakima Training Center that came out this morning, recreational activities including hunting will be suspended beginning June 1.

“This decision is due to an anticipated influx of military units training at YTC from June to December and a reduced number of police and security officers currently on staff,” the news release states.

While the base is used by various US and international military units, big game and upland bird hunting has traditionally been allowed, albeit under tightly controlled circumstances, until now.

“A hiring freeze is in effect for federal civilian employees which slowed the process to fill vacant police and security officer positions,” the YTC release explains. “Currently there is a process for hiring civilian employees for certain positions, including law enforcement, that must go to the Army headquarters level for approval. As people leave these positions it is taking longer to fill them, so the tough decisions were made to prioritize staffing efforts to focus on life, health, and safety.”

The base requires a minimum of two officers to check in recreational users, according to YTC. Over three months last fall starting in September, they checked 1,283 hunters onto the training center, with each taking 10 minutes to process. But those staffers have been shifted to other duties this year.

“Due to vacancies in the YTC police force, officers are being moved to assure we safely accomplish the Installation’s main mission, to provide versatile training support and services to enable Joint Force readiness,” the release says.

Earlier this year, the incoming administration announced a civilian hiring freeze including at the Department of Defense, though certain positions there have been exempted, and it has been extended to at least mid-July.

Access policies centered around Native American treaty rights and ceded lands are not affected by the suspension at the Yakima Training Center, and the archery range and youth fishing pond there as well as the Palouse to Cascades State Park Trail across the north side of the training center will all remain open, according to the news release.

Among the 377 affected WDFW special permits are 365 modern firearm, archery and muzzleloader bull elk, any elk and antlerless elk tags for the general public, youths and seniors, as well as 12 quality buck and any buck tags.

“We will no longer be accepting special hunt applications for GMU 371 during the ongoing 2025 special hunt permit application period,” Sepulveda said. “We are in the process of removing these hunt choice options from the special hunt permit application and updating our online regulations to reflect these changes.”

A fair number of the tags were new this year as WDFW looked to “increase hunter opportunity and commensurate harvest pressure on elk to assist with agricultural damage mitigation efforts in the hunt areas,” per the agency’s rulemaking proposal for 2025 hunts earlier this year.

It should be noted that some of the tags are for elk hunts spanning two units, 371 and neighboring GMU 334, Ellensburg, which is almost entirely private land.

General season bow and Master Hunter elk seasons on GMU 371 are also impacted and those hunts will not be held, Sepulveda confirmed.

That hikers and bikers will still be able to go across the base via the Palouse to Cascade Trail after signing in at two trailheads but hunters won’t be able to step on the grounds will raise eyebrows, and there’s online grumbling about the base commander’s priorities.

In 2021, when Northwest Sportsman reader Gary Lundquist was drawn to hunt elk on the training center, he reported that getting on first involved a review of his driver’s license, vehicle registration and proof of insurance, followed by orientation, receipt of a recreation card and registration of his rifle.

Each day he hunted, he also had to check in anew with his license, registration, insurance and recreation card before being told where he could hunt, and then had his rifle and car checked again.

It’s an onerous process, at least compared to all other units in the state, but the opportunity boasts exceptionally high success rates, particularly for archers, according to the agency’s 2024 hunting prospects.

Last year saw 27 bulls – including 15 with six points or more – and 67 antlerless elk harvested in GMU 371 during special permit and general seasons, per WDFW harvest stats.

The prospects also pointedly warn, “Access to these lands is NOT under the control of WDFW and can change based on military training schedules.”

In its next edition, WDFW may have to add a few words to the end of that sentence – “… and hiring freezes in effect for federal civilian employees.”