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.

Linville said she was contacted by the Governor’s Office today and told she would not be serving another term.

She said she was not given a reason why, and added that she was disappointed by the news.

“Honestly, I still haven’t exactly wrapped my head around this, but I can say without hesitation is I have really enjoyed representing rural communities and the sportsmen and -women of Washington and I have loved working with the incredible, dedicated, and professional WDFW staff,” Linville told this reporter this evening. “It’s been an honor to be a part of the management of the amazingly diverse fish and wildlife species in this beautiful state.”

Linville was named to the commission in July 2019. During her tenure, she served as the vice chair from December 2021 to December 2023 and was a member of the Wildlife and Wolf Committees and chaired the Habitat Committee, all while managing her and her husband’s 6,000-acre cattle ranch in beautiful lower Moses Coulee.

Prior to that, Linville was on WDFW’s Wolf Advisory Group for five years. During her 2023 commission confirmation hearing before the state Senate Agriculture, Water, Natural Resources & Parks Committee hearing, she said she received “excellent training” from WAG facilitator Francine Madden on transforming conflict around conservation and thought at the time it would be a good skill to bring to the commission.

It was – especially given the level of conflict these past few years as some of Governor Jay Inslee’s recent appointees and a concerted effort to “reform” state fish and wildlife management have roiled the scene. A recent report from a state think tank found that many close observers believe the commission has become “dysfunctional.”

Linville will go down as a thoughtful commissioner who did not like to be rushed into making decisions. She also did her level best to prevent the commission from unnecessarily wounding itself, whether that be on wolves or cougars, and while doing her best to get along to go along with fellow members, she also wasn’t afraid to fact-check her colleagues in real-time either.

Portions of the sportfishing world still recall Linville’s vote to tweak their hard-won Columbia River salmon fishery reforms, but she has been a good commissioner for hunters.

“The state of Washington has lost the services of the best commissioner I have seen in my lifetime,” said Brian Blake, a former state representative from Aberdeen who headed up the House Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee.

To a degree, Linville replaced Asotin County rancher Jay Holzmiller. It remains to be seen who will be appointed in her place. The RCWs guiding appointments state three members should be from the Eastside, three from the Westside and three from anywhere, but none from the same county.

Originally from Reardan, where her family has farmed for five generations, Linville went to the University of Montana and Washington State University to study wildlife biology and environmental science. She also worked for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service as a biologist and national wildlife refuge manager, as well as was a private wildlife biologist.

Announcing the news on Facebook this evening, she lauded WDFW staffers as “world class biologists, scientists and land managers and even more importantly they care deeply about the resources. They feel like family and I can’t explain how much I am going to miss working with them.”

She also joked, “What in the world am I going to do with all this free time???”

As with Linville, Commissioner Jim Anderson’s and Vice Chair Tim Ragen’s terms also officially expired at the end of 2024. Two sources indicate Ragen was reappointed and that Anderson will continue to serve but without reappointment.