Washington Fish And Wildlife Commission To Discuss Wolf Management Plan
OLYMPIA, Washington –-(Ammoland.com)- The Washington Fish and Wildlife Commission will discuss the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife’s (WDFW) recommended Wolf Conservation and Management Plan during a special meeting Oct. 6 in Olympia.
The special meeting will be followed by a two-day meeting Oct 7-8, when the commission will receive briefings on issues including the status of north coast steelhead stocks and population goals for deer, elk and other ungulates.
The special meeting, the second of three scheduled on the recommended Wolf Conservation and Management Plan and final Environmental Impact Statement, will begin Oct. 6 at 9 a.m. in Room 172 on the first floor of the Natural Resources Building, 1111 Washington St. S.E. The commission will meet at the same location Oct. 7-8, beginning at 8:30 a.m. both days.
The commission, which sets policy for WDFW, will accept public comments at designated times during both meetings. Agendas for those meetings are available on the commission’s website at http://wdfw.wa.gov/commission/meetings.html .
During the special meeting Oct. 6, the commission will resume its discussion on the recommended Wolf Conservation and Management Plan, focusing on wolves’ interaction with livestock and ungulates.
The recommended plan, designed to guide state management as wolves re-establish a sustainable breeding population in the state, was developed after a scientific peer review and extensive public review that drew nearly 65,000 responses.
The plan, posted online at http://wdfw.wa.gov/conservation/gray_wolf/ , includes recovery objectives that would allow the state to eventually remove wolves from protection lists. The commission has scheduled the third of three special meetings on WDFW’s recommended plan Nov. 3 in Olympia.
The commission is expected to take action on the plan in December.