Washington wildlife officials seek hunter input on future seasons

Jun. 16—From staff reports

The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife is encouraging members of the public to comment on the longer-term hunting season planning effort.

Those comments will be used to inform game managers about changes the public would like to see to hunting seasons from 2024 — 26.

The current scoping period opened Thursday and runs through July 2.

Comments may be submitted online through WDFW's public scoping survey, via email at 77552@PublicInput.com, or by voicemail by calling (855) 925-2801 and entering code 2576.

Written comments may also be mailed to Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, PO Box 43200, Olympia, Wash., 98504.

Three-year season setting is an in-depth rulemaking process that allows WDFW to propose and collect public feedback on changes to Washington hunting laws.

Between three-year rulemaking cycles, annual season setting allows the Department to propose minor season changes or changes due to emerging needs.

The Washington Fish and Wildlife Commission sets hunting seasons based on public input and staff recommendations.

"We encourage everyone interested in upcoming hunting seasons to send us feedback to help inform the rulemaking process," Anis Aoude, WDFW game division manager, said in a news release.

"This process helps us better understand the experiences Washington hunters want, and we need your feedback to help us determine the path forward."

Suggestions can be related to specific game species, permits, access or general game management.

Wolf-livestock management grants open The Washington State Department of Agriculture announced this week that it is accepting applications for grants as part of the Northeast Washington Wolf-Livestock Management program.

The applications are available on the agency's website and must be submitted to WSDA by 5 p.m. on July 7.

Applications are open to nonprofit, community-based organizations. The nonprofits must have advisory boards with personnel from relevant agencies such as the U.S. Forest Service or the Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife. Other similar agencies may be acceptable.

First established during the 2017 legislative session, these grants are meant to support community-based efforts for using nonlethal methods of deterring wolves from livestock.

The grants are intended to support projects equally within Stevens, Pend Oreille, Okanogan and Ferry counties.

This year, the state Legislature provided $1.1 million to entities that have been awarded funds through this grant program in the past.

Some $300,000 is available to new applicants who meet the requirements of the program.

Montana elk access expands

Montana officials announced this week that two programs as part of the Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks programs will open up access to more than a million acres of private land or public land that has limited access.

At its meeting on June 8, the Montana Fish and Wildlife Commission approved 49 Elk Hunting Access Agreement applications, which will allow the expanded access.

In addition to this, in 2023 FWP staff worked with landowners to open up 540,000 acres of public land, which had limited access, through the Public Access Land Agreement program.

"FWP staff continues to work with landowners to provide access to hunters," FWP director Dustin Temple said in a news release. "We are happy to see these programs grow and embraced by landowners across the state."

Elk hunting-access agreements provide landowners with an opportunity to obtain an elk license, permit or combination thereof in exchange for allowing free public hunting access to a minimum of three public hunters — one of which may be selected by the landowner.

The public hunter slots for three agreements in Region 4 and Region 5 will be offered in a random-draw opportunity with public sign-up taking place through July 15 because there's no specific elk B license for those districts.

The remaining public hunter slots will be offered to hunters successful in the elk B license or either-sex elk permit draws in the order they were drawn.

Through the PALA program, FWP works with willing private landowners to improve or secure public access to inaccessible public land on an annual basis. Landowners are eligible for a payment as well as potential reimbursement for improvements to facilitate public access to public land.

The other program that works with landowners to improve public-land access will be posted in early July on FWP's Hunt Planner map. Some projects are open only for the hunting season, while others are open year-round for all types of recreation.

Interested hunters can view site-specific information on when access at the state's Hunt Planner map.

Montana damage hunts available

Hunters interested in participating in game damage-hunt opportunities need to register online for the Hunt Roster, which opened on Thursday at the state's Fish, Wildlife & Parks website.

The roster is used by the department to quickly respond to landowners who are eligible for game-damage assistance in the reduction of property or crop damage caused by deer, elk and antelope.

Hunters also can register to be placed on a bison game damage roster.

Occasionally, a bison is found outside of the authorized hunting season and outside of the bison tolerance zone.

The state is compiling a list of interested hunters to call for quick removal of the animal. For more information about bison hunting, click here.

To register, hunters must register for an account on the department website. The roster sign-up closes July 15 and a randomly generated list will be posted on July 20.

FWP will contact hunters if they are selected for a damage hunt opportunity, so hunters are asked to ensure they have accurate contact information in their licensing profile.