|
* * * IMPORTANT NOTICE * * *
You are currently viewing the old OUTDOOR CENTRAL.COM website ARCHIVES. For the latest in hunting, fishing, and outdoor recreation
related news, and an ALL NEW experience, including user friendly navigation,
search capabilities, an Outdoor Central Video Network, and more, be sure to
visit our NEW WEBSITE, located at
http://www.outdoorcentral.com. Visit the new, improved
website, you'll be glad you did! CLICK
HERE |
|
|
NEWS RELEASE
WASHINGTON DEPARTMENT OF FISH AND WILDLIFE
600 Capitol Way North, Olympia, WA 98501-1091
|
April 09, 2007
Contact: Susan Yeager, (360) 902-2267
Commission adopts big game hunting rules, modifies
crab reporting, approves land transactions
ELLENSBURG – The Washington Fish and Wildlife Commission adopted 2007-08
big game hunting season rules, modified crab catch reporting and approved
land transactions at a public meeting April 6-7 in Ellensburg.
The nine-member commission, which sets policy for the Washington
Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW), also took action or heard briefings
on various other agenda items.
Changes to deer and elk hunting include:
 | Expansion of general antlerless elk hunting and addition of over 1,700
special draw permits for antlerless elk in Mt. St. Helens area units to
help reduce the size of the state’s largest herd in an area of limited
habitat capacity.
|
| Expansion of high buck deer hunting to include all of the Henry
Jackson Wilderness Area in the North Cascade Mountains.
|
| Addition of 50 antlerless deer permits in the Methow Valley in
response to nuisance deer problems on private land.
|
| Reduction of general antlerless mule deer hunting season and special
draw permits for antlerless mule deer in the southcentral region in
response to population declines.
|
| Addition of 12 any bull permits in the Nooksack Game Management Unit
(418) where the population is growing.
|
| Increase of bull or any elk permits from 100 to 122 in the Blue
Mountains. |
Other hunting rule changes include:
| Slightly increased permits for moose and mountain goats in response to
growing populations, and slightly decreased permits for bighorn sheep.
|
| Added participants and set this year’s season dates and permit levels
for the Landowner Hunter Permit program, established last year to address
game damage issues and increase hunter access to private lands.
|
| Made hunting hours consistent with new federal daylight savings time
policy, and in Grays Harbor County, consistent with the rest of Goose
Management Area 3.
|
| Added Kansas to the list of states where Washington hunters are
required to process animal carcasses before bringing them into the state
to guard against the importation of Chronic Wasting Disease. |
All 2007-08 big game hunting season rules and regulations will be
available in early May in pamphlet form at WDFW offices, license dealers and
on the WDFW website at
http://wdfw.wa.gov/wlm/game/hunter/hunter.htm.
The commission also modified the catch reporting system for Dungeness
crab in Puget Sound with Internet reporting of recreational harvest and a
requirement for reporting catch twice each season – once after the summer
fishery and again after the fall fishery. The changes, endorsed by WDFW
recreational and commercial crab advisory groups, are designed to reduce
reliance on phone surveys to monitor the catch.
In addition, the commission approved the following land transactions:
| Acquisition of 520 acres, and the hunting rights to the property, in
the Chehalis Valley in Grays Harbor County to protect wetlands and
riparian area habitat and provide wildlife viewing, waterfowl and elk
hunting and fishing.
|
| Acquisition of 71.6 acres on Padilla Bay in Skagit County to add to
ongoing freshwater and saltwater habitat enhancement work.
|
| Acquisition of 30 acres on Debay Slough in Skagit County to add to the
Johnson/Debay Swan Reserve, a wintering area for trumpeter swans near
Sedro-Woolley.
|
| Allowance of a county road easement on the Ancient Lake portion of the
Columbia Basin Wildlife Area in Grant County. |
The commission also:
| Approved permanent rule amendments to WDFW policy regarding livestock
grazing on WDFW lands to emphasize benefits to fish and wildlife and to
provide more flexibility for temporary permits in emergencies like
wildfire.
|
| Adopted permanent rule amendments to have common salmon management and
catch reporting areas between Washington and Oregon.
|
| Heard briefings on sea urchin license buyback program proposals,
Washington Biodiversity Strategy, Advanced Hunter Education program
enrollment moratorium, and capital budget study report. |
<%server.execute "/search-similar.asp"%>
Click Here To Return To The Previous Page |
