The Washington Fish and Wildlife Commission recently voted 5-4 against a proposal to allow a 2022 spring bear hunting season.
“The commission once again told state wildlife officials that they won’t authorize a hunt without a proper analysis of the threats to Washington’s bears,” said Sophia Ressler, a staff attorney at the Center for Biological Diversity. “We hope the wildlife agency actually listens this time.”
In November, a tie vote failed to approve the rule needed to create a 2022 hunting season and canceled the season entirely.
“The fact that a second vote on a bear season even occurred is shocking,” Ressler said. “It reeks of corruption that department staff and commissioners did the bidding of bear hunters by pushing this proposal to the commission only days before Gov. (Jay) Inslee appointed new members.”
