Washington Investigation Finds WDFW Commissioners Broke Public Records and Open Meeting Rules

Washington’s Fish and Wildlife Commission just got hit with the kind of investigation findings that should make every hunter, angler, and trapper pay attention. An independent investigation ordered after complaints about commissioners found substantiated violations tied to public records, open public meetings, ethics, and treatment of agency staff.

The findings are not some small paperwork gripe. The report says commissioners used personal devices for state business, failed to complete records searches, and submitted inaccurate declarations. It also found illegal serial meetings where commissioners lined up votes, drafted motions, and shaped wildlife policy outside properly noticed public meetings.

That matters because wildlife policy is supposed to be made in the open. Hunters can disagree with a commission vote and still respect the process if the process is honest. But when commissioners coordinate privately, communicate off the record, and work around public meeting laws, the public is no longer getting a fair shot.

The report also found undisclosed private meetings with advocacy groups that were actively suing the department, including communications with opposing counsel, plus a breakdown in trust between certain commissioners and professional agency staff. That is not how serious wildlife management is supposed to work.

Washington has already been one of the hardest battlegrounds in the country for predator management, spring bear, cougar policy, and the future of regulated hunting. This investigation reinforces a simple point: process matters. Science matters. Transparency matters. If commissioners want to change hunting and wildlife rules, they need to do it in daylight, on the record, and with the people who pay for and live under those rules watching.