HUNTING -- Setting fall waterfowl hunting seasons is on the agenda for the Washington Fish and Wildlife Commission meeting Friday and Saturday (Aug. 2-3) in Olympia.

Wolf issues will be discussed, including several proposals to amend state wildlife interaction rules to incorporate measures from Washington’s Wolf Conservation and Management Plan and implement 2013 legislation. One proposal would make permanent an emergency rule that permits ranchers, farmers, and other pet and livestock owners in the eastern third of the state to kill a wolf that is attacking their animals.

State waterfowl seasons proposed by WDFW are similar to those adopted last year. The general duck season would be open for 107 days – from Oct. 12-16 and from Oct. 19-Jan. 26. The youth hunting weekend would be Sept. 21-22.

As in previous years, goose hunting seasons will vary by management areas across the state, but most would open in mid-October and run through late January.

In other action, the commission will:

• Consider several options for protecting Puget Sound Pacific octopus.
• Consider several land transactions and receive briefings on a variety of topics including the status of Washington’s sockeye salmon populations, WDFW’s legislative proposals for 2014 and the department’s 2013-15 capital budget.

On Friday, TVW has scheduled a live webcast of the meeting.