LEGISLATION -- Of more than 2,700 bills introduced by the 2017 Washington Legislature, about 650 have made it past the halfway cutoff.

Some of the measures still alive for consideration are related to the outdoors and fish and wildlife resources.  Among them.

• HB 1465 -- Exempting from public disclosure personal information about people who report or respond to wolf attacks in Washington. (The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife and other supporters have cited death threats received by state employees, ranchers and others and say the measure is needed to protect those who deal with wolves.)
• HB 1647 -- Increasing revenue to the state wildlife account by adjusting recreational fishing and hunting fees.
• HB 1257 -- Allowing beavers to be released west of the Cascades.
• HB 1353 -- Commissioning an elk management pilot project that focuses initially on the Colockum elk herd to reduce collisions on I-90 and impact on crops.
• HB 1428/SB 5466 -- Increasing protections for fish from construction projects in state waters.
• HB 1429/SB 5303 -- Boosting effort to curb the spread of aquatic invasive species.
• HB 1865 -- Reauthorizing fee for Columbia River recreational salmon and steelhead endorsement program.
• SB 5474 -- Initiating proactive steps to address elk hoof disease that's rampant in areas of Western Washington. Substitute version would put Washington State University instead of the state Fish and Wildlife Department in charge of monitoring affected elk and coming up with solutions.
• SJR 8206 -- Amending the state Constitution through a general election vote to preserve the right to hunt and fish.

DEAD and gone, thank God

HB 1008 -- Concerning the acquisition of land by state natural resources agencies, was co-sponsored by our own Rep. Matt Shea and would have required WDFW to sell an acre of its state wildlife land in the same county for every new one it buys.

Shea also co-sponsored House Joint Memorial 4000 to arrange for Eastern Washington cut ties with the West Side and create Liberty, America's 51st state. Predictably, it, too, went nowhere.