Bill would merge outdoors agencies

Washington state senators will conduct a hearing Wednesday on a bill that would abolish the Department of Fish and Wildlife and the Department of Parks and Recreation and fold their duties into the Department of Natural Resources.

The bill, sponsored by Rodney Tom, Phil Rockefeller and Paull Shin, all West Side Democrats with districts in or near Seattle, will have its first hearing in the Natural Resources, Ocean and Recreation Committee.

According to a fiscal note attached to the bill, consolidating the agencies would reduce labor costs associated with the management of parks by $1 million per year and labor costs associated with management of fish and wildlife by $880,000 per year.

But the Washington Fish and Wildlife Commission, which provides oversight to the Department of Fish and Wildlife, is opposed to the bill that would also strip it of its power to hire and fire the director of the department and oversee its budget. The commission issued a policy statement Friday saying Gov. Chris Gregoire considered consolidation prior to releasing her proposed budget but scrapped the idea because its savings would not be large enough to offset risks to the state’s varied natural resources.

“It will remove the commission’s ability to demand conservation of fish and wildlife. The commission will no longer be able to provide the public a direct avenue to exert control over the agency that sets important hunting and fishing rules. The commission will no longer have the clout to insulate uniquely important conservation decisions from the politics of the day,” the statement said.