Washington-specific wildlife refuge hunting, fishing proposals released

On June 5, U.S. Secretary of the Interior David Bernhardt announced plans to expand hunting and fishing opportunities on National Wildlife Refuges nationwide. On Friday, more Washington-specific details became available. Below is a list of Washington-specific proposals.

— Billy Frank Jr. Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge: Expand existing waterfowl hunting to 1,142 new acres.

— Entiat National Fish Hatchery: Formally open to sport fishing for the first time.

— Leavenworth National Fish Hatchery: Formally open to sport fishing for the first time.

— Little White Salmon National Fish Hatchery: Formally open to sport fishing for the first time.

— San Juan Islands National Wildlife Refuge: Open sport fishing for the first time on acres already open to other activities.

— Spring Creek National Fish Hatchery: Formally open to sport fishing for the first time.

In an email Mike Rule, the wildlife biologist at Turnbull said,

“There is a National Assessment of Hunting and Fishing on all refuges which looks at opportunities on refuges and alignment with state seasons and regulations …We have had a preliminary assessment and we are supposed to get a report back after regional review . Can’t say what the result for Turnbull will be yet. There will likely be annual submissions under the current administration to open more opportunities on refuges and hatcheries.”