Here’s bill of fare at Olympia right now

Wildlife enforcement agents are close to getting a bigger hammer for deterring hunters who ignore the rules prohibiting use of lead shot in waterfowling.

Still alive in the waning weeks of the Washington Legislature is House Bill 2331, which would establish a $1,000 fine for hunters caught ignoring the requirement to use non-toxic shot for hunting ducks and geese.

Opponents to the bill say $1,000 is an excessive penalty, especially for somebody who might not have heard of the law.

Proponents counter by noting the law has been in effect for 20 years and the grace period for being ignorant is over.

The crackdown is needed, especially in wetland areas of northwestern Washington and British Columbia, where roughly 1,200 rare trumpeter swans have died since 1999 after ingesting lead shot while foraging for grit to aid digestion. A single lead pellet can poison and kill a swan in 30 days or less.

Other measures still alive in Olympia include:

Free fishing for a day would be offered to high school students who participate in curriculum projects approved by the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife under provisions in bill 5161. Offering one-day licenses to students is a small measure that could encourage more kids to become lifelong anglers.

Status: Passed, on to governor.

Hunter education instructors would be given incentives to volunteer more time in the high-demand period from August to October in bill 2372. The incentives, which could include special hunting privileges, would be determined by the Washington Fish and Wildlife Commission. With nearly 700 hunter ed instructors in the state, care must be taken to offer an incentive that won’t have major impacts on hunting programs.

Status: Passed, on to governor.

Beaver damage problems could be handled by local governments and private landowners with less red tape under bill 2381, which would relax requirements for live-trapping and relocating beavers. Strangely, a Western Washington legislator tagged on a provision that says any beavers trapped in Western Washington must be released in Eastern Washington.

Status: In Senate Rules Committee.

Senseless animal trapping restrictions enacted by initiative in the 1990s could be modified under provisions in bill 5319, which would create an advisory committee to sort out cases in which lethal or body-gripping traps are necessary, such as in safety programs at airports.

Status: In Senate Rules, where, unfortunately, it should die unless amended. Although the intent is good, the bill requires the unanimous approval of the entire Fish and Wildlife commission before any of the committee’s recommendations could be enacted. No law should be written so that one person on a nine-member panel can thwart reasonable wildlife management decisions.

Turkey hunters would have to pay $12 for a turkey tag in addition to the cost of their small-game hunting license under provisions in bill 5232. This is the way the tags were issued years ago before licensing revisions that automatically gave turkey tags to small-game license buyers.

National Wild Turkey Federation chapters in Washington have supported this bill, pointing out that giving turkey tags to people who aren’t necessarily interested in the rigors of turkey hunting tends to increase the number of hunters who are unschooled in turkey hunting ethics and safety.

Status: Passed Senate, in House Rules.

State parks day-use parking fees would be removed by bill 2416. The $5 daily fee enacted in 2003 has contributed to a 20 percent decrease in state parks visitation. On the other hand, the fees provide about $3 million a year to help finance operations in the 120 state parks. Opponents to fee removal contend the parks will suffer if they have to go back to begging for that money from the general fund.

Status: Passed Senate. Slightly altered, it goes back to House, where previous version passed 94-2.

Shortsighted: Once again, the legislature failed to give serious consideration to bill 5234, which would assess hunters with an additional $5 fee that would be pooled and used as an incentive for landowners to allow public hunting access to private lands.

Dead on arrival: Legislators showed good sense in quickly dismissing HB 2727, backed by off-road-vehicle activists to require that any state gas tax money allocated for non-highway and off-road vehicle activities (NOVA) programs include “an ORV management plan that designates ORV use.”

In their drive to put ORV trails everywhere, these enthusiasts have ignored the public’s desire to keep motorized vehicles out of certain areas. This bill would have denied NOVA grant funding for trail work in North Cascades, Olympic and Mount Rainier national parks.