WDFW submits $26M budget request

The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife submitted a $26 million supplemental funding request to the governor’s office on Thursday.

It marks the first step in a process aimed at receiving financial support from the governor and Legislature, according to an agency news release.

“The ongoing funds to create a fully healthy agency is critical to our residents’ quality of life, critical to our ability to conserve fish and wildlife, and critical to maintaining sustainable natural resource jobs across Washington,” WDFW Director Kelly Susewind said in a news release.

The bulk of the funding request, $12.5 million, would help the agency address an ongoing structural deficit driven by legislated and cost increases.

To help manage that situation, the department has already made $2 million in cuts to services, and is seeking $6.7 million in ongoing funds to maintain other current services.

If the Legislature doesn’t approve the funding, WDFW will have to make substantial cuts to habitat and conservation programs, fisheries and hatcheries, hunting opportunities and funding for nonlethal deterrents for human-wildlife conflicts among other things.

For more information: wdfw.wa.gov/2020supplemental.