Public comment open on livestock compensation rules | Field Reports
Washington wildlife officials are seeking public comments on proposed changes to rules governing how livestock producers get paid for animals killed by predators.
The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife said in a news release that one of the changes would tweak how the agency values a producers loss and how much money they should get.
Other changes would restructure how the state’s administrative code is written and are meant to improve WDFW’s processing of depredation claims.
In developing the proposals, WDFW relied on input from the state’s Wolf Advisory Group, a panel of livestock producers and conservationists who meet throughout the year.
Public comment is open until March 16. Full descriptions of each change are available online at https://wdfw.wa.gov/about/regulations/development/2025-livestock-compensation.
A public hearing is scheduled for the Fish and Wildlife Commission’s March meeting in Walla Walla. A virtual option will also be available.
Hunting season proposals open for public comment
The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife is taking public comment on a broad suite of proposed changes to hunting seasons.
In a news release, WDFW announced that it’s proposing changes to a number of hunting opportunities, from waterfowl to mountain goats.
Among the changes proposed is eliminating 100 chronic wasting disease incentive multi-season deer tags. The tags were first offered in partnership with Backcountry Hunters and Anglers to encourage voluntary CWD testing before the disease was detected in Washington.
Now that the disease has been found, testing is mandatory in the eastern region, and the voluntary program was discontinued. WDFW’s release said eliminating the 100 tags won’t reduce the number of multi-season tags offered.
Elsewhere, the agency is proposing changes to some game management unit boundaries in the South Central region and language updates related to combination deer and elk licenses, raffle hunts and auction hunts.
Public comment is open until noon on March 12. Descriptions of each rule change are available online at https://wdfw.wa.gov/about/regulations/development/2026-hunting-season-setting.
A virtual public hearing will be held on March 11.
Audubon club to meet Wednesday
An expert on tracking monarch butterflies will give a presentation to the local Audubon chapter this week.
The Spokane Audubon Society announced that Patrick Adair of WingsRising Inc. will be at the club’s meeting Wednesday to talk about how citizen scientists are using tiny telemetry transmitters to keep an eye on monarch butterflies.
The work is supporting research led by Washington State University entomologist David James, according to a news release. James has spent more than a decade determining migratory corridors for the butterflies.
The meeting will take place from 6 to 7:30 p.m. at the Shadle Park Library. It will also be streamed via Zoom. A link is available at www.audubonspokane.org.