OLYMPIA--Rodney Sando, the candidate selected by the Washington Fish and Wildlife Commission to be the next director of the Department of Fish and Wildlife, has declined to accept the post for family reasons.

Commission members will confer in executive session by conference call tomorrow to decide how to proceed in filling the director vacancy, said Commissioner Will Roehl, who is heading the commission's director-search committee.

"I'm extremely disappointed that Mr. Sando declined the offer, but we can waste no time in moving forward to fill this position," Roehl said.

Sando, who for the past eight years has headed the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, last week was selected by the commission from among four finalists. The commission originally interviewed 12 candidates, from among 36 applicants, for the post. The $96,468-per-year director's position was left vacant when Bern Shanks resigned the post last summer.

Sando, a lifelong Minnesota resident, called Roehl today to decline the offer after conferring with his family about the possible move over the weekend.

"He said he was honored to get the offer and was serious about the job but family comes first," Roehl said.