OLYMPIA – The Washington Fish and Wildlife Commission will hear briefings on a number of topics ranging from coastal crab fishing to hunter education at its meeting Oct. 6-7 in Olympia.

The commission, which sets policy for the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW), is scheduled to begin its public meeting at 8:30 a.m. Oct. 6 at 1111 Washington Street SE, in room 172 of the Natural Resources Building. The meeting will continue at 8:30 a.m. Oct. 7.

During the two-day meeting, the commission will hear reports on:

• The coastal Dungeness crab fishery.
• Sportfishing rules proposals for the 2007-08 season.
• A razor clam mortality study.
• Draft wildlife area plans.
• A pilot grazing program, which uses managed livestock to maintain and enhance habitat conditions for wildlife.
• The Washington Wildlife and Recreation Program.
• The disposition of properties owned by WDFW in downtown Olympia.
• Project Black Bear, and the pilot spring black bear damage hunt.
• The impacts of mineral prospecting and mining on fish and fish habitat.
• WDFW’s advanced hunter education program.

A preliminary agenda for the meeting is posted on the commission’s website at http://wdfw.wa.gov/com/oct0706.htm.