Providing Recreation Opportunities
Staff members are still working to finalize a Request for Proposal (RFP) for a statewide trail inventory and assessment contract. This will hopefully go up for bid in December.
Conserving Natural Landscapes
Staff members coordinated to hire a Washington Conservation Coalition crew for Okanogan Wildlife Area to help with many long-standing recreation projects. They worked with wildlife area managers to decide on a funding source for the projects.
Cowlitz Wildlife Area Planning: The planning team met with Tacoma Power for a series of field visits to discuss adaptive forest habitat management on the Cowlitz Wildlife Area. The planning team will begin development of goals and objectives for the wildlife area this winter. Staff members are developing a recreational survey for the wildlife area that will soon be available to the public. In addition, staff members are working with the University of Washington Outdoor Lab to develop both intercept surveys and a remote survey using a chatbot to gather recreational data for the 2024 field season.
L.T. Murray Wildlife Area Planning: The L.T. Murray Wildlife Area final draft plan is pending signature by the director. Both the internal and external reviews are complete. Staff members coordinated a road and trail inventory over the summer, which will be completed in 2024. The inventory is the first step in assessing the current condition of the wildlife area travel network.
Providing Education and Outreach
Staff members conducted a final debrief on the Ambassador Program with the Washington Trails Association to discuss learnings and recommendations for 2024 programming.
Staff members worked with the contracting office to put the Region 4 listening sessions contract up for bid. This will solicit input from underrepresented communities about fishing and water access area opportunities in Region 4.
Other
On Nov. 6 a news release was sent out by Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) inviting public comment on 20 proposed acquisition properties going through the 2023 annual cycle of Lands 20/20, consisting of approximately 13,558 acres in Chelan, Douglas, Grant, Grays Harbor, Jefferson, Kittitas, Okanogan, Pend Oreille, Skagit, Whatcom, and Yakima counties. On Nov. 8, after a preview with attending tribes, WDFW sent a letter to all federally recognized tribes with interests in Washington State inviting consultation on WDFW’s Lands 20/20 process and the 20 proposed acquisition properties going through the 2023 annual cycle of Lands 20/20.
On Nov. 9, 2023, a home on approximately five acres was acquired in Forks to provide much needed housing for WDFW’s Enforcement Program. This acquisition was exempt from Lands 20/20, approved by the Fish and Wildlife Commission on September 8, 2023 (Item B. Land Transaction) and was purchased for the appraised value of $530,000 using funding from the Enforcement Program.
