The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) is now accepting public comments on proposed rule changes to update or clarify the department’s process for listing and developing recovery plans for state endangered, threatened, and sensitive species.
“These proposed rule changes would allow WDFW to adapt our listing and species recovery planning processes to better focus our limited department resources on the tasks that most directly help recover sensitive, threatened and endangered species,” Julia Smith, WDFW endangered species recovery section manager, said in a news release. “It would also provide the flexibility to more quickly adapt to changing conditions, so that our planning processes and timelines don’t inhibit us from completing vital recovery work for imperiled species.”
Proposed amendments to current rules about how WDFW develops plans to recover Washington’s sensitive, threatened and endangered species include a proposal that would allow WDFW to adopt existing federal recovery plans as the conservation “roadmap” for work in Washington, rather than requiring the state agency to develop its own plan.
“Being able to adopt and follow an existing recovery plan allows us to start implementing on-the-ground wildlife conservation work sooner and better align our recovery priorities with other agencies and partners,” Smith said.
Other proposed changes would extend the life of species recovery plans and other documents, but would require WDFW to review progress toward the recovery objectives of those plans more regularly. The department is also proposing updates to the state’s definitions of “endangered,” “threatened” and “sensitive” to remove ambiguous language and create a clear three-tiered classification system in the state.
More information about the proposed rule changes is available on WDFW’s rule-making webpage at https://tinyurl.com/ycyhcucs.
A State Environmental Policy Act (SEPA) determination has also been issued for this rule-making proposal. SEPA documents related to this proposal can be reviewed at the WDFW SEPA webpage at https://tinyurl.com/6p5pfjfx.
The public comment periods for this rule making and the associated SEPA determination are open through Nov. 23. The public can submit comments online, via email, by phone (1-855-925-2801, project code 11250), or by mailing WDFW Wildlife Program, P.O. Box 43200, Olympia, WA 98504.
WDFW will hold a public hearing for the rule making during the November Washington Fish and Wildlife Commission meeting. The meeting will be held in Spokane and live streamed. Participants must register in advance to provide public comment either online or in person.
Registration is available at https://tinyurl.com/2durvsnt.
WDFW is hosting a virtual information session about this rule making proposal at 6 p.m. on Oct. 14. The meeting will be held online via Zoom, and participants must pre-register to attend. WDFW staff will be available to answer clarifying questions about the rule making during this event, but formal public comments will not be recorded.
Registration for the meeting is available at https://tinyurl.com/ky2zs433.
