Washington bear hunters are grasping at straws following the state's cancelation of the spring bear hunting season. They have resorted to scare tactics as published in several outdoor/ hunting articles with titles such as "After Canceling Its Spring Bear Hunt, Washington Sees Bear Conflicts in the Suburbs." The truth is those conflicts existed even with the spring bear hunt and are almost always attributed to human negligence, such as unsecured trash and refusing to remove bear attractants such as bird seed. Hunting has not and will not eliminate bear-human conflicts, but securing trash and removing bear attractants will. Furthermore, hunting does not occur in suburbia, so the bears that are killed are not the bears involved in the human-induced encounters/conflicts.

The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife's decision to cancel the spring bear hunt was met with push-back from Commissioner Don McIssac. He has submitted a pre-proposal form (CL101) that is the first step in the agency's rulemaking process and could lead to another vote on spring bear hunting. The WDFW may discuss this proposal during their next meeting scheduled for June 24, 2022. We need to reiterate that we DO NOT SUPPORT the spring bear hunt. Please complete the action items below.

Submit your public comment opposing the pre-proposal to reinstate the spring bear hunt.

Email the WDFW Commissioners.
https://wdfw.wa.gov/about/commission/contact

Send an email to the WDFW.
2023springbearcr101@publicinput.com

Sign & share our petition.