Petition filed to reinstate spring bear hunt after commission audit
The fall black bear hunting season is well underway in Skagit and Whatcom counties, and a hunter filed two petitions recently with the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife to bring back the spring bear hunt, a controversial season that ended in 2022 and resulted in a Fish and Wildlife commission audit for disregarding government transparency laws, conflict of interest rules and internal clashes among staff.
In 2022, the commission voted 5-4 against the spring bear hunt. Opponents of the hunt called it inhumane, as it’s when black bears emerge from hibernation and have drained their fat reserves. Supporters of the hunt pointed to the commission’s mandate to promote recreational opportunities as well as the threat bears pose to livestock and tree harvest.
“Many hunters do not take the time to ID the sex of black bears before killing them,” wrote Martha Hall, an Anacortes resident who ran a wildlife rehab center in San Diego for 18 years and served as chair on the Sierra Club Wildlife Committee, in an email. “Killing females with cubs is now illegal, and this is new. Does making this illegal prevent this? Maybe not, but it will prevent reporting it.”
Cubs orphaned in the spring have little chance of surviving, Hall wrote. Females with cubs have little fat reserves in the spring. Before trees and bushes leaf out, bears are easier to see and kill.
WDFW Director Kelly Susewind, a lifelong hunter, formally asked Gov. Bob Ferguson to investigate commissioners’ behavior after the decision.
Transformative Workplace Investigations, which conducted the audit and filed the report in July, recommended the governor require training on public records and establish clearer rules for how commissioners communicate with the public. In addition, it suggested “corrective or personnel action” could be considered against Commissioners Melanie Rowland and Lorna Smith who were found to have purposely declined to turn over certain public records for 18 months.
Internal Aug. 31 memos shared with Salish Current from the Governor’s Office to Commissioners Smith and Rowland acknowledged violations of the Public Records Act and Open Public Meetings Act. The memo was not punitive but instead offered a reminder of the expectation for prompt compliance to state mandates, a review of conflict-of-interest rules, professional engagement with staff and fellow commissioners and refraining from retaliating against anyone involved in the investigation.
Failure to meet these expectations will result in removal from the commission, the memos read.
In April, Smith filed a lawsuit against Susewind and Deputy Director Amy Windrope, accusing them of attempting to silence her. The suit alleges Susewind and Windrope manufactured allegations about her conduct to incite the investigation.
“This is really more about political power than this hunt, since only about 100-some hunters were drawn for the spring hunts,” Hall said.
A mighty population
Black bears are the most common bears in North America and occur throughout most of Washington. WDFW estimates a population of 22,000 in the state, which has gone up in recent years. This is one of the largest black bear populations in the contiguous United States.
According to Edmonds resident Brad Thomsen in his July 9 petition to WDFW to reinstate the spring bear hunt, the decision violated state law which states that in a manner consistent with conserving wildlife, the department shall enhance and improve recreation opportunities.
According to Thomsen, black bears’ damage to coniferous forests impact the economy, and the black bear population is sufficient for sustainable harvest.
Originally, the purpose of the spring bear hunt was to help commercial tree farms lessen the damage. To combat this, the timber industry placed feeding stations with sugary pellets to offer an easier food source than tree sap, which helped mitigate the problem by 2020.
However, it wasn’t a perfect solution. State investigators noted that these feeding stations functioned as bait, drawing bear populations to the farms where they were targeted by hunters.
While Susewind had until Sept. 7 to decide on Thomsen’s petition, WDFW communications manager Chase Gunnell said prior to that date the decision had already been made.
“In recognition of ongoing direction from the commission, and following staff and leadership review, WDFW has respectfully denied petitions to reinitiate rule making regarding the hunting of black bears in the spring,” he wrote in an email.
However, after the audit report, Thomsen filed a new petition in August which claimed the 2022 decision overrode the unanimous recommendation of WDFW biologists and Susewind himself.
Thomsen pointed to the audit’s substantiated violations of the Open Public Meetings Act through serial meetings and coordinated communication among commissioners outside of the public eye.
On bear attacks
In addition, Thomsen acknowledged “substantial” human-black bear conflicts and claimed they will increase.
On Aug. 15, WDFW received a report of a human-black bear conflict on a trail in the forest north of Lake Whatcom, where a woman was walking a lab when a bear allegedly charged her. The woman was scraped after retreating into a blackberry bush. WDFW staff were unable to locate the bear.
While human and black bear clashes are considered rare, the department receives about 500 complaints about bears each year regarding close sightings, property damage, livestock attacks and human attacks, Gunnell said.
The department recommends traveling in groups, making noise, carrying bear spray and managing food and garbage outside the home.
For folks in close contact with a bear, the department recommends remaining calm and retreating, making noise and waving hands if they approach and not running.
—By Sam Fletcher