Department of Fish & Wildlife October 2026 Director's Bulletin

OLYMPIA — Fall is a great time to be a Washingtonian. There’s something for everyone: Foraging for wild mushrooms, setting and pulling up crab pots in Puget Sound, early mornings scouting for wildlife, the chance to see salmon returning to streams and rivers, and so much more.  

For Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW), it also marks a season of forward thinking, particularly with the legislative session kicking off in a handful of months in Olympia. As a result of legislatively directed budget reductions from the 2026 legislative session, WDFW is operating with $34 million less per year.  

Our focus now is on restoring some of what’s been lost. Our priorities include:  

$7.6 million to restore WDFW Police officer positions 

WDFW Enforcement officer capacity has decreased to fewer Fish and Wildlife Police officers patrolling the state than there were 30 years ago. Washington’s population has doubled in that same timeframe. Calls for service have surged due to population growth, expanding patrol areas, and increasing law enforcement expectations. Diminished officer presence jeopardizes public safety and inhibits the ability to protect habitat and enforce Department rules and regulations. This package restores the Department’s officer capacity with 13 police officer positions. 

$4.8 million to restore monitoring and fisheries

Robust marine and freshwater fish and shellfish fisheries monitoring is critical to species conservation and recovery, co-management with treaty tribes, and providing fishing opportunities. Most fisheries in Washington cannot be implemented without associated monitoring programs, typically due to Endangered Species Act and tribal co-management requirements. This package restores essential harvest and population monitoring activities for salmon fisheries and Puget Sound steelhead and shellfish recreational fisheries. 

$4.8 million to restore fire prevention and forest health efforts 

WDFW manages 1 million acres of public land, which includes land often positioned in mid-elevation zones that buffer human communities from wildfires. About 100,000 acres of those lands are fire-dependent ecosystems located between lower elevation private properties and higher elevation forests managed by other agencies. Current funding is not sufficient to maintain decades of investment in healthy ecosystems and the public benefits they provide. Previous funding to maintain forest management, fuel reduction, and the ecological health of these lands was reduced by 80%. This package restores funding to previous levels. 

$4 million to restore Washington’s biodiversity  

Biodiversity is fundamental to Washington’s nature-based heritage and identity, and habitat loss and degradation, climate change, pollution, wildlife disease, and invasive species threaten it. WDFW knows how to support biodiversity, even as Washington’s population grows. This package restores funding for near-term actions to protect at-risk species, protect and restore priority habitat, and increase Washingtonians’ stewardship behavior. 

$2.4 million to restore lands stewardship  

The long-term conservation and recreation value of WDFW-managed lands is at risk. Previous funding levels were reduced at a time when both the demand for the services those lands provide and the costs to steward them. Reduced funding puts the Department even further behind in our ability to effectively manage the more than 1 million acres and almost 500 water access areas to provide fish and wildlife habitat and critical outdoor connection opportunities. This request restores funding to previous levels to address ongoing operations and maintenance responsibilities across the state. 

One-time to ongoing packages 

The Department continues to request ongoing funding for a suite of work, including invasive mussel prevention, crab fishery monitoring and whale entanglement risk reduction, wolf recovery, wildlife disease response, Columbia River sea lion management, and the Wolf Advisory Group. This work has only received one-time funding for the last three biennia. This work is currently happening. Without funding, this work will stop. 

What you can do 

Healthy fisheries, thriving wildlife populations, and access to public lands are the result of years of science, stewardship, and partnership – not one-time investments. You can talk with your friends, your neighbors, and others in your community about the importance of long-term support for fish, wildlife, and people. Refer to our website for more information. 

Sincerely,

Kelly Susewind, Director