Earlier this year I wrote a column on this page entitled, “A Dangerous Trend,” detailing the changes in, and dangers of, how politics is playing a bigger role than ever in both the makeup of some state fish and wildlife commissions, and their decisions, that seriously affect how fish and wildlife are managed in their respective states. It’s a serious issue that we all need to be aware of.

The Sportsmen’s Alliance certainly is. This group is one of the preeminent organizations fighting for hunter’s rights on the legal front in the country. On their website you can find subcategories filled with information on the fights to protect the rights of dog owners and houndsmen, public land access, 2A rights, wolf management—– and stopping the corruption found in some state game commissions. It’s fascinating stuff.

One of their primary targets is the state game commission in Washington, where I now live. When it comes to hunting, this state has never been exactly user friendly, and the current game commission has made it even more difficult. In June, the Sportsmen’s Alliance released more evidence of corruption and collusion among members of the Washington Fish and Wildlife Commission. Evidence of this is explained in two short videos highlighting wrongdoing by commissioners in emails and text messages exposed by the lawsuit the Sportsmen’s Alliance Foundation was forced to file to uncover the egregious behavior of those dictating state wildlife policy.

“We now have text messages with four commissioners colluding to meet with Washington Wildlife First, an animal-rights organization dedicated to destroying hunting and fishing in the state,” said Todd Adkins, Senior Vice President at the Sportsmen’s Alliance. “What’s more, Commissioner John Lehmkuhl acknowledges that what they’re doing mixes the activist organization’s business with the commission’s work, and could easily be considered collusion — but he still goes along with the plan!”

As the first video shows, the original meeting was presented as a chance for Claire Davis, founder and board president of Washington Wildlife First, to “explain how things will be moving forward” to the commissioners. Commissioner Lorna Smith, who was appointed to the commission in January 2021 by leftwing former governor Jay Inslee in violation of state law (she long served on a county planning commission; state law forbids wildlife commissioners from holding another state, county, or municipal elective or appointive office, which she subsequently resigned following a lawsuit), also mentions that it’s a “delicate” situation and that she was also setting up a meeting with Samantha Bruegger, the former executive director of Washington Wildlife First who was hired away to accept a position with Animal Wellness Action as the Colorado State Director, where she spearheaded a 2024 initiative to ban mountain lion hunting in Colorado.

The second video showcases Commission Lehmkuhl’s politicking ways when it comes to spring bear hunt and cougar season votes, while also giving then-governor Inslee what he wanted when it came to maintaining “endangered” status for wolves. This move went against the state game department staff’s recommendation to reclassify gray wolves as a protected sensitive species.

“Commissioner Lehmkuhl is supposed to be a scientist, a wildlife biologist with a PhD, but in email after email and text message after text message we see him abandon science in pursuit of politicking and backroom dealing,” said Adkins. For example, in an emailed from March 11, 2022, Lehmkuhl tells commissioners Tim Ragen, Melanie Rowland and Lorna Smith that he “never wants to hear another public comment on spring bear hunting again. I just had to say this, sorry.”

You can find links to these two videos on the Sportsmen’s Alliance website, as well as many others that are both interesting and full of information.

Sportsmen’s Alliance has petitioned current WA governor Bob Ferguson to remove commissioners Barbara Baker, Lorna Smith, Melanie Rowland and John Lehmkuhl. The odds are not good that Ferguson, like Inslee a liberal democrat, will do so. “The hubris of these four commissioners is jaw dropping. Their contempt for the public and laws of Washington should scare anyone interested in open, transparent government,” said Adkins. 

If that’s not enough, as a result of state legislation passed in spring 2025 and signed by Gov. Ferguson, WA hunting and fishing license fees increased 38% July 1, 2025. The state Department of Fish & Wildlife did not request this legislation, and although this bill increases revenue for the department, most of the revenue is used to cover increased costs while the remainder is used to offset State General Fund reductions as a fund swap. The swap is $10.1 million for 2025-27 and $7 million per biennium ongoing thereafter. This is first time in my memory that hunting and fishing license fees in any state have been raised as a means to fund unrelated social programs, and not totally dedicated to resource management.

I’ve been following these types of political shenanigans with state game departments closely since I sat in a courtroom in Sacramento, California, in 1990 and watched as a judge upheld Proposition 117, which banned mountain lion hunting in that state. After the ruling, the presiding judge told me the state presented such a weak case the court had no choice but to uphold the challenges presented. In a glaring example of the law of unintended consequences, since Prop. 117 passed, around 100 mountain lions have been killed each year via the depredation permit system — nearly four times the average number of lions killed each year prior to the ballot measure.

“Never appeal to a man’s better nature. He may not have one.” So stated author Robert Heinlein in 1973. State fish and wildlife commissions have great power, often wielded with little oversight from the general public. We should never assume they have the best interest of hunters and anglers at heart.