To be clear, the GMP is a guidance document for WDFW, advice as it manages bears and other big game, small game, upland bird and waterfowl species. Any real change to opening day of the bear hunt \u2013 currently August 1 or 15<\/a>, depending on the unit \u2013 would actually come via the annual rulemaking process that sets the seasons and includes public comment opportunities.<\/p>\n But that will give little solace to some bear hunters and others stirring uncomfortably in their dens as they recall how suddenly the spring special permit hunt in the Blue Mountains, Northeast Washington and select other game management units fell by the wayside as a result of the commission\u2019s tie vote in November 2021 that put a \u201cpause\u201d<\/a> to the 2022 season, and which has never come back<\/a>.<\/p>\n That episode led to a serious erosion of trust in the citizen panel that oversees WDFW policy and hires and fires its director, a bazillion fruitless petitions to reinstate the spring hunt, and a lawsuit over commissioner behaviors that saw the governor hire an investigator<\/a> to look into it.<\/p>\n And the years of overfocus on Washington\u2019s robust black bear population is no small part of the reason it took so long to update the 2015-21 GMP, a process that began back in 2022 and wrapped up with this morning\u2019s commission vote.<\/p>\n The sentence in question can be found on page 149 of the 215-page document, and it\u2019s the very last thing in the entire black bear chapter, in a section that talks about balancing hunting, wildlife viewing and ecological integrity of the species. <\/p>\n Specifically, it\u2019s part of a strategy wrapped around the goal of WDFW highlighting the various values of black bears. To wit:<\/p>\n \u201cConsider later hunting start dates (e.g., after Labor Day) in areas where black bear viewing is popular and conflict between user groups is likely to occur to balance competing uses.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n The language appears to have first surfaced last June in the draft GMP that underwent State Environmental Policy Act review<\/a>. While \u201cwildlife viewing\u201d is not a foreign concept in the previous plan<\/a> or this one \u2013 here the phrase is mentioned no fewer than 35 times across most if not all hunted species \u2013 laying the groundwork to potentially shift hunting seasons so as to privilege critter watchers over hunters or prevent arguments in the woods is a new one.<\/p>\n It didn\u2019t sit well with Douglas Boze, a Skagit County resident and president of the state chapter of the American Bear Foundation, who otherwise supported the final GMP.<\/p>\n \u201cDepending on where these areas are deemed to exist in the state, this could be a reduction of season length of three to five weeks, and who knows how large of an area?\u201d he told the Fish and Wildlife Commission this morning during public comment. \u201cWho is to say where black bear viewing is popular? Heck, I\u2019ve been on popular hiking trails surrounded by hikers, and none of them had a clue that there were black bears 300 yards off the trail until I pointed it out to them with my spotter scope. My point is, the possibility of further reduction of seasons for no scientific reason other than someone else doesn\u2019t like my hunt is yet another coil of restriction around the general hunting public\u2019s neck.\u201d<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/North-Cascades-bear-1200x900.jpg\")
CHAD SMITH SMILES OVER A BLACK BEAR TAKEN IN THE NORTH CASCADES DURING THE 2023 SEASON. (KNIFE PHOTO CONTEST)<\/p>\n