It had been a while since I read it, so I went back and read through RCW 77.04 (Department of Fish and Wildlife). Indeed, it places a lot of authority (and the service of the director) in the hands of the commissioners.

I said earlier that the WDFW Director had the power to overrule commission guidance, but that doesn't appear to be the exact case. Rather, in section 020, the Legislature says that "The commission may delegate to the director any of the powers and duties vested in the commission." The word "may" is key, because it implies a choice. As long as I've been somewhat involved in this stuff, I've not seen the commission make a single rule or step in to overturn department recommendations. I suspect they delegate most of their powers to the director, possibly because they feel (likely rightly so) that department staff should be better-equipped to handle most issues than they are. Either way, it's clear that the commission has tended not to exercise a wide range of their vested powers over the years, whatever the reasons. When they don't act, the director does.