I really disagree that it's worked well. Our salmon crisis hasn't improved to any real extent the Columbia River fishing priorities haven't been followed,Puget Sound fishing harvest isn't apportioned according to Supreme Court decisions, the Columbia gillnet buy back turned out to be a mess, predation by seals and sea lions has basically been ignored, the pheasant farm has to close, fish hatcheries close and license fees rose while participation continues to shrink. Regulations hae gone wild (I counted more than two hundred separate regulations for the Columbia!) and emergency regulation continue to mess up people's plans. The whale regulation is not enforceable. The list could go on.

You got right Tug.

Tug,

I guess I meant that the Commission concept worked well from its inception in 1935 until, well, until the merger.

I think you're right

WDFW CONTINUES TO BE A ZERO.

We had more fish when most of our rivers were being used as splash dam log flow.

This cannot be emphasized enough. Organizations represented by sportsmen generally advocate for conservation and balancing the desires of sportsmen to recreate and maximize opportunities while also being mindful of sustainability and balance for the health of wildlife to ensure those opportunities can stay. Organizations such as Washington Wildlife First are extremists who advocate exclusively for preservation and eliminating sustainable usage of resources by sportsmen. Sportsmen are mindful of the needs of wildlife, but the extremists aren’t mindful of allowing sustainable usage.

The mission of WDFW is to preserve, protect and perpetuate fish, wildlife and ecosystems while providing sustainable fish and wildlife recreational and commercial opportunities. WDFW recently has catered to the wishes of extremists groups at the expense of science and recreational opportunities. Organizations favoring sportsmen more closely align with WDFW’s mission statement. WDFW is failing its mission and needs to rebalance.


Streamer

Well said. And now they are trying to push through a state wide income tax. Without a vote of the people.

"The people" voted for their representatives, they voted for their governor. We had our votes. Our government is based on sending people to represent us and not have every bill go before the electorate before passage. That would never work.

It’s important to note how influential our elected officials are in this process. Generally, Conservatives are more supportive of sportsmen and maximized opportunities than Democrats. If you want to see change, maybe consider voting for people who align with your interests instead of your party. This is another example of voting against your own interests as sportsmen and people in this forum that clam they are fiscally conservative but prioritize bizarre social issues above anything else. Stop shooting yourself in the foot and complaining about it.


Streamer

Insley was absolutely the worst governor for fish and wildlife that wev'e
EVER had, no doubt. Ferguson is well on his way to being just as bad. In the past few years it seems that Republicans in the house and senate have been better than the "D"s, but not in every instance. Most of our problems are of our own making. We don't speak in a loud enough voice! Plus we aren't unified in what we want. We absolutely need a powerful lobbying group to lobby both sides of the aisle. There are a hell of a lot more fishermen than there are fire fighters, and through lobbying they get what they want. If salmon fisherman donated just twenty bucks apiece, the cost of a good restaurant breakfast, the two hundred thousand of us would have a war chest of four million! We could change a lot. But which organization? Hell, PSA and CCA don't agree with each other. We need an independent lobbying group that all can contribute to. Trout Unlimited, NSIA, fly fishers, etc. It's doable.

Well said, Tug. Sportsmen are very splintered and easily dismissed as vary small and marginal. For example, I really don't care about the catchable trout program/lake planting. Not my game. But I support it for those who participate.

LATEST I COULD FIND.

WA Fish and Wildlife saga deepens with claims of collusion
A previously undisclosed memo suggests two current commissioners were coordinating with a conservation group. Those named deny the allegations and say the document is defamatory and riddled with falsehoods


By:
Jerry Cornfield
-
February 13, 2026
6:22 pm

(Photo courtesy of U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service)

Two members of the Washington Fish and Wildlife Commission are pushing back on newly surfaced allegations that they shunned government transparency laws and appeared to have colluded with the leader of a wildlife advocacy group on policy matters.

A scathing 10-page memo says the behavior of commissioners Lorna Smith and Melanie Rowland posed “serious risks” to the state Department of Fish and Wildlife, “especially when it comes to avoiding a conflict of interest and favoritism.” The report also scrutinizes a former commissioner Gov. Bob Ferguson chose to replace on the panel last year.

It is the latest twist in a multi-year drama involving the commission, which is often a battleground for groups fighting over how far the state should go in protecting wildlife or allowing for hunting or fishing of various species. A separate probe ordered by the governor, looking at whether commissioners violated open meetings and public records laws, remains underway.

Department of Fish and Wildlife Director Kelly Susewind had a top staffer prepare the newly released memo in May 2025. It was shared that month with Ferguson’s chief of staff and only became public this week through a records request by the Standard. Susewind’s move was unusual, as the commissioners oversee his department and he answers to the panel.

The report flags concerns about the named commissioners’ “tight relationship” with attorney Claire Davis, the president and chief executive officer of Washington Wildlife First.

While there are no transcripts of their frequent private meetings, the memo’s author said it looks like they may have been “propagating an agenda” in line with the advocacy group’s policy priorities. Davis’ group, meanwhile, has been calling for Susewind to be removed from his job.

Rowland, Smith and Davis are blasting the memo, saying it is riddled with false and defamatory statements that harm their reputations. The commissioners worry it could unfairly influence the ongoing investigation.

Smith and Rowland each said they first saw the document Feb. 2 when told it would soon be released as part of a public records request.

It “is replete with assumptions, inferences, unsupported accusatory opinions, and incorrect conclusions,” Rowland wrote Susewind on Feb. 9.

Davis said Knoll “recklessly makes allegations of misconduct against me without any evidence of wrongdoing.”


Kelly Susewind, director of the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife. (Courtesy photo) Francisco Santiago-Ávila, Washington Wildlife First’s science and advocacy director, said they are poring through a trove of documents received from the department “that will help expose the selective, vindictive, and defamatory nature of this campaign to oust pro-wildlife commissioners. You will be hearing a lot more about this from us in the coming days and weeks.”

Smith said in a statement Friday that when she first read the memo, “I was shocked to see the false and outrageous claims it contained, and even more so when I found out that it was written by an attorney.”

“But after I reviewed it more carefully and compared it to other documents, the pieces began to fall together, and I realized that it reveals a lot about what department management has been doing behind closed doors over the past year,” she said. “I am not going to comment further until I consult with my attorneys and decide upon my next course of action.”

A serious soap opera
Much of the commission’s strife can be traced to its controversial decision in November 2022 to stop recreational hunting of black bears in the spring.

Sportsmen’s Alliance, an Ohio-based organization, opposed the decision. Convinced commissioners misbehaved throughout the process, it sought their emails, texts and other communications to figure out if, in fact, they had failed to follow state law concerning the conduct of public meetings and preserving public records.

It took a lawsuit, but the group eventually received thousands of records in 2025.

On May 16, 2025, the group filed a petition asking Ferguson to remove commissioners Smith, Rowland, Barbara Baker, and John Lehmkuhl, alleging misconduct and malfeasance. They included some of the obtained records. Ferguson has not commented or acted on the petition.

Ten days earlier, Susewind had two boxes of records generated from the hunters’ group’s request delivered to Thomas Knoll Jr., the agency’s criminal justice legal liaison for law enforcement.

“Initial review of these documents raises concern regarding potential inappropriate conduct by several Fish and Wildlife Commissioners,” Susewind wrote Knoll on May 8. “I would like your independent assessment of the materials provided including a written opinion on whether the records indicate inappropriate conduct.”

Knoll submitted his memo on May 16 and Susewind shared a copy with Ferguson’s staff.

On June 20, the Office of Financial Management signed a contract with Chiedza Nziramasanga of Transformative Workplace Investigations to “provide a comprehensive investigation of a reported experience in a work unit to allow leadership to determine if any discrimination, retaliation and/or other policy violations occurred as alleged.”

It would not be until mid-August before Ferguson publicly acknowledged this investigation into the commission. He waited to do so until after Susewind formally asked him to look into the situation on Aug. 5.

The Knoll memo, along with the Sportsmen’s Alliance petition, was in the initial batch of documents provided to the investigator.

“This can be a good starting point to understand the issues that DFW had flagged,” Franklin Plaistowe, chief operations officer for Ferguson, wrote in an email to Nziramasanga.

Transformative Workplace Investigations was to turn in its final report on Friday, Feb. 13, but has received a one-month extension.


Commissioners Lorna Smith (from left), Woody Myers and Melanie Rowland listen to public comments at the Washington Fish and Wildlife Commission meeting on Feb. 13, 2026. (Photo by Jerry Cornfield/Washington State Standard)
Susewind said he didn’t make the memo public last year because he did not want to “inadvertently bias that investigation.” He said commissioners could have seen it and all the other records generated from the Sportsmen’s Alliance request if they wanted.

“We did offer to go over documents with all commissioners both before and after the Thomas Knoll memo,” he said this week.

Commission chair Jim Anderson agreed.

“I was aware of it. I think we all had an opportunity to know what’s there,” he said Thursday.

Rowland and Smith said they don’t recall such an offer.

“I most definitely did not see it,” Smith said.

‘Have each other on speed dial’
Soon after taking office, Ferguson withdrew two Inslee administration appointments to the commission. Materials obtained from the computer of one of those appointees, former commission vice chair Tim Ragen, steered Knoll’s attention to commissioners Smith and Rowland and Washington Wildlife First’s Davis.

Knoll contends the commissioners failed to recognize the importance of retaining records and did not promptly respond to records requests, including those involving commission-related communications made on personal devices.

Some of his sharpest critiques are directed at the relationship between Davis and Smith, Rowland and Ragen. He said they appeared to “have each other on speed dial.” They met regularly, often before commission meetings, and Davis corresponded directly with each, he noted, raising the spectre of potential conflicts of interest.

When Ferguson walked back Ragen’s appointment, Washington Wildlife First was among the groups that pressed the governor to keep him on the commission.

Knoll cited one email from 2023 where Davis invited commissioners to ask questions about a lawsuit she filed against the state agency on behalf of two clients.

“The record does not show what was discussed about the pending lawsuit, but this type of communication is clearly inconsistent,” with the commission rule to not engage in any activity which gives rise to the appearance of a conflict of interest, he wrote.

Rowland, an attorney, flatly denied discussing litigation against the department with Davis “or any other attorney for a party in litigation” with the agency.

Davis, in her statement, said her discussions with commissioners were “an appropriate, ethical, and protected exercise of my First Amendment right to speak to government officials on matters of public importance.”

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Jerry Cornfield
Jerry Cornfield
Jerry Cornfield joined the Standard after 20 years covering Olympia statehouse news for The Everett Herald. Earlier in his career, he worked for daily and weekly papers in Santa Barbara, California.

Washington State Standard is part of States Newsroom, the nation’s largest state-focused nonprofit news organization.

MORE FROM AUTHOR
More from our Newsroom

Probe of WA Fish and Wildlife Commission to stretch into 2026
by Jerry Cornfield
December 26, 2025

Ferguson orders investigation into conduct of WA Fish and Wildlife Commission members
by Emily Fitzgerald
August 15, 2025

Hunters, anglers and tribes see win in Ferguson’s Fish and Wildlife Commission picks
by Bill Lucia
April 10, 2025

Couple days ago the Knoll report was put out on Facebook by the groups going after the Commissioners. As I recall, the report found lots of issues and problems.

AND MORE


Knoll Memo Backs Claims of Collusion by WDFW Commissioners
March 30, 2026

Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife Legal liaison’s findings support assertions in Sportsmen’s Alliance petition for removal of commissioners for collusion, obstruction, and violations of Open Public Meetings Act and Public Records Act

Internal Investigation Confirms Illegal Behavior by Commissioners
The Sportsmen’s Alliance and Conservation Coalition of Washington have released the much-touted “Knoll Memo,” the findings of an internal investigation by the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, which fully support the claims of collusion and illegal behavior concerning the Open Public Meetings Act and Public Records Act by members of the Washington Fish and Wildlife Commission.

“This is a damning condemnation of commissioners Lorna Smith and Melanie Rowland,” said Rob Sexton, Senior Vice President of the Sportsmen’s Alliance. “While Smith and Rowland, and as this internal investigation shows, their animal-rights co-conspirator Claire Davis, try to brush the findings aside, there’s no hiding from the truth we’ve exposed: collusion, corruption and violations of law have undoubtedly taken place.”

Public Records Request Uncovers Egregious Violations
On May 30, 2025, the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife fulfilled its final installment of records due to the Sportsmen’s Alliance from a September 2023 public records request concerning the communications of four state fish and wildlife commissioners, which came only after a lawsuit was filed against the department compelling the production of the records. Though the total number of records received was just a fraction of the 477,000 identified, the Sportsmen’s Alliance was astounded at what they uncovered and immediately launched a webpage to highlight examples of the egregious violations.

While the Sportsmen’s Alliance continued to dig through the tens of thousands of unearthed records, WDFW Director Kelly Susewind privately turned to Thomas Knoll, WDFW Criminal Justice Legal Liaison for Enforcement, to evaluate the evidence and provide a report of his conclusions.

Governor Ferguson Orders Independent Investigation
After the Sportsmen’s Alliance petition for removal of commissioners Barbara Baker, Lorna Smith, Melanie Rowland and John Lemkhul, and the internal investigation, Director Susewind formally requested Governor Ferguson to conduct an independent investigation of the claims, which began in June 2025.

The Knoll Memo itself was kept internal until a public records request by the Washington State Standard and subsequent story on Feb. 13, 2026, revealed portions of the memo.

Full Text of Knoll Memo Released to the Public
The Sportsmen’s Alliance and Conservation Coalition of Washington are now revealing the full text of the Knoll Memo so the public can read exactly what independent legal minds within WDFW found when reading the same evidence as the watchdog organizations.

After multiple extensions at taxpayers’ expense, the independent investigation ordered by Gov. Ferguson is finally due April 6.

“Governor Ferguson has taken the first step to investigate the biases of his predecessor and can now begin to restore lawful management of our wildlife and enforce the transparency and accountability within Washington government that is outlined in law,” said Sexton. “We look forward to reading the findings of the independent investigation, and we’re optimistic it will come to similar conclusions.”

Key Findings from the Knoll Memo
Rowland fails to appreciate the importance of record retention and properly providing responsive records to WDFW concerning pending public record requests.

Rowland purposely delayed providing the needed response.
Rowland was recorded as stating she would not respond to the record request unless forced.

The duty to respond is clearly outlined in statute and case law.
It appears that the Commissioners may have been colluding with the special interest groups

Claire Davis has a direct line of communication to those Commissioners that seem sympathetic to her causes.
The record is replete with examples where Ragen, Rowland, and Smith used personal emails and devices to conduct business for the Commission.

This continued to occur even after the Commissioners were instructed not to use such devices. It is not entirely clear that Rowland and/or Smith have been forthcoming This attitude regarding public records requests is simply inexcusable and flies in the face of the RCW 42.56 et seq.

To Smith, the end justified the means
I wonder in what other ways she has bent procedure and/or laws to fit her perception of justifiable conduct. There is no question in my mind that Commissioners Rowland and Smith present serious risks to WDFW

The Sportsmen’s Alliance guarantees hunting, fishing and trapping for the American sportsman now and forever. We’re there when sportsmen need us most. We are the only organization specifically created to protect the individual hunter, angler and trapper – no matter the threat. We will never compromise when it comes to defending our way of life in the courts, in the legislatures, in the public square and at the ballot box. We make this promise to the American sportsman: we will never give up and never give in while proudly securing our future against those seeking to destroy our values, beliefs, and traditions. Stay connected to Sportsmen’s Alliance: Online, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

That was what I saw.

Doen't read well for the Commissioners.