Public Comment Period for Proposed Cougar Management Guidelines

Your input is needed to provide our Commission with the best information about how you would like to see cougar managed in Washington.

The Commission, which sets policy for WDFW, will accept public comments on the proposed recommendations at its March 13-14 meeting in Kennewick.

Final action by the Commission is scheduled at a public meeting April 10-11 in Olympia.

From February 6th through 26th, WDFW is accepting public comments to help finalize hunting rules and regulations proposed for the upcoming year. r. If you missed the written comment period, you can testify at the WDFW Commission meeting in Kennewick on March 13-14.

The proposals are available on the department's website.

WDFW will propose four options related to the cougar harvest guidelines.

Watch a video explaining the four options.

Watch a video on how the department currently manages cougars.

Options include maintaining the current harvest guideline, but using a median instead of mean to calculate density. Some options include changing the way WDFW counts animals toward the guideline. Other options look at increasing the guideline in areas with historically higher harvest and conflict.

We have drafted a letter to the Department of Fish & Wildlife. Feel free to use any of this information in the creation of your own comment.