Department of Fish and Wildlife

Two mountain lions contract bird flu in Washington State

Gabriel Spitzer

Two adult mountain lions on the Olympic Peninsula are the latest victims of bird flu in Washington State.

A person wearing blue cloves hot a small green crab.

No end in sight for Washington’s battle against invasive green crabs

Bill Lucia

The state has trapped more than 900,000 of the crustaceans, which pose a threat to native wildlife, the shellfish industry and shoreline habitats.

A badger-looking animal in a field of slightly overgrown grass.

Environment

Washington embarks on once-a-decade update of wildlife conservation plan

Laurel Demkovich

Washington wildlife officials are beginning to plan for how to conserve the state’s species and habitats for the next decade.

Environment

Washington leaders try to find solutions for wolf depredations and killing of wolves

Courtney Flatt

Many ranchers say it’s time to find creative ways to deal with wolf attacks on livestock. That’s what a new bill in the Washington state Senate hopes to do – to the frustration of some wildlife rights groups.

In this Oct. 24, 2020, photo, Sven Spichiger, Washington state Department of Agriculture managing entomologist, displays a canister of Asian giant hornets vacuumed from a nest in a tree behind him in Blaine. Washington state officials said Thursday, Aug. 26, 2021, they had destroyed the first Asian giant hornet nest of the season, which was also located near Blaine.

Giant hornet nest destroyed in Washington state

Nicholas K. Geranios; The Associated Press

Officials in Washington state said Thursday they had destroyed the first giant hornet nest of the season, which was found near the town of Blaine along the Canadian border.

Environment

Swinomish Tribe objects as state allows Cooke Aquaculture to stock net pen at Hope Island

Bellamy Pailthorp

The Swinomish Tribe is filing another amicus brief this week, in support of a lawsuit against the state Department of Fish and Wildlife. Environmental…

An image from a remote game camera shows a female grizzly bear, far left, with her three cubs near Metaline Falls in northeast Washington. Wildlife biologists fitted her with a radio collar to help them learn more about grizzly bears in Washington.

Environment

Female grizzly collared in Washington for 1st time in 40 years

Wildlife biologists have captured a female grizzly bear in Washington state for the first time in 40 years, fitting it with a radio collar so they can…

Clayton Carson, a technician from the state department of fish and wildlife, delivers Dungeness crab samples from three coastal areas to the state health department's labs in Shoreline. They will be tested for domic acid, a neurotoxin.

Environment

Neurotoxin that shut down razor clamming threatens Dungeness crab season

Bellamy Pailthorp

UPDATE, Nov. 25: The state Department of Fish and Wildlife has closed recreational fishing for Dungeness crab on the central Washington coast, effective…

Environment

State suspends summer fishing for Chinook on Columbia River, limits Puget Sound seasons

Bellamy Pailthorp

Low numbers of Chinook salmon expected to return to the Columbia River this summer have led state and tribal officials to close that fishery until Aug. 1.…

Washington Department and Fish and Wildlife Director Jim Unsworth is resigning after three years on the job.

Washington Fish And Wildlife Director To Resign

Austin Jenkins

Washington Department and Fish and Wildlife Director Jim Unsworth is resigning next month after three years on the job. He presided over a tumultuous...