washington department of Fish & Wildlife

Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife mandates body cameras for officers in an effort to boost transparency and accountability.

Sockeye salmon are returning in record numbers to the waters of North Central Washington this year. At the Tumwater Dam on the Wenatchee River, an incredible 165,071 sockeye have been counted through July 31 - a mark that shatters the previous record by over 54,000 fish and is also 68,000 over preseason forecasts...

Anglers in Chelan County can now catch channel catfish for the first time in over a decade. The Washington Department of Fish & Wildlife (WDFW) has resumed its channel catfish stocking program after a ten-year absence. Channel catfish are a non-indigenous species that were first introduced to the waters of Washington in Skagit County in 1892. Af...

The Washington Department of Fish & Wildlife and the Leavenworth National Fish Hatchery are recommending people no longer float the waters of Icicle Creek. The agencies say water levels in the creek have reached their summertime lows, which means inner tubing the creek will take a long time and include sections where walking would be necessary. ...

The Washington Department of Ecology (ECY) will be conducting drone flights over the Lower Peshastin Creek next week. The flights are being performed in connection with the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) as part of a restoration project and will primarily provide mapping of the area...

The Washington Department of Fish & Wildlife (WDFW) is conducting elk surveys in Kittitas County this week. Biologists will be focusing on the Colockum Herd in an area northwest of Ellensburg. WDFW Regional Wildlife Program Manager, Ross Huffman, says the survey is done every two years. ...

The Washington Department of Fish & Wildlife (WDFW) is inviting families to the Oak Creek Wildlife Area near Naches to view hundreds of elk that are being fed there. The WDFW feeds elk in designated parts of South Central Washington every winter because the animals' range is largely fenced off during the colder months and their access to wild food sources is limited. ...

The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) has released its forecast for salmon returning to the Upper Columbia River this year. WDFW collaborates annually with the state's tribes to produce the forecast. This year's projections include the return of nearly 85,000 summer Chinook and over 272,000 fall Chinook, which are similar numbers to the past three years...

The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) has agreed to purchase 339 acres of land in Okanogan County for habitat conservation. The WDFW recently approved acquisition of the property just east of Riverside near McLoughlin Falls in the Sinlahekin Wildlife Area...

Admission fees at state and national parks will be dropped for the day as will fees at day-use recreation sites at national forests.