For FishingMagician.com, I'm Eric Granstrom. The Fish and Wildlife Commission will invite public comments on 2018-2020 hunting season proposals, Columbia River fisheries policy, and other issues during a public meeting March 15-17 in Wenatchee. The commission will convene in the Wenatchee and Chelan rooms of the Red Lion Hotel beginning at 1 p.m. Thursday, March 15, with Commission workshops that include no public input but are open to the public. Meetings scheduled Friday, March 16, and Saturday, March 16, begin at 8 a.m., with a review of hunting season proposals on Friday and Columbia River fisheries policy review on Saturday. The hunting season setting public process began last summer with surveys and meetings to develop proposals on:
changes to Yakima and Colockum elk hunting permit allocations; adding unmanned aircraft (drones) to the list of prohibited hunting equipment; requiring black bear hunters to complete a bear-species identification test in areas with threatened grizzly bears; and prohibiting night hunting of bobcats in areas with endangered lynx. There's much more expected to be discussed at the meeting, including setting salmon seasons, the forest management of wildlife areas and a wolf report. Go to the Department's website for the complete agenda. Until next time, Good Fishing!