New Prospecting Rules Adopted by Fish and Wildlife Commission

The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife announced in a news release dated today that the Fish and Wildlife Commission approved the proposed mineral prospecting rules at the meeting in Olympia on November 8. The press release states in part:

Adopted changes include establishing new work times designed to protect fish life, offering additional opportunities for prospectors and expanding the use of certain types of mineral prospecting equipment. The rules, which were developed with input from a 17-member workgroup and the public, become effective April 3, 2009 and are available on WDFW’s website at http://wdfw.wa.gov/hab/goldfish/mineral_prospect.htm. A new Gold and Fish pamphlet reflecting the changes will be available by that date.

The full text of the announcement can be found at the link here.

Washington Fish and Wildlife Commission Meets Saturday to Consider Adoption of New Rules

The Washington Fish and Wildlife Commission will meet in Olympia on Friday and Saturday (November 7 & 8) to consider adopting permanent amendments to the Gold and Fish Pamphlet. This meeting follows the public hearing held on October 3 at the last Commission meeting, also in Olympia.

Action on the mineral prospecting rules is currently (as of today's agenda revision) scheduled as the third item of business for the Saturday session which begins at 8:30 A.M. It does not appear that public comments will be accepted at this meeting, although WDFW staff members Greg Hueckel and Perry Harvester are listed under the heading, "Staff Report".

Additionally, the agenda contains a link to a "Greensheet and proposed rules" document which contains, among other things, changes to the proposed rules submitted by WDFW as a result of comments received from the public. The proposed changes are too numerous to discuss here, but it is worrisome to this writer that for some of the streams in Kittitas, Pend Oreille, Skagit, and Yakima counties, the originally proposed work window dates have been reduced to "Submit Application" status.

The meeting will be held in Room 172 of the Natural Resource Building, 1111 Washington Street SE, in Olympia.

As changes to the agenda are still possible, interested parties are encouraged to check the latest version at the link here.