wa-law.org > bill > 2023-24 > HB 2424 > Original Bill
The legislature finds that the confederated tribes of the Colville reservation have been successful in managing both wolves and ungulate populations on the Colville reservation for abundance and to limit conflict with humans and livestock. The legislature further finds that wolf management has been less successful on adjacent lands, including the portion of land north of the current Colville reservation that the confederated tribes of the Colville reservation ceded to the United States in 1892, often referred to as "the north half."
The legislature finds that the department of fish and wildlife has entered into cooperative agreements with various tribal governments in the state, including the confederated tribes of the Colville reservation, to work on a government-to-government basis to collaboratively manage the state's fish and wildlife. The legislature further finds that the cooperative agreement between the confederated tribes of the Colville reservation and the Washington state department of fish and wildlife addresses cooperative wildlife management on a portion of land ceded to the United States by the Colville tribes. Because the cooperative agreement calls for the review to be dynamic and to be reviewed by the parties annually, making modifications as to which the parties mutually agree, it is the intent of the legislature to enable the department of fish and wildlife to align its wolf management strategies with those proven to be successful by the confederated tribes of the Colville reservation.
The department shall engage on a government-to-government basis with the confederated tribes of the Colville reservation for the purpose of seeking to update the 1998 cooperative fish and wildlife management agreement entered into between the department and the confederated tribes of the Colville reservation. The purpose of updating the 1998 cooperative agreement is to align the department's approach to wolf management on the north half with the approach to wolf management taken by the confederated tribes of the Colville reservation within the boundaries of the Colville reservation.
The department must report to the legislature by June 30, 2025, in accordance with RCW 43.01.036, on a plan for the department to align its approach to wolf management on the north half with the approach to wolf management taken by the confederated tribes of the Colville reservation within the boundaries of the Colville reservation.
The definitions in this subsection apply throughout this section unless the context clearly requires otherwise.
"Department" means the department of fish and wildlife.
"The north half" means the portion of land originally part of the Colville Indian reservation that the tribes ceded to the federal government in 1892.