Lobbying and Legislature

INWC Legislative Efforts

Since our inception the Inland Northwest Wildlife Council has believed that participating in the legislative/political process is equally important to our volunteer conservation work.  As early as 1981 council members would fly over to Olympia to give public testimony on conservation issues.  The efforts made in the early years created a strong foundation for the council membership. The tradition of legislative participation has been carried on by successive generations within our organization so that now the Inland Northwest Wildlife Council has representatives in many WDFW advisory groups, including; Budget and Policy, Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA),  Wildlife Diversity, Swanson Lakes Wildlife Area   Over the years through participation in these groups and many others the Inland Northwest Wildlife Council members have helped shape policies for lighted nocks, budget management/requests, turkey regulations, wolf regulation, wolf management, and many more.  However, our participation does not stop there.  Our organization sends representatives to the WDFW commission meetings to learn and to provide public testimony on the various topics brough before the commission.  The Inland Northwest Wildlife Council also holds voting positions on both the Washingtonians for Wildlife Conservation (WWC) and Hunter’s Heritage Council (HHC).  Two groups that work on preserving hunting/fishing rights, defending/encouraging management techniques, and taking political action on behalf of hunting and related communities in Washington. During our monthly meetings we invite guest speakers to cover a variety of topics with our membership. Through our guest programs we have we hosted staff members from WDFW, commission members as well as representatives from other organizations to discuss conservation issues and legislative policies with our membership.  At the Inland Northwest Wildlife Council we are very passionate about hunting, fishing, wildlife and conservation.  So we strive to participate at all levels to ensure that these outdoor recreation opportunities are available at a quality level for generations to come.