OLYMPIA, WA — Following the release of recently disclosed public records that raised concerns regarding the behavior of members of the Washington State Fish and Wildlife Commission, Governor Bob Ferguson has approved an investigation into their conduct.
Earlier this month, Kelly Susewind, director of the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, wrote to Ferguson to seek the investigation.
An agency director’s concerns are taken very seriously by the governor. In an email on Friday, a representative for Ferguson’s office stated that the governor had instructed Washington State Human Resources to launch an investigation.
Susewind stated in a letter dated August 5 that was published by Columbia Insight on Thursday that he thought additional research was necessary because of the information in documents that the Sportsmen’s Alliance had obtained in May through a public records request.
An independent investigation into the commissioners’ communications, along with the potential removal of members if found to have acted inappropriately, would show the level of accountability required to enable WDFW to continue providing the kind of service that the public expects and deserves, according to Susewind.
“It is simply not reasonable to expect that level of trust under the cloud of uncertainty created by the current controversy,” he said, adding that the commission cannot function without the public’s trust.
After the commissioners’ November 2022 vote to ban the recreational hunting of black bears in the spring, the Ohio-based fishing and hunting rights group Sportsmen’s Alliance demanded the commissioners’ emails, texts, and other correspondence. The alliance disagreed with the ruling.
In January 2025, the group sued the commission for allegedly postponing the publication of such records for almost two years. The Sportsmen’s Alliance said the same day that a Thurston County Superior Court judge decided in favor of the commission that it will appeal the court’s ruling.
In May 2025, the Sportsmen’s Alliance was granted access to the records. Upon examining the documents, the group asserted that four commissioners had broken public records and open meeting regulations in the state prior to the decision. Soon after, the Sportsmen’s Alliance submitted a petition calling for the removal of Commissioners Barbara Baker, John Lehmkuhl, Lorna Smith, and Melanie Rowland.
According to reports, the commissioners replied to Susewind’s letter by writing Ferguson separate letters in which they defended their behavior prior to the contentious vote and expressed dissatisfaction with the director for requesting an investigation.
The commissioners have requested the governor’s assistance in spearheading a comprehensive discussion with multiple state agencies to reevaluate the state’s role in managing natural resources, according to Columbia Insight.
During public comment at the Fish and Wildlife Commission meeting on Friday in Bellingham, a number of environmentalists and animal rights groups chastised Susewind for Ferguson’s decision to launch an investigation.
Dr. Francisco J. Santiago-vila, director of advocacy and science for Washington Wildlife First, demanded in a press release that Susewind be removed from his position.
Speaking during the commission’s meeting was Santiago Vila as well.
Santiago-vila stated in the press release that he understood Ferguson’s reasoning for feeling the need to conduct an investigation, but that his organization hopes he will broaden it to include the entire commission and, in particular, Director Susewind, rather than just the commissioners the hunting lobby has targeted.
Others, such as proponents of hunting, expressed support for a probe into the commissioners’ actions and the necessity of the commission being held to a higher standard of accountability.
The most important question raised by the current public disclosure materials is: who is responsible for what is happening here? According to the American Bear Foundation’s Douglas Boze.
In recent years, the commission has been under intense scrutiny. In December 2024, Areport created for the state Legislature and concluded that the organization’s structure needed to be reformed because it was broken.
The report’s conclusions prompted lawmakers to amend the commission’s appointment procedure and disband it entirely during the most recent legislative session.
Last session, lawmakers did not decide on the commission’s structure, but they stated that they will think about doing so in subsequent sessions.
Ferguson retracted two appointments to the Fish and Wildlife Commission made by the Gov. Jay Inslee administration in February after people, tribes, and other organizations voiced their desire for a more thorough procedure.
One of Ferguson’s first acts as governor was this one.
In the meanwhile, commissioners unanimously elected outdoor enthusiast Jim Anderson as the commission’s new chair on Friday, replacing Barbara Baker, who served in that capacity for five years and did not run for reelection.
Anderson promised to unite the group as a whole and admitted that the commission is struggling for outside reasons.
In order to fill the void left by Ferguson’s retraction of Tim Ragen’s reappointment, the commission voted 5-4 to select former U.S. Forest Service wildlife biologist John Lehmkuhl as vice chair.
Molly Linville, who Ferguson reappointed to the commission this past spring, lost to Lehmkhul by a slim margin.
The Washington State Standard was the first to publish this news.
