Fish & Wildlife commission updating hydraulics

The Washington Fish and Wildlife Commission will consider approving an update of the state’s hydraulic code rules and will conduct a public hearing on a proposed Willapa Bay salmon-management plan at a meeting scheduled Nov. 7-8 in Olympia.

The commission, a nine-member panel that sets policy for the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW), will convene at 8:30 a.m. both days in Room 172 of the Natural Resources Building, 1111 Washington St., on the state Capitol Campus.

An agenda for the meeting is available at http://wdfw.wa.gov/commission/.

Designed to protect fish life, the state’s hydraulic code authorizes WDFW to establish rules for construction projects, mineral prospecting and certain other activities conducted in or near state waters. Projects subject to those rules include work on bulkheads, culverts, piers and docks.

At its meeting, the commission will consider WDFW’s proposal to revise the hydraulic code to reflect developments in environmental science, technology and state law since the last comprehensive update in 1994. In August, the commission held a public hearing on the proposed rules as part of an extensive public-review process conducted by the department over the past three years.

For more information on the proposed rule changes, see WDFW’s website at http://wdfw.wa.gov/licensing/hpa/rulemaking/.

WDFW’s work to develop a new policy for managing salmon fisheries in Willapa Bay will also be the subject of a public hearing at the commission’s November meeting. That policy is designed to provide regional guidance on hatchery and harvest reforms to meet conservation and economic objectives for the fishery.

In recent years, the commission has adopted new salmon-management policies for the Grays Harbor and the Columbia River.

WDFW is also holding a series of public meetings on the Willapa Bay policy in Raymond through mid-January. A schedule of meeting dates is posted on WDFW’s website at http://wdfw.wa.gov/news/oct1514c/.

In other business, the commission will discuss the recruitment of a new WDFW director, following an announcement by current director Phil Anderson that he plans to leave the department at the end of the year.