WDFW resumes sale of fishing and hunting licenses

The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) on August 27 resumed the sale of fishing and hunting licenses and the state Discover Pass through its network of about 600 dealers across the state.

Customers were able to purchase those items by phone beginning Monday, Aug. 29, by calling WDFW’s licensing customer service number at (360) 902-2464.

All license sales were halted last week in response to the discovery of a vulnerability in an outside vendor’s system that was recently exploited to expose personal information about customers in several states, including Washington, Idaho, and Oregon.

Jim Unsworth, WDFW director, said department personnel, in collaboration with the state Office of Cyber Security, the vendor, and law enforcement agencies, were able to restore the dealer services after confirming they were secure.

“With many excellent late summer and fall hunting and fishing opportunities rapidly approaching, this is great news for hunters, anglers, and everyone who enjoys Washington’s outdoors,” Unsworth said. “I appreciate our customers’ patience this last week while license sales were unavailable.”

Unsworth said WDFW is offering free fishing days through Tuesday (Aug. 30), but beginning Wednesday (Aug. 31) all anglers, hunters, and other recreationists using department facilities and recreation lands will need the appropriate licenses, endorsements, and other required permits. More details about free fishing days are available on WDFW’s website at http://wdfw.wa.gov/news/aug2516a/.

Hunters who have already bought their licenses but need copies of tags or other documents can obtain them through the retail vendors. A list of WDFW’s vendor locations is available online at http://wdfw.wa.gov/licensing/vendors/.

WDFW officials said online sales and related services will not resume at this time but more information about those services can be found on the department’s webpage at http://wdfw.wa.gov/licensing/wild_system/.