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Bill would expand civil infraction options for low‑level fish and wildlife violations, add enforcement provisions for guides and stream impacts
Summary
Senate committee heard Substitute House Bill 1325, which converts several low‑level Fish and Wildlife criminal offenses into natural resource infractions, clarifies unlawful possession of a loaded firearm in a vehicle, and adds enforcement tools for fishing guides and some stream bed activities.
The Senate Agriculture, Water, Natural Resources & Parks Committee held a public hearing on Substitute House Bill 1325, a package of changes aimed at expanding enforcement options for certain fish and wildlife violations.
Jeff Olson, committee staff, summarized the bill’s core changes: a number of offenses that are currently criminal (misdemeanors or gross misdemeanors) would be classified as natural resource infractions for which fines could be imposed. Olson listed examples the substitute adds as natural resource infractions: hunting big game without required license or tag, failing to properly notch a transport tag, carrying a rifle or shotgun with live shells or cartridges in the magazine while in a motor vehicle, discharging a firearm from or across a maintained portion of a public highway, operating a motor vehicle in the wetted portion of a stream bed, constructing a hand-built rock dam in violation of department rules, and new compliance requirements for fishing guides and charter operators, including displaying stickers and submitting logbooks.
Captain Jeff Wickersham of the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife Enforcement Program said the 2020 changes that created infraction options improved enforcement outcomes and reduced court burden. He told the committee that infraction violations show paid/committed rates above 90 percent, while "big game related cases have conviction rates below 20 and dismissal rates above 60 percent," a pattern he said the bill seeks to address by giving officers administrative infraction tools for lower‑level offenses.
Representative Roger Goodman, prime sponsor, said the bill does not create new felonies: "This bill does not increase penalties. It does not create any new felonies," he told the committee, explaining the policy intent is to provide practical accountability and avoid overburdening criminal courts with low‑level natural resource offenses.
Senators asked for clarifications. Senator Wagner asked whether the draft language criminalizes simple, small hand-built rock dams; staff said the bill ties the standard to department rule and to structures that "could impede the movement of fish life as defined in department rule," providing parameters for enforcement. Senator Schussler pressed on the modest fiscal note (staff cited a $7,000 implementation cost) and whether felony-level changes usually produce larger fiscal impacts; staff said the caseload forecast justification would need to be checked.
Testimony came from fishing and conservation stakeholders. Alexei Kamakidis of Trout Unlimited supported the bill’s hydraulic‑violation enforcement and guide provisions, while Dan Wilson of Backcountry Hunters & Anglers said the bill is a "common sense reform" that balances accountability with practicality. No committee vote was recorded during the hearing; the record shows the bill passed the House with bipartisan support, as the sponsor noted during testimony.
The hearing closed with the committee taking no formal action in the transcript excerpt.
