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Big Tent Committee debates wording to make 'conservation community' inclusive

Department of Fish and Wildlife Commission — Big Tent Committee · April 16, 2026
AI-Generated Content: All content on this page was generated by AI to highlight key points from the meeting. For complete details and context, we recommend watching the full video. so we can fix them.

Summary

At its April 16 meeting in Olympia, the Department of Fish and Wildlife’s Big Tent Committee reviewed its committee description and debated moving the phrase 'conservation community' forward and explicitly naming tribes to avoid implying exclusion of fishers, hunters and wildlife appreciators.

Chair John Lemcool opened the meeting by reading the Big Tent Committee’s description and asking members whether it still reflected the committee’s role in seeking common ground and increasing cross‑programmatic coordination.

Commissioner Barbara Baker, who previously chaired the committee, said the words matter and urged the group to emphasize the committee’s collaborative function so no stakeholder group feels boxed out. "The words are difficult to find and put in the…

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