Commission Meetings

 Advocacy Tips 

One of the hardest things to do when it comes to giving testimony at a commission meeting is just to know where to start and what to say.  We have provided some very simple tips and tricks below that will hopefully help you get started.

How to Testify

1. First, it’s important to understand the WFW Commission and WDFW Fish and Wildlife Department are two separate entities.  It’s important to understand that so you can speak intelligently about the actions they are each taken.

 2. Be respectful and be the adult in the room.  Many of the topics that need to be discussed can be emotionally charged, but there is no quicker way to get shutdown or tuned out than to be disrespectful.  It’s Ok to be passionate, but try to use facts or real examples and focus on the issue and not the individuals.

3. Know what you are talking about.  The second quickest way to get ignored is to not know what you are talking about.  Don’t confuse the actions of the commission with the actions of the department or the legislature.  Some recent examples would be to blame the department or commission for the increase in tag prices.  That came from the legislature.  If you criticize the department or commission for that nothing else you have to say will be heard because you have demonstrated that you don’t know what you are talking about.  A similar example is the elimination of hound hunting.  That was a legislative action so criticizing the commission or department shows that you are uninformed and don’t have value added comments.

4. The schedule for commission meetings can be found HERE.  A quick tip is to put all of the meetings and the locations for the entire year on your calendar at the beginning of the year with reminders so you don’t have to continually return to this link.  
5. Pick a meeting or two that you want to attend and plan time to testify in advance.  Protect that time.6.

How to register 

Please register online when the agenda is posted on the Commission's webpage by filling out the form and selecting the agenda item number you plan to comment on.  You must sign up separately for each item you wish to speak to. In addition, in-person attendees may sign up at the reception desk the day of the meeting.

Deadlines for registration 

If you are interested in providing public comment during a webinar or hybrid meeting via Zoom, the following registration deadlines are in effect: 

• In-person: Registration closes 15 minutes before Open Public Input and 15 minutes prior to any individual agenda items that have a public comment period.

•Virtual: You must sign up by 5 p.m. the day before each meeting begins.  

If, for some reason, you are unable to participate you can submit your comments on the Commission contact page. 

Other Considerations

 • Registrants will be called upon and typically have three minutes to speak, unless the allotted time is modified by the Chair at the onset of the agenda item.

•State your name and county of residence for the record, and whether you are representing yourself, or a group or organization.

• If you are commenting virtually, you will be recognized by your partial phone number or your Zoom username, and staff will unmute your connection.

• The Open Public Input agenda item is designed for matters not on the agenda with specific public comment periods. Those testifying on other agenda items during the Open Public Input agenda item will be requested to hold their testimony until that particular agenda item.

• Arrive early to hear the pertinent presentation and review information.

• Testimony time cannot be given to another speaker.

• Testimony is not an interactive session; Commissioners considering public comments will not respond to questions or engage in a running dialogue with members of the audience. However, Commissioners may pose questions of clarification to those who testify.

•It is effective to limit your comments to new issues. If you agree with points made by previous speakers, simply say so, and focus your comments on new information or your unique perspective.

• Constituents who provide comments during the open public comment period on Friday are discouraged from commenting on the same issue on Saturday’s open public comment period.

• Verbal and written comments provided after rule making and SEPA comment period closures are discouraged. Comments provided after the official hearing or APA-designated public comment period may not be considered or included in the formal record.

 • At times, due to agenda constraints and overwhelming public response, the Commission may be unable to hear from every person signed up to speak. In most cases, the Commission will specify a deadline by which people can submit their thoughts in writing.

• If there is not a public comment opportunity you can submit written comment prior to the meeting by the deadline specified below under the section “written comment.” 

Written Comments  

Please reference the agenda item or subject when submitting either email or mail comments. 

Written comments provided after rulemaking and SEPA comment period closures are discouraged.  Comments provided after the official hearing or APA-designated public comment period may not be considered or included in the formal record.  

If you wish to provide written comment to the Commission at an upcoming meeting, it needs to be received by 8 a.m. on the Thursday before the Commission meeting so that Commissioners have time to review them before the meeting starts. Any written public comment received during the Commission meeting will be distributed the following Monday to Commissioners so they can concentrate on the Commission meeting content. Further, the Commission may establish alternative public comment deadlines for specific topics/specific meetings, which will be noticed on their agendas. 

Written comments can be emailed to commission@dfw.wa.gov

You don’t have to wait for a commission meeting to provide feedback or input to the commission.  You can email specific commissioners or the full commission at any time.  If you have something to say, say it.  Do it respectfully, but you don’t have to wait for a meeting.

What to Say

The most important thing to understand is that as long as you keep it respectful there really isn’t a wrong answer for this, but here are some things to consider.

1. You can never go wrong by sharing your personal story.  Why does hunting/ angling/ trapping matter to you?  How did you get started?  Are you teaching future generations?  What does H/ A/ T do for you personally?

2. Look at the agenda for the upcoming meeting and see if there is anything that piques your interest.  Is there an agenda item that you are concerned about or have questions about?

3. Is there a recent decision the commission or department has made or a recent rule change that is important to you?

4. Do you have an interesting H/ A/ T story to tell?

5. A quick tip to help keep track of topics to use for your testimony is to keep a running list on your phone/ computer when you read articles, see posts, or hear conversations that you want to support or argue against.  When there is an upcoming meeting you can review your list to help pick a topic.  This prevents you from having to “remember” something or come up with an idea at the last minute.

6. Do you know a non- hunter that supports hunting?  Would they be willing to testify why they support hunting or share their experience of going with you or eating the game you have harvested?

7. We always need new voices.  The unfortunate reality is that when the same people testify at every meeting the testimony just doesn’t carry as much weight.  New people  and new voices are always the most impactful.  It also demonstrates how large our community really is.

 8. When the same people testify every meeting it unintentionally sends the message that those are the only people that care about H/ A/ T.  This makes it easy for the commission to make decisions that don’t support us because they don’t think anyone cares or that it’s only a small group of people that are being affected.

9. Every voice matters.  While you may not be able to directly control the decisions the department and commission make, you can certainly reinforce what you support or provide critical feedback for what you are against.  You can influence the outcome.  It’s important to understand that every piece of testimony is like planting a seed that can grow over time.

10. You can always reach out to this group with questions or suggestions for topics and talking points.