Senate Bill 5960 & House Bill 2221

THANK YOU to everyone who showed up and made their position known in support of SB 5960. We ended up shutting down the anti-hunting, animal rights folks—843 in favor to 352 against. That’s a hell of a ratio. The Senate committee needed to see the serious support for and interest in this bill to give it the best shot of moving forward.

Whether you registered PRO or submitted written testimony, your voices mattered. Together, they demonstrated that Washingtonians care deeply about the future of our ungulates and balanced wildlife management.

Ungulates are a cornerstone of Washington’s ecology, culture, and rural economies. But habitat fragmentation, lost migration corridors, increased disease pressure, and intensified predator–prey dynamics on human-altered landscapes all compound the challenges these animals face. We have seen some of these once-great herds—such as whitetail in the Northeast and elk in the Blue Mountains—decline and be completely ignored.

This bill is about codifying what already exists in past and present WDFW wildlife plans and bringing accountability to those in power to actually take action when data show populations are in trouble. It ensures that already-adopted management tools are used to give struggling herds a fair chance to recover.

Thank you to the hunter-conservationists and rural residents who took time out of their week to advocate for responsible wildlife management.

The work continues. A companion bill is heading to the House Ag and Natural Resources Committee for a public hearing next Friday @ 10:30am, and we need help pushing it forward. Please check out HB 2221 and mark your position as PRO so we can help push these bills ahead. https://app.leg.wa.gov/csi/House?selectedCommittee=31649&selectedMeeting=33751

Bill- https://app.leg.wa.gov/billsummary/?BillNumber=2221&Chamber=House&Year=2025