A new proposal from the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) is raising serious concerns among recreationists, hunters, and access advocates across the state. While framed as a rule update for motorized vehicle use, the real-world impact could be a sweeping reduction in public access across more than one million acres of WDFW-managed lands. Current management on WDFW managed lands is “open unless marked closed”. However this would change to “closed unless marked open”. Meaning all the current, legal routes on the ground that aren’t specifically marked (most of which aren’t signed) would be closed. A formal process to mark and sign all current routes as open would take significant resources, lead to costly prolonged litigation fights, and is simply not feasible. The end result will be massive closures across a million acres of land.
WDFW manages a vast and diverse landscape, and many of the roads and access routes people rely on today are not formally mapped or signed but they are well known, responsibly used, and essential for getting into the field. Under this proposal, those routes could effectively disappear overnight if they are not officially designated in time.
Beyond access, the ripple effects will be felt in rural communities across the state. Outdoor recreation drives local economies, especially in areas where hunting and seasonal travel bring in consistent business.
Groups have spent countless hours volunteering to help maintain these routes, provide services to agencies for research and have acted in good faith. This will undermine all of that. This will affect future management and emergency response in these areas. This rule could also have a ripple effect if approved and move into other agency managed lands in the state of Washington in an attempt to bring “consistency” throughout the state.
Speak up and let Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife know this bad policy!
