Ducks Unlimited was busy this year in the Washington Legislature and Congress working to conserve wetlands and support outdoor recreational opportunities for our members. Below is a summary of our issues and accomplishments:

Reforming the Washington Fish and Wildlife Commission – DU partnered with 13 hunting and outdoor recreation groups to introduce SB 5728, a bill to reform the governor's appointment process for the Washington Fish and Wildlife Commission. The goal of the bill is to improve the process so that the Commission has well-qualified candidates who believe in science-based wildlife management and have experience in the hunting and fishing community. The bill would create more checks and balances on governor appointments, including the creation of a stakeholder-based nominations committee and certain minimum requirements for Commissioners. The positive result of this bill was that Gov. Ferguson rejected Gov. Inslee’s appointments to the Commission and instead appointed three nominees that the hunting community supports.

Improving Event Fundraising – This is the third year that Ducks Unlimited has led an initiative to improve fundraising rules for nonprofit fundraising events in Washington. Our first win involved a successful petition to the Washington State Gambling Commission to improve rules related to raffle fundraising efforts. Since then, DU has developed a powerful partnership with the Nonprofit Association of Washington and over 40 nonprofit organizations like the Boys & Girls Clubs to write legislation. This year, DU introduced SB 5443, which would allow DU events to raise more money through raffles, sweepstakes and bingo with less red tape. We are currently working with Washington Tribes to refine the bill for successful passage next year.

Preventing New Gun and Ammunition Taxes – Even though Washington has a huge deficit this year and desperately needs new funding sources, DU prevented the passage of HB 1386. This bill would have created an additional 11% tax on all firearms and ammunition. As readers may be aware, guns and ammunition already have an 11% tax – called Pittman Robertson – that hunters created in 1937 to help fund important state conservation and hunter safety needs. This new and redundant proposed tax would not fund conservation, and DU advocated against the bill with our partners, including the Washington Fish and Wildlife Conservation Partnership (fishhuntwa.org), which DU co-chairs, and leaders from Washington’s high school trap shooting teams.

Improving New Gun Permit Requirements – This year, the Legislature passed a new gun bill HB 1163, requiring a permit to purchase a firearm starting May 2027. The permit, which would last five years, requires live supervised training at a range, among other requirements. DU successfully introduced an amendment requiring WDFW hunter safety training to meet these new requirements so that hunters do not need to take redundant and expensive training. While this amendment was ultimately removed, it did start a conversation with WDFW on how we can meld the two programs in the future and create fewer barriers to hunters and conservation funding.

Preventing Insurance Requirements for Gun Ownership – DU’s advocacy helped prevent the passage of HB 1504, which would require liability insurance for individuals to purchase or possess a firearm. This requirement, like many of the ideas above, would have created barriers to hunting and firearms ownership and would ultimately lead to fewer hunters and conservation funding in our state.

Improving Hunting Access Opportunities – DU also helped prevent the passage of SB 5098, which would have banned firearms in any public areas where youth may be present. Because the language was vague and would have prevented public access to many hunting and shooting areas, including impacts on high school shooting sports, we successfully worked with our partners to stop this bill.

A New Federal Wetlands Funding Bill for the Northwest – We are excited to announce the bipartisan Senate introduction of S.1615 the Northwest Wetlands VIP (Volunteer Incentives Program) Act. On May 6, Senators Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) and Ron Wyden (D-Oregon) introduced new federal legislation that would authorize up to $50 million over five years for on-the-ground wetlands projects in the Columbia River Basin and along tidally influenced waters in Washington and Oregon. DU has advocated with our partners in the conservation community for this new regional legislation, and we will continue to encourage bill introduction in the House, along with hearings and other actions necessary for successful passage of this important wetlands and wildlife funding source in the Pacific Northwest.

Federal Wetlands Grants – This year, our volunteers joined staff in Washington DC to support full funding for the North American Wetlands Conservation Act (NAWCA), a matching grants program that provides much of the funding for DU projects in Washington. Because of your support, 51 U.S. Senators and 199 House Members signed a letter in support of NAWCA funding. We hope that this level of bipartisan support will ensure that this important program continues being funded by federal appropriations in the future.

Proposal to Sell Public Lands – Recently, Ducks Unlimited joined with partners in the conservation and sportsmen communities to oppose Congressional proposals to sell public lands in Washington and 10 other western states. We are happy to announce that the provision was removed in the final budget reconciliation bill. DU also worked behind the scenes to prevent other amendments that would have had impacts to wetlands and waterfowl while successfully securing new funding for Farm Bill and other programs.

DU has been working hard for you in the Halls of Congress and Olympia to pursue these initiatives and advocate for adequate funding for DU’s important work. Please continue to support DU as we move forward together to create a brighter future for our waterfowl, wildlife and our communities.

Please visit the new DU Media Toolkit page for essential resources about Ducks Unlimited’s conservation mission.

Ducks Unlimited Inc. is the world's largest nonprofit organization dedicated to conserving North America's continually disappearing wetlands, grasslands and other waterfowl habitats. Established in 1937, Ducks Unlimited has restored or protected more than 19 million acres thanks to contributions from more than a million supporters across the continent. Guided by science, DU’s projects benefit waterfowl, wildlife and people in all 50 states. DU is growing its mission through a historic $3 billion Conservation For A Continent capital campaign. Learn more at www.ducks.org.

Media Contact:

Molly Jarone
(916) 903-9199
mjarone@ducks.org