WDFW staff provide consistent service, commitment to the community
This item originally ran as an editorial by WDFW Director Kelly Susewind and WDFW Eastern Region Director Mike Kuttel, Jr. in the Capital Press in March of 2026.
Washington state is renowned for its diverse and stunning natural beauty, unique wildlife, and outdoor opportunities. With this backdrop in mind, it’s no surprise that about 2,500 people statewide are drawn to careers at Washington Department Fish and Wildlife (WDFW), where the mission is to preserve, protect, and perpetuate the state’s fish, wildlife, and ecosystems while providing sustainable fish and wildlife recreational and commercial opportunities.
WDFW values of accountability, service, professionalism, integrity, respect, and empathy are at the center of every interaction we have with the public, from our front-line customer service, fish sampling staff, Enforcement officers, habitat biologists, land managers, fisheries managers, wildlife conflict, or any of the other knowledgeable staff who bring their expertise to the Department. We remain committed to those values, which ring out at each of our wildlife areas, hatcheries, regional offices, and headquarters, and are echoed in the outdoors as people hunt, fish, and view nature around the state.
For our conservation professionals, working with wild species can be fairly straightforward, but balancing the needs, expectations, experiences, and viewpoints of the humans we work with- both internally and externally- can be dynamic. In northeast Washington, WDFW acknowledges that wildlife management can be challenging, complex, and nuanced. While we are committed to ensuring our teams are implementing WDFW’s mission in a coordinated effort, we also understand the frustrations of community members whose livelihoods can potentially be impacted by wildlife.
WDFW has a team of highly qualified staff who respond to calls from the public on a variety of issues in Ferry, Stevens, and Pend Oreille counties. Service calls often involve investigating depredations to determine what injured or killed livestock animals. WDFW has a protocol and response matrix that determines how we respond to those calls. Across the board, our goal is to respond within 24 hours. The day and time of a depredation, staffing levels, and other considerations often determine who conducts those investigations. That may include a wildlife conflict specialist (someone who’s job is to manage human-wildlife interactions by reducing property/crop damage and mitigating related public safety issues), a wildlife biologist, or a WDFW Police officer- or it can be a combination of the above.
The mission of WDFW officers is to protect our natural resources and the public we serve. They also have a wide variety of other duties, such as investigating poaching cases, responding when wild animals get too close to human populations, patrolling popular fisheries or hunting areas to promote conservation and keep people safe, supporting natural disaster response like we saw with the state’s historic December floods, and often serving as back up to other law enforcement agencies. So while WDFW Police remain fully engaged in wolf-livestock conflict along with Wildlife Program staff, it is generally whomever is most available that responds to depredation investigations.
WDFW has a long-standing working partnership with the Ferry, Stevens, and Pend Oreille County Sheriff’s Offices and often coordinates with them on matters involving public safety or when responding to requests from livestock producers for depredation investigations.
All staff that conduct these investigations receive depredation investigation training, follow protocols, and have agency expectations to provide professional customer service. That means the public we work with can be assured that they will get a professional response and consideration whether it is a biologist or officer that responds.
WDFW is committed to providing the best public service available and continually improving our processes, to the best of our ability, that impact the people in the communities that we live and work in. We ask for your support of WDFW as we continue to serve you and the wild species of northeast Washington.
