Hello members,

We would first like to thank all of you who provided valuable feedback in the 2026 WAFWP Member Survey. A MEMBERS ONLY summary can be found here. Information on contract changes were incorporated into negotiations that began on April 8th and updates on negotiations can be found here.

As with previous years, we create a MEMBERS ONLY and a public version. The public version removes bargaining and WAFWP specific feedback. We share the public version with WDFW Commission, the Director's Office, and LMCC. The hope of sharing this aggregate information with all layers of WDFW is to provide a starting point for discussion that is reflective of members' values and concerns, or to reinforce the concerns we have been sharing already. Along with sharing the survey this year, we have decided to draft a letter (here) with the serious challenges we have continually faced with WDFW since the 2024 survey. We have shared these concerns with you all in our news articles, every quarterly member virtual discussion, and during our annual meetings. The concerns we have outlined have also been well echoed in the interactions and stories you are all sharing individually. The hope of this letter is to collectively and transparently place our major concerns in one place for all layers of WDFW to see. We want to be clear that we will always come to the table to work with WDFW to create an environment that is safe, values our work, pays fairly, aligns with the agency mission, and provides feedback when WDFW veers off of this path. Despite our constant efforts thus far, we hope this letter is a course correction that has been desperately needed for several years. 

As we move forward, we are also facing several more years of budget concerns, which will most likely mean additional layoffs. We will not only work with all layers of WDFW, but continue to build valuable relationships with the legislature that wants to better support our work. There will be more coming over the summer that we will share with you regarding the legislature. We will also share layoff information with you all as soon as we learn of it. 

In closing, I want to once again thank all of you for your feedback in surveys and other individual communications. Please reach out any time with your questions, comments, and concerns. 

In solidarity,

Candace, WAFWP President and

WAFWP Executive Board