Washington Administrative Code › Title 220 - Fish and Wildlife, Department of › WILDLIFE › Chapter 220-413 - Wildlife-Hunting-General rules › Section 220-413-170 - Tribal hunting - Medicine Creek Treaty hunters - Enforcement policy

Current through Register Vol. 24-14, July 15, 2024
(1) This rule
				establishes an interim enforcement and management line intended to address a
				long-standing dispute over the location of the southern boundary of the area
				ceded by the tribes signatory to the Treaty of Medicine Creek, 10 Stat. 1132.
				This interim line will guide the enforcement efforts of the department and will
				enable the department, the county prosecutors of Thurston, Mason, Lewis,
				Pierce, and Grays Harbor counties, and the tribes signatory to the Treaty of
				Medicine Creek, to better coordinate wildlife enforcement and resource planning
				in the region, without the need for time-consuming and costly
				litigation.
(2) For purposes of
				state law, enrolled members of the Puyallup, Nisqually, Squaxin Island and
				Muckleshoot Indian tribes, when authorized by their respective tribal
				governments, shall be deemed to be exercising their respective tribes' hunting
				right, as secured in the Treaty of Medicine Creek, when hunting on open and
				unclaimed lands, bounded on the west, north and east by the ceded area language
				contained in the Treaty of Medicine Creek, and lying north of the following
				line:
From the main stem of the Skookumchuck River up the drainage
				  divide to the central point between the Skookumchuck and the North Fork of the
				  Tilton River; thence south along the drainage divide to the point where the
				  Skookumchuck, Newaukum, and North Fork of the Tilton rivers meet just north of
				  Newaukum Lake; thence southerly along the drainage divide to Rooster Rock;
				  thence along the top of Bremer Mountain to the confluence of the North Fork of
				  the Tilton River with the Tilton River; thence south to the top of peak (el.
				  2,960); thence south along the divide between the Cowlitz and Tilton rivers and
				  along the summit of the ridge known as Cottler's Rock, staying on the divide to
				  encompass all of Sand Creek; thence across the valley and up the northern
				  drainage boundary of Landers Creek to Vanson Peak (el. 4,935); thence along the
				  drainage divide between the Cowlitz and Green rivers, along the eastern shore
				  of Deadman Lake to the summit of Goat Mountain; thence dropping through the
				  pass along the drainage divide at Ryan Lake; thence along the drainage divide
				  between the Cispus and Green rivers, and Clearwater Creek of the Lewis River
				  and continuing southeasterly along the divide between the Cispus and Lewis
				  rivers to Badger Peak; thence continuing along the divide to an unnamed peak
				  (el. 5,295) located north of Dark Mountain; thence along the drainage divide
				  between McKoy Creek and Dark Creek to Surprise Peak; thence along the drainage
				  divide to the top of Spud Hill; thence down and across the Cispus River and up
				  the face of Blue Lake Ridge to the divide between Mouse Creek and Blue Lake
				  tributaries; thence along the divide between Timonium Creek and Cat Creek to
				  Hamilton Buttes; thence along the divide between the North Fork of the Cispus
				  River and the Cispus River to Elk Peak; thence continuing northeasterly along
				  the same divide, and the divide between Johnson Creek and the Cispus River,
				  passing through Buckhorn Camp (el. 6,240), honoring the divide between the
				  Cowlitz and Cispus rivers, to the summit of Old Snowy Mountain; thence north
				  along the crest of the Cascade range to Naches Peak; thence west through
				  Chinook Pass along the divide of the Cowlitz River and the White River to the
				  summit of Mt. Rainier.
(3)
				State hunting laws shall apply to enrolled members of the Puyallup, Nisqually,
				Squaxin Island and Muckleshoot Indian tribes when hunting outside of the
				above-described area, or on lands that are not "open and unclaimed" within the
				above-described area.
(4) This rule
				does not purport to define where the southern boundary of the Medicine Creek
				Ceded Area is in fact, nor does it represent an attempt to resolve any other
				legal issue regarding the nature or geographic scope of the hunting right
				secured by the Treaty of Medicine Creek.
Statutory Authority:
					 RCW
					 77.12.047. 02-16-043 (Order 02-178), §
											232-12-253, filed 7/31/02,
					 effective 8/31/02; 02-05-021 (Order 01-289), §
											232-12-253, filed 2/11/02,
					 effective 3/14/02.