Newly appointed Washington Fish and Wildlife Commissioner Lynn O’Connor said she doesn’t have an agenda, though her appointment has been criticized by sportsmen’s groups.

Gov. Jay Inslee, in one of his last acts in office, appointed O’Connor to a six-year term, rather than reappointing Douglas County rancher Molly Linville, who was widely seen as an advocate for sportsmen and rural residents.

Sportsmen’s groups seized on the appointment as an example of Inslee reshaping the commission to favor animal rights and environmental interests over hunting and fishing, and predator control.

O’Connor said Tuesday she doesn’t hunt, but is “not anti-hunting at all.” She was once an officer for the Kettle Range Conservation Group, past litigants opposing lethal control of wolves, but said she has drifted from the organization.

She said she applied for the unpaid but high-profile and time-consuming position because of her outdoors experience and most of all because of her background in Rotary Club leadership positions.

“I’m really hoping my skills as a Rotarian and values as a Rotarian will being a fresh voice to the commission,” said O’Connor, a Ferry County resident. “I’m not bringing anybody’s voice to the commission but mine.”

The nine-member commission hires the Fish and Wildlife director and sets department policy. Commission decisions have angered sportsmen and wildlife advocates, who carefully watch the makeup of the commission.

The William D. Ruckelshaus Center, run by the University of Washington and Washington State University, recently issued a study reporting that some observers consider the commission “dysfunctional.”

O’Connor, who has yet to participate in a Fish and Wildlife meeting, said she heard about the Ruckelshaus report and it “almost scared me away.”

“After reading the report and talking to people, I think probably a more appropriate word is ‘contentious,'” she said.

Hunters Heritage Council President Mark Pidgeon called Linville’s loss “a terrible thing” and predicted O’Connor will “push the council further out of balance.”

“That’s based more on her appointment being associated with Inslee than with herself,” Pidgeon said.

The terms of two other commisoners expired Dec. 31. Inslee reappointed Skagit County resident Tim Ragen, a retired marine mammal biologist, but has neither reappointed nor replaced Commissioner Jim Anderson.

Anderson, an advocate for sportsmen, said Tuesday he wants another term. The governor’s office has given him the impression that Inslee will let his successor, Bob Ferguson, make the decision.

“It’s a little baffling,” Anderson said. “I don’t know what to make of it.” He said he was disappointed Inslee replaced Linville, rather than at least leaving it up to Ferguson.

“You don’t necessarily make a six-year appointment while you’re walking out the door,” Anderson said. “I felt Molly really understood the issues and brought a certain perspective as a rancher in Eastern Washington.” 

Inslee spokesman Mike Faulk confirmed Ferguson will decide whether to reappoint Anderson.

O’Connor has strong connections to Eastern Washington and experience in resolving conflicts, Faulk said in an email. He declined to say why Inslee didn’t reappoint Linville. “I don’t think it would be fair of us to talk about why someone didn’t get chosen,” he said.

Linville posted on Facebook that she appreciated the opportunity to be a commissioner and complimented Fish and Wildlife employees as “world-class biologists, scientists and land managers.” Efforts to obtain further comment from Linville were unsuccessful.

“Molly was just a good rural voice for folks who want to fish and want to hunt and want sound policy,” Washington Cattlemen’s Association lobbyist Mark Streuli said.

O’Connor made news last September by surviving a black bear attack. He was hiking on her property in rural northeast Washington and was confronted by a mother bear apparently defending her cub.

The bear swatted her several times before her three dogs chased it away. O’Connor suffered a black eye and scratches and puncture wounds to her shoulder and had 18 staples put in her head.

The dogs probably instigated the encounter by chasing the cub, she said. She said she thought they were chasing cows.

“I’m not blaming it on the bear for sure,” she said.