On July 18, 2023, the Governor's Office received an appeal from Brad Thomsen, relating to the State of Washington Fish and Wildlife Commission's denial of a petition to "Begin Rule Making for Spring Black Bear Hunts that would use Recreational Licensed Hunters and/or Licensed Master Hunters when needed to address certain management objectives, such as timber damage, achieving ungulate management objectives, or human-wildlife conflict issues; AND/OR Modify rulemaking for the language currently being written into the Black Bear Timber Damage Depredation Permits Rule Making CR-102 prior to the filing of same to include 'Black Bear Timber Damage Depredation Permits on Public Lands'; AND/OR Begin Rule Making for the 2024 Recreational Spring Black Bear Hunting Season; AND/OR begin Rule Making for: the 2024 Public Lands Black Bear Timber Damage Program Hunting Season." The Governor's Office denied the appeal on July 25, 2023.