Supplemental Petition filed with Gov. Ferguson for Removal of Commissioners for Intent to Delete Public Records in Violation of Law

Friday, June 27, 2025, the Sportsmen’s Alliance Foundation (SAF) filed a supplement to our May 16, 2025, petition to Gov. Ferguson asking for the removal of Washington Fish and Wildlife Commissioners Barbara Baker, Lorna Smith, Melanie Rowland, and John Lehmkuhl. The supplement provides new evidence of corruption and bad practices of the commission, highlighting the apparent destruction or erasure – or the intent to do so – of public records in violation of Washington law.

In Washington, public records must be maintained for at least six years, unless they have been copied and stored elsewhere. Destroying or erasing a public record is a felony, punishable by imprisonment, fine, or both. Conspiracy to commit a felony (such as destroying or erasing public records) is also a felony.

“Unbelievably, we keep uncovering more and more corruption. This time, we found undeniable evidence that commissioners have, or intended to, destroyed or deleted substantive public records,” said Dr. Todd Adkins, Senior Vice President at the Sportsmen’s Alliance. “Not only are these actions unfitting of a commissioner – they are illegal This supplement to our original petition was necessary to fully inform Gov. Ferguson of the depth of this wrongdoing.”

The supplement highlights such actions by Commissioners Barbara Baker, the Chair of the Commission, Melanie Rowland, and John Lehmkuhl. Baker, on multiple occasions, asked fellow commissioners and Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) staff to “delete” text messages discussing substantive commission business. The request became so routine that Baker signaled using a “code’ when wanted a record deleted. She also expressed intent to delete her own commission-related text messages.

As chair – the de facto leader of WDFW – Baker has certainly been trained on lawful maintenance (and the penalties for destruction) of public records related to her office. And if that training or knowledge somehow eluded her in her role as chair, Baker’s long career as an attorney in the Washington legislature undoubtedly exposed her to the state’s public records preservation and destruction laws. For the last decade of her career, Baker served as the Chief Clerk of the House of Representatives – a role responsible for ensuring lawmakers adhere to their public records obligations.

Similarly, Rowland has admitted to deleting (or at least thinking she had deleted) substantive text messages. In a November 2022 commission meeting, at which the commission voted to end the spring bear hunting season, Rowland announced that she had received a text message from a constituent and that an amendment was needed to clarify that the vote would permanently end the hunt. This announcement resulted in Public Records Act (PRA) requests for the text message Rowland received. Rowland told WDFW staff that she didn’t “have that text message any more [sic].”

Not to be outdone, Lehmkuhl was unable to find responsive communications to SAF’s PRA request that were known to have occurred based on records retrieved from other commissioners. He admitted to WDFW staff: “They may have been deleted early in my tenure as a Commissioner before I knew of the importance of retaining such emails and had not been the subject at that time of a PRR. Certainly, they were not lost before [the request] was filed.” Lehmkuhl admits that he may have deleted public records, and that the records went missing after they were requested by SAF under the PRA

“This is no longer about whether or not you support hunting, bullying in the workplace or even collusion,” said Adkins. “This has now unequivocally become about law and order and whether or not Washington state’s leadership will enforce its own laws and defend democracy.”

The Sportsmen’s Alliance has closely followed the Fish and Wildlife Commission since before the November 2021 vote that ended spring bear hunting that season, and the subsequent vote in November 2022 that ended it permanently in the state. Every move in the state has been noted, including interference from former Gov. Jay Inslee, and has led to exposing the commission’s communications, which the Sportsmen’s Alliance will continue to comb through in its search for the truth.

Washington’s sportsmen have been bullied long enough by animal extremists, and the Sportsmen’s Alliance will not allow it to happen any longer. Join us or donate to the Sportsmen’s Legal Defense Fund to help stand up against the relentless assault on our values and lifestyle by animal extremists. Present and future generations are depending on your willingness to fight to protect the future of hunting, fishing, and trapping.