State resumes sale of fishing and hunting licenses

WDFW resumed the sale of fishing and hunting licenses and the state Discover Pass Saturday through about 600 dealers across the state.

The state Department of Fish and Wildlife has resumed the sale of fishing and hunting licenses and the state Discover Pass through its network of about 600 dealers across the state.

All license sales were halted last week in response to the discovery of a vulnerability in an outside vendor’s system that was recently exploited to expose personal information about customers in several states, including Washington, Idaho and Oregon.

Michelle Lister at the sporting goods counter of Dennis Co. in Raymond confirmed they have resumed selling licenses.

“They came back online Saturday,” Lister said. “But you can still fish for free until Tuesday.”

Jim Unsworth, WDFW director, said department personnel, in collaboration with the state Office of Cyber Security, the vendor and law enforcement agencies, were able to restore the dealer services after confirming they were secure.

“With many excellent late summer and fall hunting and fishing opportunities rapidly approaching, this is great news for hunters, anglers, and everyone who enjoys Washington’s outdoors,” Unsworth said. “I appreciate our customers’ patience this last week while license sales were unavailable.”

Unsworth said WDFW is still offering free fishing days, but beginning Wednesday, all anglers, hunters and other recreationists using department facilities and recreation lands will need the appropriate licenses, endorsements and other required permits.