This bill amends RCW 77.15.245 to make it unlawful to take, hunt, or attract black bear with the aid of bait and to hunt or pursue black bear, cougar, or bobcat with the aid of a dog or dogs, subject to specified exceptions. It provides a statutory definition of "bait" as a substance used to attract black bears to an area where people hunt or intend to hunt them. The amendment operates “notwithstanding” other cited statutes, signaling these prohibitions supersede those provisions where indicated. The bill creates exceptions and procedural mechanisms: employees or agents of state or federal agencies may use bait or dogs when acting in official capacities to protect livestock, domestic animals, private property, or public safety; feeding stations to prevent commercial timber damage are allowed; owners or tenants of real property may use dogs consistent with director-issued permits and conditions; county agency employees may assist in cougar public safety responses if authorized by the department. The director may issue permits or memoranda of understanding to public agencies, universities, and scientific or educational institutions to use bait or dogs for scientific purposes or to kill listed threatened or endangered species for their protection. Nonlethal pursuit training of dogs is permitted for persons selected under RCW 77.12.077. The commission may authorize use of dogs in selected areas within a game management unit to address a public safety need only after finding no other practical alternative and adopting rules that set conditions for use. The bill changes penalties and agency procedures: violating the bait or dog prohibitions is a gross misdemeanor; the department must revoke the violator’s hunting license and suspend wildlife hunting privileges for five years after revocation; a subsequent violation by the same person bars issuance of any future hunting license. The text does not define the specific entities referred to as the director, commission, or department, and it does not include any effective date or other sections of the bill in the provided material.

If enacted, ordinary hunters would no longer be able to bait black bears or use dogs to hunt black bear, cougar, or bobcat in most situations, removing those tactics as legal options for recreational or private hunting. Hunters who ignore the ban would face criminal exposure (gross misdemeanor), mandatory revocation of their hunting license and a five-year suspension of hunting privileges, and a permanent ban on obtaining a hunting license after a subsequent violation. Narrow exceptions let government employees acting to protect livestock, domestic animals, private property, or public safety continue to use bait or dogs, allow feeding stations to protect commercial timber, and allow permits for scientific work or for protecting listed species; property owners or tenants could use dogs only under a director-issued permit, and nonlethal dog pursuit training is allowed for selected people. The bill shifts practical responsibilities onto wildlife authorities: a director would issue and condition permits and memoranda of understanding, a commission would have to find there is no practical alternative and adopt rules before authorizing dog use in limited areas, and a department would enforce penalties and revoke or suspend licenses. The extracted text does not specify which agencies those titles refer to, gives no effective date, and leaves details of permit rules and the selection process undefined, so the exact administrative workload, timing, and costs remain unclear.