Washington legislation · 2025-26 Regular Session
Washington SB5203: Wildlife safe passages
Status: Passed one chamber, March 12, 2026
Ensuring connectivity for Washington wildlife through safe passages.
What the bill says
An act Relating to ensuring connectivity for Washington wildlife through safe passages; reenacting and amending RCW 43.84.092, 43.84.092, 43.84.092, 43.84.092, 43.84.092, and 43.84.092; adding a new section to chapter 47.04 RCW; adding a new section to chapter 77.36 RCW; adding a new section to chapter 46.68 RCW; adding a new section to chapter 77.04 RCW; creating a new section; providing effective dates; providing a contingent effective date; providing expiration dates; and providing contingent expiration dates. NEW SECTION.
From the introduced text:
AN ACT Relating to ensuring connectivity for Washington wildlife through safe passages; reenacting and amending RCW 43.84.092, 43.84.092, 43.84.092, 43.84.092, 43.84.092, and 43.84.092; adding a new section to chapter 47.04 RCW; adding a new section to chapter 77.36 RCW; adding a new section to chapter 46.68 RCW; adding a new section to chapter 77.04 RCW; creating a new section; providing effective dates; providing a contingent effective date; providing expiration dates; and providing contingent expiration dates. NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. (1) The legislature finds (b) Wildlife vehicle collisions with deer and elk alone cost Washington residents over $74,000,000 per year in lost work from injury, medical treatment, vehicle damage, emergency response, and insurance payouts. This does not include the cost of lost wildlife; (c) Human development and roads cause loss and fragmentation of habitat, reducing the total area and quality of habitat available to Washington state's wildlife populations, and impeding normal patterns of movement that wildlife need to meet their daily, seasonal, and long-term life history and population viability needs. For example, Washington state lost over 1.1 million acres of forestland to other uses between 1978 and 2019, and over 80 percent of shrub-steppe habitat has been lost since European settlement; (d) Climate change is already causing wildlife populations to shift home ranges in search of more suitable habitats. Fragmented landscapes …