OLYMPIA – The public will have an opportunity to comment on salmon and sturgeon management on the lower Columbia River during a meeting of the Washington Fish and Wildlife Commission scheduled Jan. 22-23 in Vancouver, Wash.

The commission, which sets policy for the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW), will also receive a briefing and accept public comments on the status of four protected species: the northern spotted owl, snowy plover, western gray squirrel and greater sage-grouse.

The meeting will convene at 8 a.m. both days at the Heathman Lodge, 7801 N.E. Greenwood Dr. in Vancouver.

The agenda item on salmon management will focus on progress made to achieve the goals of the Columbia River Basin Salmon Management Policy, jointly adopted in 2013 by the Washington and Oregon fish and wildlife commissions.

That policy was designed to restructure fisheries and conserve wild salmon below Bonneville Dam through a variety of initiatives, including the development of alternative commercial fishing gear and an effort to shift non-tribal gillnet fisheries to off-channel areas.

A public comment period on that issue is scheduled the morning of Jan. 23, following a briefing by WDFW fish managers.

Also that morning, state fishery managers will provide an update on white sturgeon populations in the lower Columbia River, where fishing opportunities have been limited to catch-and-release under a policy adopted in 2014.

A complete agenda for the meeting is available at http://wdfw.wa.gov/commission/meetings.html