OLYMPIA, Wash. - State lawmakers, responding to last year's deadly shooting of a hiker by a 14-year-old boy, are working to close a loophole that allowed young hunters to go out into the woods alone.

And the state's hunting community says it is behind the effort to raise the minimum age for unsupervised hunting.

If such a law had been in effect last year, Pamela Almli might still be alive.

She had gone out Aug. 2 to enjoy a day of hiking on Sauk Mountain in Skagit County. On the same day, a 14-year-old boy from Concrete went out in the same area to enjoy a day of hunting.

Prosecutors say the teen and his 16-year-old brother saw what they thought was a bear from more than 100 yards away through a scope, according to charging papers. The 14-year-old pulled the trigger, killing Almli, court papers say.

Now the 14-year-old boy is set to go on trial in juvenile court in the next few months. If convicted, he could be jailed until the age of 21.

Ironically, there used to be a law against young teens hunting without adult supervision. But the law was changed in 1994 to make it legal.

"I think there's good reason to believe that had the not been changed this tragedy may not have happened," says Rep. Brian Blake, D-Aberdeen.

Blake is leading the effort to restore the law to have hunters up to age 14 supervised.

Ed Owens of the Hunting Heritage Council said his group supports the effort.

"What's interesting is the absence of it in the law - most of the people in the hunting community weren't aware that this existed," Owens says. "We always assumed it was the way it had always been."

The state Department of Fish and Wildlife also believes the age needing adult supervision should be raised.

"As an agency we prefer 16 as a minimum age," says Mike Cenci of the Department of Fish and Wildlife. "Young hunters who are supervised by experienced hunters are safer hunters."

There's a companion bill to have everyone in the woods during hunting season - hikers included - to wear bright orange.

The theory behind that proposal is that dark-colored clothing makes it hard to tell a human from an animal, especially in limited-visibility conditions. Brightly colored clothing eliminates all doubt.

However, there's concern in the hiking community about the cost of trying to enforce that - and that it might be going too far.

Says Jonathan Guzzo of the Washington Trails Association, "Hunting is a very safe community. The number of hunting incidents that hikers have had have been very very small in number."

But the bill's sponsor says the bottom line is that he wants to do everything he can to see that what happened to Pamela Almli doesn't happen again.