Port Townsend resident Lorna Smith was appointed to the Washington Fish and Wildlife Commission By Governor Jay Inslee in January of 2021. I’ve known Lorna for many decades, since she helped Eleanor Stopps & Zella Schultz’s efforts to make Protection Island a National Wildlife Refuge. Lorna is an ecologist who served as Snohomish County’s highest level environmental supervisor for 20 years overseeing NEPA, SEPA and ESA implementation for salmon and other listed species and has been a volunteer for many conservation groups and activities here on the Olympic Peninsula (Olympic Forest Coalition, Jefferson Land Trust, Jefferson County Conservation Futures Committee and Jefferson Planning Commission) and state-wide. She has served on many Department of Fish and Wildlife advisory groups.
She is the only Fish and Wildlife Commissioner from the Olympic Peninsula and the Commission member with the strongest conservation credentials.A Senate confirmation hearing (in Committee) is scheduled for this Thursday, February 24th, 1:30 PM before the Senate Ag and Natural Resources Committee chaired by Senator Van De Wege, who represents the Peninsula and parts of Grays Harbor County. Lorna Smith deserves and needs support to continue critical environmental work on behalf of Washington’s fish, wildlife and habitats.
Today contact Senator Van De Wege and urge that he support her confirmation as a strong conservation candidate and the Peninsula’s own representative to the Commission. Only the Senators on the Committee will be providing testimony, but you can register your comment about Lorna specifically through the following link: https://app.leg.wa.gov/pbc/bill/9250
Or via direct email to the following:
Senator Van De Wege email: Kevin.vandewege@leg.wa.gov
Cc: other key committee members and committee staff:
jesse.salomon@leg.wa.govKaren.epps@leg.wa.gov (staff)
Filed under: Environmental Activism, Environmental Protection, Government |
Hi Al! Do the rest of us Washingtonians get to weigh in?
Yes. But because Van de Wege is in our district, as is Lorna, the feeling was that we wanted to make sure that local people spoke up strongly on this. But sure, please weigh in!