Appears that there has been a lot of groundwork laid to bring on board a lot of the stakeholders in this proposal. This is a wide range of interests. Good to see. This is the kind of cooperative thinking we need more of in this world.
Statement by Connie Gallant, Chair, Wild Olympics Campaign, and President of RV Consumer Group, Quilcene, WA :
” The Wild Olympics Campaign will support the draft compromise proposal announced today by Representative Norm Dicks (D-WA) and Senator Patty Murray (D-WA). To honor the exhaustive, two-year community input process we have employed since day one, the Campaign has had to make concessions along the way in drafting our proposal to address different community needs and concerns. More than 4,500 local residents from the four counties of the Peninsula have signed a petition supporting the Wild Olympics proposal. Additionally, nearly 200 local businesses, farms, faith leaders, hunting and fishing interests, elected officials, conservation and civic groups in the four counties of the Peninsula have endorsed the Campaign. We view the compromise draft put forward by Congressman Dicks and Senator Murray as another logical step of that community input process. While their draft proposal does not include everything we had hoped for, we will honor and support their draft proposal and the public input that led to it. It will provide permanent protection for the Peninsula’s most priceless natural treasures; our towering ancient forests, free-flowing rivers, critical fish and wildlife habitat and our clean water. Representative Dicks’ and Senator Murray’s draft plan offers a down payment on the Peninsula’s economic future, and a gift for generations to come.”
Statement by Tim McNulty, Olympic Park Associates, Wild Olympics Coalition member, author, Olympic National Park: A Natural History, Sequim, WA:
” Based on conversations we had with Olympic Peninsula Tribes and sportsmen around the Peninsula, it was clear that Olympic National Park expansion would limit Tribal treaty rights and adversely affect subsistence hunting in areas that might someday be acquired by the Park. Therefore, we understand and support the decision by Congressman Dicks and Senator Murray to adopt a “National Preserve” designation in place of Park additions. National Preserves are a widely used designation in Alaska and many states in the lower 48. They are administered by the Park Service and are managed in similar ways as a National Park, but they would allow Tribal and non-Tribal hunting to continue while providing for old-growth forest recovery and protecting critical salmon and wildlife habitats from development.”
Statement by Bill Taylor, President, Taylor Shellfish, Shelton, WA:
“The two largest shellfish hatcheries that supply seed to the West Coast industry are located on Hood Canal. Well over 150 jobs are provided in Hood Canal alone by the industry, not including the indirect jobs such as processing, sales and shipping. By protecting Olympic Peninsula forest and river watersheds we ensure clean and safe water so that shellfish companies can continue to grow and further benefit the economy and ecology of Washington state.”
Statement by Doug Rose, Outdoor Writer and Flyfishing Guide, Forks, WA. Founding Member of Sportsmen for Wild Olympics . ( http://www.SportsmenForWildOlympics.org )
“As an outdoor writer, fly fishing guide, and avid duck and grouse hunter, I welcome the additional protections that are being proposed. They will help protect the water quality that anadromous fish require, and preserve the upper basin spawning grounds of species like cutthroat, summer steelhead and bull trout. The National Preserve option means I will still be able to hunt in all of the areas under consideration, and I will be able to bring my black Labrador retriever, Ruby.”
Statement by Roy Nott, President & CEO, Paneltech, Hoquiam, WA:
” This plan would protect our economic future. The son and grandson of Pacific County loggers, I was proud to take a well-paying job in the northwest logging industry when I finished college. During a long stint with ITT Rayonier, I developed the company’s northwest forest business plan and managed its timberlands operations in Forks before I was sent east. But the magnificent forests and rivers of the wild coast eventually drew me back “home,”where I helped start Paneltech,a company that now employs 50 people at the Port of Grays Harbor. This area badly needs new family wage jobs. Some will come from our commercial forests. But we also need to attract more entrepreneurs that create more value added jobs. They will need uniquely-skilled people, the kind drawn here, as I was, because our ancient forests and river watersheds provide clean water, healthy salmon runs, world-class hunting and fishing and an unrivaled quality of life.
“This plan will permanently protect these natural amenities vital to our economic future. But the plan also shows great sensitivity toward private property and the commercial timber base. Most public lands considered in the proposal are already off limits to logging. It gives timber landowners an option to sell certain lands to the Park, but only if they want to. A healthier timber industry adding more value locally can contribute toward the restoration of our area’s economic vitality. But we also need new companies with new ideas, new value-added jobs and new sources of raw material. With this plan, we can have both.”
The Wild Olympics Campaign, a group of conservation and recreation organizations, including the Olympic Forest Coalition, Olympic Park Associates, Olympic Peninsula Audubon Society, and the North Olympic Group-Sierra Club, has been working for permanent protection of key watersheds for salmon recovery, local water quality, the restoration of Puget Sound and the Hood Canal, world-class outdoor recreation, and a sustainable economy for the past two years.
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