Port Angeles – Clallam County Commissioners have jointly written and signed a letter addressed to US Senators Maria Cantwell and Patty Murray, as well as US Representative Emily Randall of the 6th District, to “express concern about the impacts that our region is facing from the strategies and approaches being implemented by the Federal government.”
Commissioners French, Johnson and Ozias listed among their concerns the funding cuts to Olympic National Park, which they say was already lagging in its ability to keep up with basic maintenance, and now has been forced to reduce staffing. They worry that the $80 million allocated by Congress to build a new Day Lodge at Hurricane Ridge is no longer certain.
The commissioners said in their letter, which is dated April 1, that reduced staffing at the Forest Service will make it even more difficult to make progress on wildfire safety efforts, and they asked the senators and congresswoman to “please do all that you are able to maintain the funding and staffing necessary to see that veterans’ needs are met.”
They also said, “The economic and territorial threats being levied against Canada are already having negative consequences,” pointing out that tourism from Canadian visitors since the first of this year is already down, and they warn about the negative impacts that will have to area businesses.
The letter says, “We join with all of those in our county who are concerned about the short—and long-term consequences of this Administration’s unpredictable actions.” It ends by encouraging the politicians “to continue doing what you are able”, and says they wrote the letter “to sound a warning about the devastating local impacts we expect to see from the continued dismantling of our federal government.”