If you think we need another
layer of bureaucracy delete.
If not Copy & Paste into your email--sign by typing your name
and address and it send it on to Mr. Parkin
Get 12 stamps and mail your Representatives.
Would'nt you like to know what
the United States Environmental Protection Agency, means by“The
Environmental Justice Action Plan” ?
Tell them stop funding unless it's for the helpless
-BUT --the clueless are on their own!
Mr. Richard Parkin, Acting Director
Office of Ecosystems
United States Environmental Protection Agency, Region 10
1200 Sixth Avenue, Suite 900
Seattle, WA 98101-31140
parkin.richard@epa.gov.
Jefferson County, Washington
Watershed Center grant
worth $800,646.
The Project Title document
is "Citizens
who are ready to apply for permits can directly make their submittals or to
seek additional customer services at the resource center." This
seems to conflict with director of DCD director Al Scalf's assurances that the
Resource center would not be evaluating permits. What is it for then? Does your
agency have extra tax dollars to spread around? What role do the funding
partners play (if private) with an organization funded by taxpayers? DCD and
WSRS are not only creating regulatory excesses but also would be guilty of
gross financial negligence and extravagance.
It is incredible to me that Jill Silver, who has no
training or expertise in these issues and little, if any, legitimacy with rural
property owners would be involved in this effort at all. As a mater of
fact her idea to kill unwanted plants along the wild and pristine Hoh
River filled with wild salmon is to
poison them. To the outrage of local landowners she left her poison in their
well house. She is an amateur trying to carve out a living under the guise of
environmentalism. Stewardship is facilitated when hearts and minds are open. Before there
can be love for the land there must be love in the
heart. Silver has consistently promoted strict prescriptive onerous
regulation as a necessity against “irresponsible and greedy private
landowners,” “the land does not belong to you”. These were her public comments
in a room with about 300 local landowners.
Her paternalistic attitude turns off rural landowners who otherwise
would be open to respectful overtures for stewardship from the Conservation
District. If we are going to have something like this happen in Jefferson
County, why not in the Conservation District instead of the Ten Thousand Years
Institute (Jill Silver).
The WSRC stated purpose is "to guide property
owners and developers in applying sustainable development practices." We are a county of 28,000 people 10,000 of them live
in the city of Port Townsend and 3000
in a Master Plan Resort of Port Ludlow. On the table is a new UGA in the
TriArea with approximately 2500 people. That leaves about 12,500 men, women and
children living on rural land most of whom will not be planning to build
anything. According Jefferson County Land Use Map we do not have a land mass
available for any housing or large industrial development. So please before you
throw tax dollars at us educate yourself to where they are going.
The project
title boasts of "facilitating more
positive relationships between regulators and citizens, reducing costs for
both." How exactly does it do
that with an extremist environmental activist in charge plus increase in tax
dollars and forming another layer of government?
Jefferson County’s land mass is approximately 2000 sq. miles.
Ninety eight percent (98%) of Jefferson County is National Park, National Forest, State Parks, DNR and County Parks and lots of un-buildable critical areas. Add to that resource land and acres of Land Trust land and what do you have left to spend this taxpayer boondoggle on? How about just a few acres! To have taxpayers pay for another layer of planning is insanity no matter how sweet the sound such as, sit down and have a coffee and chat with Jill.
The best existing home for an assistance
center is the Conservation District (CD). This is based on local support
and local understanding that the Conservation District has an excellent track
record at implementation and conservation planning. Al Latham is
one of the most esteemed and highly regarded CD directors in the Northwest.
Also, CD is not a regulatory agency so would have trust of landowners.
Are you aware that every person has
access when applying for a permit to a Jefferson County Stewardship Plan
written by the esteemed international wetland scientist Dr Kenn Brooks?
Locally, everyone knows that there is no
other government entity with anything like the Conservation District’s ability
to stretch every penny.
Jefferson
County does not have an identified
problem with the environment.
Why would Jefferson
County with 98% park land possibly need
a social marketing program?
Pay off our
nation’s debt before inventing unnecessary and new programs.
Please explain what exactly is “The Environmental Justice Action Plan”
that appears on your web site. Will the environment come under the US
justice system?
Robert and E.
Sokol
1005 Quincy
Port Townsend
WA 98368
Cc. Senator
Patty Murray
WASHINGTON,
DC
511 Dirksen Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
Cc. Senator
Maria Cantwell
511 Dirksen
Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
Cc.
Representative Norm Dicks
2467
Rayburn House Office Building
Washington,
DC 20515
Cc.
Representative Jay Inslee
403 Cannon HOB
Washington, D.C. 20515-4701
Cc.
Representative Rick Larson
108 Cannon House
Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515-4702
Cc.
Representative Brian Baird
2350
Rayburn House Office Building
Washington,
DC 20515
Cc.
Representative Doc Hastings
1203
Longworth
House Office
Building
Washington,
DC 20515
Cc.
Representative Cathy McMorris Rodgers
1323 Longworth
House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515
Cc. Representative
Jim McDermott (D - 07)
108 Cannon House
Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515-4702
Cc.
Representative Dave Reichert
1323 Longworth
House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515
Cc.
Representative Adam Smith
108 Cannon House
Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515-4702