QUILCENE, Wash. – More than 100 new local businesses have announced
their support for the Wild Olympics Campaign, Campaign consultant Al
Carter tells us, "We've got 84 businesses in Grays Harbor County, we've
just added about 40. We're getting a lot of support for Wild Olympics,
and as always the longer you talk about something the easier it is to
understand and the more sense it makes.
 
Senator Patty Murray
continues to show support, but Congressman Derek Kilmer has not chosen a
side on former Congressman Norm Dicks-sponsored version of the
proposal.
 
Currently, the group has over 450 endorsements from
elected officials, to local farms and businesses. For a complete list,
and further details visit their website at wildolympics.org.
 
A
press release from the group said Nine CEOs and nearly 100 new business
endorsers from the Olympic Peninsula and South Puget Sound Region are
the latest local economic leaders to urge permanent protection of
Olympic National Forest’s scenic backcountry, rivers and streams. In a
letter to Senator Patty Murray (D-WA) and Congressman Derek Kilmer
(D-WA06), the heads of Pasha Shipping (Aberdeen), Paladin Data Systems
(Poulsbo), HOPE Roofing & Construction (Port Townsend), Rice Fergus
Miller Inc (Bremerton), The Holiday Inn Express and Conference Center
(Sequim), SAGE Fly Rods (Bainbridge Island), Grounds For Change
(Poulsbo), Green Mountain Technologies (Bainbridge Island) and Taylor
Shellfish (Shelton) urged the lawmakers to quickly reintroduce The Wild
Olympics Wilderness & Wild and Scenic Rivers Act to safeguard the
Olympic Peninsula’s ancient forests and free-flowing rivers.

The CEOs point out that the area’s
natural treasures, which provide world-class outdoor recreation, clean
water and the area’s high quality of living “give us a competitive edge
over other regions in attracting and retaining the talented people our
companies require.” Wilderness and wild and scenic river protection
“would help protect the 500-plus local jobs that depend on our ability
to compete for talent against other regions, and they would enhance our
recruitment efforts to grow our businesses in the future.”

Nearly
100 new local business endorsements were also sent in a separate letter
urging swift reintroduction of the Wild Olympics legislation to protect
and grow local jobs in multiple sectors of the economy. The business
owners and economic leaders say the legislation would both protect and
create local jobs in shipping and trade, construction, real estate,
fishing, information technology, the shellfish industry, tourism,
manufacturing and other sectors of the region’s economy.

“Wild
Olympics would protect and promote the same spectacular public lands and
high quality of life that are helping to drive growth and create local
jobs in real estate, construction and many other sectors of our economy
today” said Harriet Reyenga, an independent Realtor for Windermere Real
Estate in Port Angeles, one of the nearly 100 local business owners who
signed the letter in support of Wild Olympics. “Our ancient forests,
salmon, rivers and stunning scenery are the north Olympic Peninsula’s
competitive economic advantage over other regions” said Reyenga, who
recently won the 2012 Realtor Achievement Award from the Port Angeles
Association of Realtors. “We should do all we can to protect and promote
these natural treasures. Wild Olympics would do both.”

In urging
early reintroduction of the measure, the CEOs point to the findings in a
November 2012 report by the independent, non-partisan Headwaters
Economics Institute “West Is Best: Protected Lands Promote Jobs and
Higher Incomes -How Public Lands in the West Create a Competitive
Economic Advantage.” The report found that protected public lands are
key to attracting companies, entrepreneurs and workers and that national
parks, monuments, wilderness areas and other protected public lands in
the Western US have enhanced the competitive advantages of high-tech and
professional services companies – a major reason why the western
economy has outperformed the rest of the U.S. economy in employment,
population, and personal income over the last four decades.

The
CEO letter also notes another 2012 Headwaters Institute report that
found similar trends locally. It showed growth of over 5,000 new jobs on
the Olympic Peninsula over the last ten years in trade and shipping,
health care, education, business services, real estate, construction and
other sectors, and found strong population growth from new residents
drawn by the Peninsula’s high quality of living. The study reported job
growth across multiple sectors of the local economy including those
represented by the 225 local businesses now backing the Wild Olympics
Campaign.

The new CEO and local business endorsements capped a
wave of additional support pouring in for the Wild Olympics Campaign in
recent weeks from Visit Kitsap Peninsula, mountain bike, climbing,
paddling, hunting and fishing organizations and more than 80 local faith
leaders representing 10 different religious denominations. Currently,
over 450 elected officials, local farms and businesses, conservation and
recreation groups and faith leaders have endorsed the Wild Olympics
proposal.

BACKGROUND:

The conservation measure
introduced last Congress would permanently protect more than 126,000
acres of wilderness in the Olympic National Forest and designate 19
rivers and seven tributaries —totaling 464 miles – as Wild and Scenic.

The
Wild Olympics Wilderness and Wild and Scenic Rivers Act (S. 3329/H.R.
5995), was introduced by Senator Patty Murray and Congressman Norm Dicks
on June 21, 2012 but awaits reintroduction in this Congress. The
legislation would protect the first new wilderness on Olympic National
Forest in nearly 30 years and mark the first-ever Wild and Scenic River
designations on the Peninsula.

The measure has been the subject of
more than four years of discussion and public input, and as a result of
this unprecedented community involvement, numerous and significant
changes to the proposal were made before legislation was introduced in
2012, including the removal of the Parks addition component originally
included in the campaign's proposal. The compromise legislation
introduced in 2012 did not include any roads in the proposed Wilderness
and preserved all access to trailheads.

These and other revisions
ensured that the final proposal will not cost any timber jobs, earning
the compromise legislation the backing of Port Angeles Timber Company
Merrill and Ring. Cosmo Specialty Fibers, owners of the Cosmopolis Pulp
Mill in Grays Harbor also issued a statement praising the inclusive
process and stating the currently proposed legislation would not affect
their fiber interests. A 2012 bipartisan poll found overwhelming support
for the Wild Olympics proposal among likely voters in Washington's 6th
Congressional District. Nearly two out of three (64 percent) likely
voters support the Wild Olympics plan proposed by Rep. Dicks and Sen.
Murray. Only 15 percent are opposed. On the Peninsula, support was
nearly 2-1, with 50% supporting, and only 28% opposed.

Grays Harbor Wild Olympics Campaign Endorsements


 

Current and Former Elected Officials (7)

WA State Representative Steve Tharinger (Dist.24)

Grays Harbor County Commissioner Frank Gordon

Ocean Shores City Councilmember Ed Engel 

Ocean Shores City Councilmember Dan Overton

Westport City Councilmember Desiree Dodson

Westport City Councilmember Louis Summers

Former Grays Harbor County Commissioner Al Carter 

Former Ocean Shores Mayor Garland French

 

Business Endorsements (84)

Michael Pasha, Pasha Automotive Services (Aberdeen)

North Coast Surf Inc. (Ocean Shores )

A Natural Approach (Aberdeen)

Amore Restaurant (Aberdeen)

Arlan’s Oven (Westport)

Backstage Café (Hoquiam)

Backstage Espresso (Aberdeen)

Beach Boutiques (Ocean Shores)

Books on 7th (Hoquiam)

Brady’s Oysters (Aberdeen)

Christian Kazimir Construction (Ocean Shores)

Coastal Serenity (Ocean Shores)

Coastline Signs (Aberdeen)

D-L Summers Inc. (Westport)

Dennise Wells, Premier Realty Westport, LLC (Westport)

Dolores’ & Fay’s (Ocean Shores)

Econolodge Inn & Suites (Hoquiam)

Elton Bennett Art (Hoquiam)

Emerson Grocery (Hoquiam)

Emily’s Confections (Pacific Beach)

Everybody’s Store (Hoquiam)

Frank Gordon Electric (Aberdeen)

Fusions Art Gallery (Hoquiam)

Gallerie Timbuktu (Ocean Shores)

Game Freaks Videogames (Aberdeen)

Give Me Paws (Ocean Shores)

Gordon’s Antiques & Collectibles (Ocean Shores)

Grays Harbor Dance (Hoquiam)

Gray's General Store (Hoquiam)

Hair by Nancy G (Ocean Shores)

Half Moon Bay Bar & Grill (Westport)

Handcrafter’s Hideaway (Ocean Shores)

Harborwood Designs (Montesano)

Heartland Handicrafts (Aberdeen)

Hoquiam’s Castle (Hoquiam)

Hoquiam Chiropractic (Hoquiam)

Impact Studios (Hoquiam)

Islander Resort and RV Park (Westport)

 

Jackson Street Books (Hoquiam)

Jaiwa Web Design & Consulting (Aberdeen)

JLS Partners LLC (Hoquiam)

Laurie Christian Real Estate (Ocean Shores)

Little Hoquiam Childcare (Hoquiam)

Lorna Valdez – Realtor (Ocean Shores)

Lytle Seafood (Hoquiam)

Ma and Pa’s Kettle Corn (Montesano)

Museum of the North Beach (Moclips)

North Beach Community TV (Aberdeen)

North Beach PAWS (Ocean Shores)

Ocean Companies (Westport)

Ocean Shores Electric Boats (Ocean Shores)

Ocean Shores Kites (Ocean Shores)

Olympic Inn (Aberdeen)

Pat’s Style and Trim Inc. (Aberdeen)

Peabody’s Paradise Pizza (McCleary)

People’s Emporium Antiques (Aberdeen)

Pic-A-Roon Pelican Gift Shop (Westport)

Plackett Enterprises (Ocean Shores)

Porthole Pub & Grill (Ocean Shores)

Pure Clothing (Hoquiam)

Queen B Quilts (Hoquiam)

R. Vanyi Photography (Hoquiam)

Roberta Myers, Premier Realty Westport, LLC (Westport)

Roy Nott, Business Leader (Hoquiam)

Running Wolf Studio (Moclips)

Sandcastle Restaurant (Ocean Shores)

Scoops Ice Cream (Aberdeen)

Seashore Ceramic Café (Ocean Shores)

Seagulls Nest Motel (Westport)

Silver Sands Motel (Westport)

Simonson Miller Flowers (Hoquiam)

Simply Said Flowers (Hoquiam)

Snore & Whisker Motel (Hoquiam)

Sucher and Sons Star Wars Shop (Aberdeen)

The Dusty Trunk (Ocean Shores)

The Reppery (Aberdeen)

The Strip Steak House (Shelton)

Tijssen Designs (Ocean Shores)

Top of the Cork (Allyn)

Treasure Way Antiques (Hoquiam)

Tsunami Gems & Beads (Ocean Shores)

Vogue Café (Hoquiam)

Westport Inn (Westport)

Woofs Dog Boutique (Ocean Shores)