PORT ANGELES — Proponents of a plan to add 37,000 acres to Olympic National Park told a business audience Monday that privately owned property would only go to federal ownership by willing sellers.
The landowners would not be under obligation to take offers from the federal government, said Wild Olympics spokesman Jon Owen, manager of the Seattle office of The Pew Environment Group.
Owen was keynote speaker in Monday’s presentation on the Wild Olympics Campaign proposal made at Monday’s luncheon meeting of the Port Angeles Regional Chamber of Commerce at the Port Angeles CrabHouse Restaurant.
The chamber will host a representative of the North Olympic Timber Action Committee Inc., or NOTAC, to present an opposing view at its June 27 meeting.
Monday’s Wild Olympics talk by Owen noted that the newly protected land — mainly on the West End and southwest quadrant of the national park — would help protect water resources and core wildlife habitat areas from logging and development,
“If it’s going to be taken out of timber anyway, why not convert it to wilderness?” he asked.
All property sales would be by willing sellers, he said. Whenever a property is put up for sale, an offer would be made to purchase it as designated wilderness — or for the national park.
Lands that would be purchased would keep existing roads, and would be available for nonmotorized recreational uses such as hunting, hiking, fishing or biking, he said.
The land would be paid for by offshore oil funds, not from taxpayer money, he said.
Protecting water quality is key to the success of some businesses, such as Taylor Shellfish Farms in Shelton, which is below the southeast quadrant of the park.
The health of the oyster beds — and the 115 jobs associated with oyster production — depend on clean, clear water runoff from the mountains, he said.
For others, he said, simply protecting the area’s natural beauty has business value.
PanelTech, a Hoquiam lumber supply company, takes prospective employees on trips into the nearby wilderness as part of its strategy to recruit highly skilled workers, Owen said.
Additionally, several rivers would be designated “wild and scenic” within the borders of already-protected state and federal land, he said.
The Wild and Scenic Rivers Act of 1968 protects rivers “with outstanding natural, cultural and recreational values in a free-flowing condition for the enjoyment of present and future generations,” according to the National Wild and Scenic Rivers System website at www.rivers.gov.
Stretches of river can be designated as “wild,” “scenic” or “recreational,” each with a different level of protection.
After more than 300 meetings, the initial proposal has been scaled back by more than two-thirds, responding to the stated preferences of communities surrounding the lands eyed by Wild Olympics for inclusion.
The next step is to create a draft to take to local Congress members, including Rep. Norm Dicks, he said.
The coalition of environmental groups forming Wild Olympics are Olympic Park Associates, Olympic Forest Coalition, Olympic Peninsula Audubon Society, North Olympic Sierra Club group and the national Sierra Club, American Rivers, American Whitewater, Washington Wilderness Coalition, The Mountaineers and Owen’s Pew Environment Group.
One audience member at Monday’s chamber meeting asked how the cash-strapped parks system can afford to care for additional lands.
It could take decades for the land to be transferred, said author-poet Tim McNulty, who was attending as Olympic Park Associates vice president.
By that time, current national park budget woes would likely be over, McNulty said.
“The danger of stretching the budget is less than the danger of wilderness being lost,” he said.
