U.S. Rep. Norm Dicks will officially visit Olympic National Park’s Hoh Rain Forest, where many of the park’s 3.2 million visitors last year marveled at long moss and tall old-growth trees.
The 14-term congressman is scheduled for a Thursday tour of the rain forest’s visitor center and other West End park attractions.
Superintendent William “Bill” Laitner will be host to Dicks, meeting him Thursday morning at the park’s administrative offices in Port Angeles.
Dicks this week is visiting the state’s three national parks as part of congressional efforts focusing on national parks’ operational needs.
Much of the tour and discussion is expected to focus on park operations and staffing in lean budget times.
Operating funds
Laitner said he anticipates a talk about “the challenges of trying to serve the public and protect park resources with reduced park funds.”
A federal report released in June cites a shortage of operating funds from the Bush administration, saying the financial squeeze is crippling Olympic National Park.
The Olympic National Park Business Plan states that the park receives only about half the money it needs, and “core operations” are not funded sufficiently “to meet the basic goals and mission of the park as defined by Congress.”
Dicks is also scheduled to visit the park’s Forks visitors center, which was this year at risk of closure for lack of funding.
There, he is scheduled to meet with Forks Mayor Nedra Reed, who has stressed the park’s importance to the West End city’s tourism economy.
