Mount Si will stay open for another season
Hikers will enjoy the view from Mount Si for another year. Photo by Linney05.
At long, long last the legislative session is ending. After weeks of impasse on a revenue package, the House and Senate have come to an agreement on the budget.
As you probably know if you have been on our website or are a part of our Trail Action Network, WTA has been in Olympia since January working to preserve recreation funds for the Department of Natural Resources. The proposed $278,000 cut - on top of the huge cut the agency took last year - would have forced the closure of Mount Si, Rattlesnake Mountain, Lake Spokane, and other DNR lands.
And because you've already read the headline, you also know that the end result was good news for DNR. The Senate version prevailed (the House language would have stripped the funds) and these areas will stay open for another year.
This was an uphill fight the whole way, and much of the credit is due to you. Hikers like you littered the mailboxes, inboxes and legislative hotline with compelling pleas to preserve the funding. Those who came to WTA's Hiker Lobby Day were instrumental in raising awareness of this issue and of demonstrating that DNR lands are places that people like to hike. Thank you to all who helped make this victory possible!
But I almost hate to tell you this next thing. The restoration of recreation funding this year is only a reprieve. Once we're done celebrating, we need to get geared up again. If we don't find a way to provide new and sustainable funding for DNR, we're going to find ourselves back in the same spot next year. And the outcome would not likely be as rosy.
So after all of us come up for air after this record-long legislative session, we're going to work together to find predictable and dedicated funding sources for the agency. In addition, we're going to fight to make sure that NOVA funds transferred to state parks last year are returned to both the DNR and to the important grants that the program supports.
Stay tuned for ways to get involved with this process as it moves forward. And in the meantime, go hike your DNR lands.
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