HomeMy WebLinkAboutChapman Letter to DNR__________________________________________________________________________________________________________
September 26, 2023
Robin Hammill
Department of Natural Resources
Trust Land Transfer Program Manager
Re: City of Port Angeles’ TLT Application – Elwha River Watershed
Dear Ms. Hammill:
I am writing to express my support for the City of Port Angeles’ nomination of parcels within the
Elwha River Watershed for the trust land transfer program in the 2025-27 biennium.
The City of Port Angeles is an underserved rural community that relies on the Elwha River as its sole
source of drinking and industrial water. Port Angeles City management and Council has expressed
valid concerns that logging in the Elwha Watershed compromises efforts to restore endangered salmon
habitat; threatens other endangered and recovering species; destroys essential carbon sinks; and
threatens the City’s sole drinking water source.
The iconic Elwha River is important to all Washingtonians and remains the largest completed dam
removal project in U.S. history. The federal government spent $327 million in Elwha River restoration
post-dam removal. Transferring these forests out of the trust so that they are no longer subject to
industrial logging compliments the larger scale restoration efforts and is an essential step toward
restoring the ecosystem, preserving cultural areas of importance, protecting designated marbled
murrelet areas, and securing vital sole source water supply for over 30,000 people. It also presents a
significant economic opportunity to secure better suited timber for harvest away from environmentally
sensitive areas found in the Elwha Watershed.
Sincerely,
Representative Mike Chapman
24th Legislative District
Legislative Building
Olympia, WA 98504-0600
Washington State Legislature