HomeMy WebLinkAboutLower Elwha Klallam Tribe LOWER ELWHA KLALLAM TRIBE
?a?4x'a nax'sXayam "Strong People"
2851 Lower Elwha Road Phone: 360.452.8471
Port Angeles, WA 98363 Fax: 360.452.3428
December 15, 2014
City of Port Angeles
PO Box 1150
Port Angeles, WA 98362
Port Angeles Forward Committee
Attention: Mayor Dan Di Guilio
Dear Mayor Di Guilio and PA Forward Members:
The Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe supports the Port Angeles Forward Committee application by
Clallam County and the City of Port Angeles for designation as a"Bicycle Friendly Community"
(BFC) by the League of American Bicyclists (LAB) in Washington, DC. LAB is the oldest and
largest bicycling advocacy group in the United States. Its BFC program is its recognition of the
Five E's as bicycling goals for all communities: encouragement, education, engineering,
evaluation/planning, and enforcement.
We understand that Clallam County and Port Angeles would join Sequim and Port Townsend as
designated BFC's on the North Olympic Peninsula. Several hundred US cities, towns and
counties are already designated as bicycle-friendly. The state of Washington is ranked#1 in
bicycle friendliness, and the bike community of Port Angeles would like to contribute to that
ranking.
Designation as BFC will confirm the commitment to bicycling in our community for physical
exercise, family recreation and commutation to work, school and shopping. In other words, B2E-
bike to everywhere-an apt moniker will apply to our community's physical and mental health
and commitment to resource conservation.
Second, the designation will allow tourism promotion organizations to further advertise our
region's incredible bicycling assets for the serious, as well as, the casual bicycle tourist. The
Olympic Discovery Trail (ODT) is a unique asset which someday will stretch over 130 miles
from Port Townsend to LaPush. This Trail traverses through the Elwha Valley and portion of
j tribal lands. The ODT will be like the string that contains BFC pearls.
Finally, the designation as a BFC will assist in application for funding for more expansions,
maintenance and promotion of bicycling assets with federal, state, other governmental bodies
and NGO's supporting community health and bicycling. Clallam Transit, for example, has been
a long-term supporter of multi-modal transportation with bicycle racks on buses and paratransit
vehicles. Part of the funding of those racks comes from successful grant writing. Similarly,
Clallam County has successfully gained funding from various governmental agencies for
construction of the Olympic Discovery Trail. The Peninsula Trails Coalition has been awarded
grants for maintenance and improvements to the ODT.
For all these reasons, we support the efforts of Clallam County and the City of Port Angeles to
apply for and receive recognition as a bicycle-friendly community by the League of American
Bicyclists.
Sincerely,
,: �. c.wA .C�kA
Frances G. Charles
Chairwoman