RSVP for call-in information
WHEN: 4:00 – 4:30 pm, June 12, 2014
WHAT: Tele-briefing to announce the Coalition’s request to Governor Inslee and the state legislature for the funding level for the Washington Wildlife and Recreation Program (WWRP) in the capital construction budget.
WHO:
- Marc Berejka, Director of Government and Community Affairs, REI
- Mark Eliasen, VP of Finance and Treasurer, Alaska Airlines
- Teresa Loo, Communications Director, Port Blakely Tree Farms
- Bill Riley, Past President of Washington Realtors; general manager, Vista Property Management
- John Roskelley, former Spokane County Commissioner
- Peter Dykstra, Partner, Plauche and Carr; Coalition board president
- Joanna Grist, Executive Director, Washington Wildlife and Recreation Coalition
BACKGROUND: The Coalition wrote the original legislation for the WWRP in 1989 and remains its primary watchdog and advocate. It would take $153 million to fund all the projects. Last year, the state legislature funded the WWRP at $65 million in the capital construction budget, funding more than 90 projects. This year, 217 proposals from 34 counties were submitted for the WWRP including:
- 21 trails
- 37 farmland conservation easements to preserve working lands
- 45 habitat preservation and restoration projects
- 114 local and state parks, water access and other outdoor recreation projects
What is the WWRP?
The Washington Wildlife and Recreation Program (RCW 79A.15) is a state grant program funded from the capital construction budget that provides funding to protect habitat, preserve working farms and creates new local and state parks. Independent experts rank the applications based on criteria such as the benefits to the public, level of threat to the property, or presence of threatened or endangered species.
About the Coalition
The Washington Wildlife and Recreation Coalition is a non-profit citizens group founded in a historic bipartisan effort by former Governors Dan Evans and Mike Lowry. The Coalition promotes public funding for Washington’s outdoors through the state Washington Wildlife and Recreation Program and the federal Land and Water Conservation Fund. Members consist of a diverse group of over 280 organizations representing conservation, business, recreation, hunting, fishing, farming and community interests. The breadth and diversity of the Coalition is the key to its success — no one member could secure such a high level of funding for parks and habitat on its own.