Modernized WWRP bill signed into law!
Following over four months of statewide engagement and a blink-of-an-eye session, the WWRP Modernization Bill was signed into law by Governor Inslee in Olympia on March 31, 2016.
“Today is truly a momentous occasion” said Andrea McNamara Doyle, Executive Director of the Wildlife & Recreation Coalition, “after 25 years of success, the program will now be able to do even more for the citizen’s of our state.”
Without a doubt, the Coalition was the largest (and most bipartisan) contingent of all the 30+ bills the Governor signed that afternoon.
The bill signing event was attended by Coalition Board Members, alternates, and the lobbying team. The Coalition also joined by the Executive Directors from the Capital & Nisqually Land Trusts, and representatives from the Washington Recreation and Parks Association (WRPA), the Recreation and Conservation Funding Board (RCFB), the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW), and the Governor’s policy office.
The WWRP is the state’s premier recreation and conservation grant program, founded in a historic bipartisan effort by former Governors Dan Evans and Mike Lowry. Since its inception, it has played a significant role in Washington state’s landscape and quality of life, investing over $1.3 billion from the capital construction budget into state and local parks, trails, wildlife habit, and working farms.