Cascade Volcanoes • Entered by Laurie Kerr on February 10, 2023
Legislative Advocacy
February 7, 2023
Participants and Hours
| Pre Planning hours | 4 |
| Post Admin hours | 0.5 |
| Activity Hours | 3.5 |
| Participants | 2 |
| Total Hours | 11.5 |
Key Issue: Wildlife Protection
Activity Type: Advocacy (rallies, lobbying, meeting decision makers, letters/calls/emails)
Key Partners: Trout Unlimited
Measurable Outcomes
Outcome 1: Advocacy actions (1 In person Meeting)
Short Description of Activity
Barb Fox Kilgore and I attended Lobby Day in Olympia with Trout Unlimited
Reflection/Evaluation
I met with Senator Warnke’s staffer. We advocated for Conserving and reducing harvest impacts on ESA salmon and steelhead Bill SB 5297 which would restrict gillnetting in the main channels of the Columbia and only impact commercial fishing and not tribal gillnets in the lower side channel areas of the Columbia.
We also voiced our support for protecting and restoring Washington’s riparian areas to maintain a buffer from the impacts of land development in agriculture. This bill (HB 1720) would incorporate stakeholder input from impacted parties to restore and protect fish habitat.
The last bill would provide $5 M for WSDOT and $5 for Washington Operating Budget to create a detailed plan to identify the necessary projects and funding required to replace the currently barging and energy infrastructure currently supplied by the four Snake River Dams. Funding these two feasibility studies will ensure that the needs of Washingtonians are not negatively impacted while meeting our salmon recovery goals should the dams be breached.
Barb and I each received a free tshirt and free lunch from our partners at Trout Unlimited. It was the very first lobby day for this organization and 36 people participated! We were assigned a group rather than being able to meet with our local senators from our region. It was great networking with them! We were very aware of the changes in security at the capital building since our last lobby day before the pandemic. No longer are we allowed to just walk in and talk with staffers; constituents must now have a scheduled appointment in order to meet with staffers in Olympia. Security officers are all over the place!
Both Barb and I were glad we went and happy to meet other supporters.