Olympia Legislative Preview

A brand new Washington state legislative session started on January 14th in Olympia, and it promises to be interesting on a number of fronts, including for hikers who treasure our trails and public lands. 

Little Greider Lake. By Bob Cofer.

Lay of the Land this Session

First, the session will be a short one. The legislature is not putting together a biennial budget this year, so their meeting time will last only two months, ending on March 13.  Because most legislators are running for re-election in 2008, it is highly likely that they will adjourn on time rather than extending the state’s business into another month. 

Another factor at play is we’re starting to see the bare outlines of revenue shrinkage at the state level. While the state is still well in the black, operating with a $1.38 billion surplus, that number was trimmed back for the first time in at least five years.  The Economic and Revenue Forecast Council reported in September that the state’s surplus would be $132 million lower than projected initially.  That’s the housing downturn at work, and we can expect to see more of it, as well as more legislators nervous about allocating funds for expanded state programs.

WTA's Legislative Agenda - Trail Stewards on DNR Lands

Here at Washington Trails Association, we’re bucking the trend. This session, we’re asking the legislature to invest in an $800,000 pilot program in the Operating Budget that would fund trail stewards on Department of Natural Resources (DNR) lands, including Natural Resource Conservation Areas (NRCAs). 

These trail stewards would be a boots-on-the-ground presence on lands that are sometimes abused, and would coordinate volunteer trail maintenance activities on those lands. Currently, there are no trail stewards on DNR lands. Many of these places are popular with hikers, such as Mount Si NRCA, West Tiger Mountain NRCA, Table Mountain NRCA, Greider Lakes, and Sultan Basin. In the long term, by coordinating better with volunteer organizations like WTA, these stewards will be able to deliver high-quality trail maintenance work at a fraction of the cost of a paid crew. The state would invest a little in the front end and realize long-term savings, while getting much-needed work done on the state lands we love.

Hiker Lobby Day on January 30th!

This is an important investment opportunity, but not an easy ask for lawmakers this year, given the revenue shrinkage we are beginning to see at the state level. We will need the help of trail users to push this program through.

This issue will be highlighted as part of WTA’s Hiker Lobby Day where folks from across the state will come together in support of trail stewards. At Lobby Day, hikers will meet with their representatives and tell them about a hiking or trail maintenance experience on DNR land that would have benefited from trail stewards.

Legislation Introduced that Affects DNR Lands 

Finally, a group of representatives, including Representative Brian Blake of Hoquiam, have introduced legislation that would create a working group empowered to increase and guide recreation use on DNR lands. WTA believes that’s potentially a good approach, but we want to make sure that the recreation interests represented on this working group are balanced and not weighted in favor of the motorized community.

If you can’t make it to Olympia there is still much you can do to support trails. After Hiker Lobby Day we will need to keep the momentum going on these and other important pieces of legislation, so we'll ask hikers to keep support of these issues on their elected officials’ radar with letters and phone calls.

Sign-up for the Trail Action Network - WTA’s electronic policy newsletter - to get updated information about these and other issues that affect hikers.