Business concerns the focus of upcoming Mount St. Helens meeting
Wednesday, July 23, 2008 5:59 PM PDT
By Barbara LaBoe
Printable version
E-mail this articleThe Congressional Mount St. Helens Advisory Committee meets Thursday in Chehalis, this time to hear about industrial and commercial businesses near the mountain.
The committee is holding a series of fact-finding hearings before moving on to making recommendations to U.S. Reps. Brian Baird and Norm Dicks and U.S. Sens. Maria Cantwell and Patty Murray. The committee was established in response to calls to move the Mount St. Helens National Volcanic monument from the U.S. Forest Service to the National Park Service. Its goal, though, is to give lawmakers long-term suggestions about the monument and not focus solely on the management issue.
Thursday, the committee will hear from officials from Weyerhaeuser Co., Washington Forest Products and the American Forest Resource Council. Greg Drew of Drew’s Grocery and committee member Mark Smith, owner of the Eco Park Resort also will speak.
Cowlitz County commissioner Axel Swanson — one of the committee chairs — said he hopes to line up a few other industry representatives for the meeting.
There will be a 30-minute public comment period at the beginning of the meeting.
The meeting starts at 5:30 p.m. and is scheduled to last until 7:30 p.m., depending on the number of speakers. It will be at the Veterans Memorial Museum, 100 SW Veterans Way in Chehalis.
Future hearings include science and conservation, infrastructure — such as roads and facilities — and management models for the monument. Several committee members recently discussed a proposed road from Spirit Lake Memorial Highway to U.S. 12 to boost monument access and said the committee as a whole likely will weigh in — though its more likely to be discussed during the infrastructure hearing.
The committee is made up of government, tourism and recreation representatives from Cowlitz, Lewis and Skamania counties. Committee members expect to have their recommendation to the lawmakers by late this year.
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