June 21, 2001: Monument land to keep status quo for at least 2 years

Monument land to keep status quo for at least 2 years

This story was published June 21, 2001

By John Stang
Herald staff writer

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service expects to take two to three years to nail down a management plan for the Hanford Reach National Monument.

Until that plan is approved, the monument's land likely will remain status quo regarding access and centers for visitors, said Anne Badgley, Portland-based Fish and Wildlife regional director.

The Clinton administration created the 305-square-mile Hanford Reach National Monument last year as a federally managed refuge.

The monument is the noncontaminated outer part of Hanford, which forms a big C around the site's highly contaminated middle. It includes the Columbia River shore, which still is contaminated on the Benton County side; the Wahluke Slope; and the Fitzner-Eberhardt Arid Lands Ecology Reserve.

Wednesday marked the first meeting of a fledgling advisory committee that is supposed to help Fish and Wildlife and the Department of Energy create a master plan to manage the monument. DOE owns the land, and the wildlife service has begun managing it.

The advisory committee has 13 members - each with an alternate - representing the Mid-Columbia constituencies in the Reach, Wahluke Slope and ALE. Members include environmentalists, scientists, tribal members and Mid-Columbia government representatives.

Wednesday's meeting was primarily an orientation and organizational session.

Committee members said their greatest concern is about their clout: Will DOE and the wildlife service follow their advice.

Badgley said DOE and the wildlife service will have the final say on the management plan. But she added: "If we have an unanimous group, we'll sure be listening to those voices."

The Fish and Wildlife Service is also trying to figure out its relationship with the committee. "We're not sure what exactly they will be able to provide for us," Badgley said.

That's because this is the wildlife service's first federal citizens advisory committee in the Portland office's six-state region - which covers Washington, Oregon, California, Nevada, Idaho, plus Hawaii and other Pacific islands.

The advisory committee is scheduled to meet from 8 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. today at Washington State University at Tri-Cities' library and information center in Richland. After 9:30 a.m., the group will tour the monument's lands.

Today, the committee is supposed to decide when it will meet next.