June 22, 2001: Monument board to aim for consensus on plan

Monument board to aim for consensus on plan

This story was published June 22, 2001

By John Stang
Herald staff writer

The fledgling Hanford Reach National Monument advisory committee adopted procedural rules that are similar to the existing Hanford Advisory Board.

The monument advisory committee agreed during its organizational discussions Thursday it will try to reach - but won't require - unanimity among its 13 representatives before making any formal recommendation to the federal government on how to put together a monument management plan.

The 7-year-old, 32-member Hanford Advisory Board has an ironclad unanimity requirement on any formal position it takes on Hanford cleanup matters. That unanimity gives the HAB significant political clout because it represents Hanford constituencies ranging from Tri-City interests to regional environmental groups.

The monument advisory community also includes a cross-section of constituencies interested in the Reach, the Wahluke Slope and the Fitzner-Eberhardt Arid Lands Ecology Reserve, which make up the bulk of the national monument.

The monument committee will not require absolute unanimity for its recommendations to the Department of Energy and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service - leaving room for minority opposing opinions to accompany its recommendations.

Committee members Bob Thompson, Richland's mayor, and Jim Watts, representing the Tri-City Industrial Development Council, voiced concerns that any recommendation without unanimity will be watered down and be taken less seriously by the federal agencies.

Created last year, the Hanford Reach National Monument covers 305 square miles of Hanford's uncontaminated security buffer areas - relatively untouched shrub-steppe being converted into a federal refuge with some public access. DOE owns the land, but the wildlife service is managing it. It is expected to take two to three years to create a formal management plan.

The monument advisory committee's mission is provide public and regional input to help create that plan.

The committee is supposed to meet next in late August or early September, when it plans to elect a chairperson.