Oct. 26, 2001: Hanford Reach public planning money uncertain

Hanford Reach public planning money uncertain

This story was published Oct. 30, 2001

By Mike Lee
Herald staff writer

No extra money is earmarked for the Hanford Reach National Monument in the Interior Department spending bill now on the president's desk, leaving the future of the public planning process for Reach management with Fish and Wildlife Service leaders.

The Reach advisory committee last week was hoping for language directing the agency to spend $850,000 at the new monument of a $10 million increase in the agency's operations and maintenance budget.

"People at the monument might have thought that they were saying this money was going to be coming, when in fact these were recommendations or suggestions," said Todd Webster, spokesman for Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash. He said Congress typically doesn't give specific directions to agencies about their operations and maintenance spending, and this case is no different.

Instead, Congress said Fish and Wildlife "should place a high priority on the staffing and planning needs at the Hanford Reach National Monument."

That is far less than what planning committee members wanted to keep up with a three-year plan to set policies and projects in motion.

"I would like to see a number in there - something we would be assured of," said Jim Watts, chairman of the advisory committee. "It would be a shame for us to get into the formative stages here and not be able to move forward."

The politics of the situation could hardly be more convoluted. Assuming the president signs the bill, it will be up to Fish and Wildlife managers to dole out the money.

It's possible Bush appointees will want to snub Murray, who pushed hard for creation of the monument over objections by area Republicans, by directing the money elsewhere. It's also possible that demands from within the vast Fish and Wildlife refuge system will make leaders unwilling to spend a large chunk of change in any one place.

And it's also possible the Fish and Wildlife Service will want to impress the public with its work as manager of the national monument and set aside a large chunk of money for its Richland office.

"It's at (agency leaders') discretion how to spend that funding. There are no earmarks in there ... for specific projects anywhere," Webster said. "It's Sen. Murray's hope that money would go to the national monument, and she has done everything possible to make sure it will go there."

Rep. Doc Hastings, R-Wash., who fought federal control of the monument for years, said Monday that his main concern was making sure local residents had a hand in creating monument management guidelines.

"I am not necessarily sure this is a function of dollars," he said. "I think local concerns can be addressed plus or minus dollars."

The advisory committee, which has had only three meetings, was set up to let Mid-Columbians help shape critical aspects of the Reach management. And the people who sit on the committee say the money is critical to maintaining that balanced representation.

"It's in everybody's interest to see to it that the planning process proceeds, because if it doesn't there goes our input - the community's input - in how that land is managed," said Mike Lilga, an alternate committee representative from the conservation community.