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Evergreen Forest County Group <br />October 5, 2016 <br />O~ <br />Dear Commissioners & Co u A mbers: <br />Here is our annual r e porZ~~~ta shin gto n, D.C. advocacy efforts on behalf of <br />Washington State's forest counties. We are fortunate to have Bob Weidner <br />representing our interests in the National Capital City. Under our direction, Bob has <br />worked tirelessly without fanfare on these key issues: <br />1. Active National Forest Management and Forest Service Fire Budget Reform; <br />2. Secure Rural Schools (SRS) reauthorization; <br />3. PILT reauthorization and appropriations; <br />4. "Coordination" advocacy to require federal agencies to engage in government <br />to government "coordination" & not relegate counties to mere NGO statuSj <br />5. RS 2477 Historic Rights of Way legislation to eliminate need to "quiet title" <br />every 2477 right of way-tremendous cost savings to counties; <br />6. GAO Audit of public land receipts; <br />7. Sharing receipts with counties from Renewable Energy development. <br />8. Protecting the economic interests of Columbia River counties <br />9. Protecting economic interests of counties in and around the Puget Sound. <br />As you know, the Congress has failed to pass a budget resolution or any of its 12 <br />appropriations bills during this session. Moreover, due to its unilateral discarding <br />of "earmarking," Congress has surrendered much of its Constitutional power over <br />the purse to the Executive Branch. <br />Thus, our counties rely heavily on Bob Weidner's expertise on the inner-workings of <br />government due to his 34 years of experience working on Capitol Hill. He has been <br />directly involved in creating the overall strategies for counties to protect their <br />interests and for our allies in Congress to enact our agenda. His work with the <br />Congress has been a key factor in maintaining our timber receipts and SRS and PILT <br />payments. Counties continue to benefit mightily from his work. <br />As co-Chairs of Evergreen Forest County Group for the past four years, we have <br />come to rely on Bob for critical information, strategy and guidance in our efforts to <br />protect our economic resources on all government owned lands. We encourage ALL <br />counties to continue to support Bob's efforts in Washington, D.C. He remains a <br />tremendous resource, not to mention an insurance policy for us all. <br />~:'Y'b~ 8-{ f <br />Ken Dahlstedt, Skagit County Doug England,