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jf) <br />Evergreen Forest County Group <br />October 15,2017 <br />Dear Commissioners & Council Members : <br />Throughout the year your Evergreen Group has been laser focused on winning an <br />extension of Secure Rural Schools (SRS) Funding for our National Forest Counties. <br />At our direction, Bob Weidner has worked closely with House Republican <br />Conference Chair, Cathy McMorris Rodgers, Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy and <br />Speaker Paul Ryan. In addition to our own counties, Bob has organized counties in <br />California, Texas and Wisconsin to weigh in with key members and has flown <br />commissioners, school leaders and timber industry officials into Washington, D.C. <br />throughout the Spring, Summer and now is preparing for a full court press as we <br />head into the end of the year. <br />A J'i J ( D 'U t: -udy /' <br />To that end, Bob continues to work very closely with House and Senate Leaders on <br />enacting the Resilient Federal Forest Management Act of 2017, a bill which will <br />reopen the National Forests for active management to improve forest health, reduce <br />fires, and create economic growth for rural public lands communities. <br />Bob, long ago uncovered the fact that failure to continue SRS funding would <br />drastically skew PIL T payments across the public lands west and has succeeded in <br />getting word of this out to counties and to Congressional leaders. <br />Finally, Bob has played a key role in initiating a Coordination Executive Order within <br />the Trump Administration. Meanwhile, we continue to work to educate the <br />Congress and our own counties about tools available to them in the form of formal <br />"coordination" as defined in the 1976 Federal Land Policy Management Act <br />(FLPMA). Reinforcing "coordination" is a key objective for our counties as a way to <br />bring true consistency between federal land policies and your local general <br />management plans. Skagit, Chelan and Okanogan Counties used coordination this <br />year to block National Park and US Fish and Wildlife Service longstanding plans to <br />introduce Grizzly Bears into the North Cascades. Coordination works. <br />We are well served by Bob Weidner. He brings the ability to work on a bipartisan <br />basis, to forge coalitions of counties, the timber industry and the education <br />community from parts of the country that can and is helping us. We urge your <br />continued strong financial support for your Evergreen Group and Bob Weidner. <br />Sincerely, <br />~~o,D~ <br />Ken Dahlstedt, Co-Chairman (Skagit County)