FYI


The Benton, Franklin, Grant, and Adams County Commissioners are drafting
legislation to send to Congress! The legislation will allow the transfer of
Hanford lands to the counties, including the 90,000 acre Waluke Slope, which
includes the Saddle Mountain National Wildlife Refuge and the Washington
State Wahluke Slope Wildlife Recreation Area. The commissioners want to
abolish the refuge and wildlife recreation area and convert the second most
important wildlife habitat in the entire state to agriculture and
development. Not only do they want the land they want it for FREE! This
would rip the US taxpayer off to the tune of at least $30,000,000.00 to say
nothing of destroying a National Wildlife Refuge and a State Wildlife
Recreation Area.

Under the county plan, the quarter mile band of lands along the Hanford Reach
would become the White Bluffs Historic and Natural Recreation Area to be
administered by the counties. The legislation claims to protect the
shoreline from development but allows development to promote or support
"reasonable and limited" recreational or educational uses and permits new
energy facilities, transmition lines, substations, access roads, and
generating facilities. The proposal is a sham, claiming to protect the
Reach, but leaving the door wide open to development.

US Senator Murray has introduced legislation in the Senate that designates
the river Wild and Scenic (recreational). The counties draft legislation is
their "alternative" to Wild and Scenic. We need to stop their land grab now!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
INTO ACTION

Meetings are being held in Basin City on March 27, at 7:00pm in the
elementary school and in the Richland Federal Building on April 10 at 7:00pm.
Please attend both meetings if possible, they already had one meeting in
Mattawa and the people supporting the county land grab (the farmers who want
to farm the Wahluke (North) Slope) were out in force. We need to show up at
the last 2 meetings and let the commissioners know that we don't agree with
what they are doing! We are meeting at 6:00 in the Pasco Post Office Parking
Lot to carpool to the Basin City meeting.

COMMENT on the DRAFT LEGISLATION! You can get a copy by calling Ben Floyd at
509-736-3082. The Written Comment deadline is APRIL 24. Send all comments
to:

Benton County Commissioners
Hanford Coordinator
PO Box 1900
Prosser, WA 99350

We need as many individuals and groups to comment as possible.

SAVE THE REACH!