Oh no.
I don't usually think this list is the place for political advocacy,
but surely we county listers can get together to try to prevent this
from happening -- think of the chaos it would create for our lists.
I'm not sure how Washington Birder will adapt.....

AP: Olympia, WA.
In a move some are taking to be evidence of the severity of the
financial woes faced by many state and local governments, Washington
Governor Christine Gregoire, along with an unlikely set of Republican
state legislators, today unveiled a plan to re-draw the lines of the
state's counties, decreasing the number from 39 to 30. Governor
Gregoire, speaking in Olympia at the unveiling of the new state map,
announced "while many may see this as a cosmetic change, it is hard
to understate the impact the reduction of counties will have on our
state and local budgets. The efficiencies produced by consolidating
many small government services into larger units will redound from
Clarkston to Orcas Island." Perhaps most controversial are the
proposals to split some of the most populous counties while at the
same time combining many of the smaller counties.

Included in the proposed changes: The combination of Asotin,
Garfield, Columbia & Walla Walla County into one county; the division
of King county into 2 new counties, with Seattle carved out of the
middle; Clark & Wahkiakum county will be both lumped together;
Skamania County will be divided into two pieces, with half assigned
to Clark County and half assigned to Klickitat County....(more at
link)
http://tinyurl.com/2s4x6q


Hope this never makes it out of the legislature,

Matt Bartels
Seattle, WA