By John C. Jackson
Many State Parks are dear places to us and other citizens around the state.As an example, Moran State Park is one of the great accomplishments of the recovery plan in the 1930s to find jobs for victims of the great depression.
There are beautiful picnic and camping sites around two lakes, sea views and an impressive stone tower on the highest mountain with panoramic views of the San Juan Islands. Parks like that are monuments to the contribution of visionary citizens that have contributed to the value of all our lives.
One special place in Moran State Park is particularly dear because it is a fine example of rustic park architecture, built by the young men of the Civilian Construction Corps who came there to learn new skills to pull themselves out of near economic disaster.
Guided by skilled artisans teaching them a practical trade, those young loggers, carpenters and stone masons learned how to build a place that has lived for over a hundred years. It proves what a cooperative community and a nation can do for its citizens in a bad time.
I imagine those raw young men, displaced from the cities and closed factories, must have taken pride in what they learned to do there, working together and building something lasting. Maybe on an evening, they sat among the wood shavings and stone chips around a fire pit or fireplace and looked out over the long beautiful lake in the sunset.
When war came, many must have been transported to distant battlefields and in a cold, dark foxhole recalled that moment of beauty and peace. Some more than repaid the nation that trusted and helped them in full.
There are many places that are like that in Washington. We are rich for it, far beyond the demands of a current economic crisis. Those who followed have been faithful guardians of those irreplaceable treasures that no amount of cost cutting and ill-advised economies should be allowed to destroy.
The State Parks Commission failed to properly design a plan to draw budget savings from the only state agency that pays its way. Hastily proclaimed and poorly executed, the annual access fee of a trivial $30 dollars never received a fair trial.
Now it is dragged out as the excuse to cut field staff and maintenance from these precious places. Up and coming young men and women who came forward as a new generation of dedicated park guardians are being threatened with impossible economic alternatives that will surely drive the best away.
We, who cherish our state parks, must not let this happen. Our friends and neighbors, the back-standing media and an ill-informed public must be warned about a political alternative sure to cause lasting disaster long after the immediate economic threat has passed.
John C. Jackson of Olympia, Washington is the father of Orcas resident Maria Doss
There is now a bill, SB 6387, that addresses this issue. Please contact Sen. Ranker, sponsor, and other members of the Senate Energy, Natural Resources and Marine Waters Committee and urge them to pass this bill!
Thank you!
Let us also give credit to Ellsworth Storey, Architect of those well designed and now historic structures in the park land that Robert Moran donated. I wonder how the construction cost was funded during the depression….federal? state? private? or a mix?
The CCC-Civilian Conservation Corps was a part of the New Deal program created by President Franklin D. Roosevelt (1881-1945). It was a federally funded back to work program meant to combat the Great Depression. Without The New Deal there was no employment for millions of young men. These Americans constructed numerous important public projects. Might be a good idea to re-look at ways to create employment.
On another note, As of January 31st at Moran State Park, two out of three rangers will lose their jobs and they are possibly forced to move off island. Those positions will be filled by displaced rangers from other parks who more than likely do not want to be on Orcas Island. One out two maintenance positions at Moran are also eliminated. These RIFs and cuts are after two ranger positions were on a hiring freeze for several seasons and now these are permanently cut.
There is a revised bill, SB 6387, which helps to alleviate some of the issues. Please contact Sen. Ranker, the sponsor, and other members of the Senate Energy, Natural Resources, or Marine Waters Committee, and urge them to pass this bill. OR better yet, restore funding to parks prior to the end of the month.
Several years in the past, State Parks asked for .001 percent of the general fund and that was not provided. The Discover Pass, established in 2011, is currently meant to solve the fiscal problems of Parks. Instead the revenues have not met expectations. 2013 is Washington State Parks Centennial. At this point in time, there is no much to celebrate.