Letter to the Editor
August 28, 2011
In the August 23rd addition of
the Aberdeen Daily World
Al Carter attempted to sort out fact
from fiction
Ron Armstrong did a great
job of sorting out several of Mr. Carter’s fact/fiction points,
and I will discuss a couple of the others.
Mr. Carter says our
claim that the Wild Olympics is a $900 million land grab is
fiction. Our Lake Quinault community group is distributing the
popular red and white anti-Wild Olympic campaign signs. We
wholeheartedly support the Working Wild Olympics (WWO) organization,
but they have absolutely no part in either the signs or their
distribution. There are those among the WWO that feel that we are
“fanatics” in this battle, and our signs are a
mistake. Nevertheless, we respect, appreciate and support their
efforts in preventing the Wild Olympics debacle. Our signs state:
STOP WILD OLYMPICS
$900 MILLION LAND GRAB
We want to stop the Wild
Olympics Campaign. That is
a fact, Mr. Carter.
President Obama is proposing to
congress to double spending to $900 million, in the 2012 budget for the
Land and Water Conservation Fund used to buy property. This is
$900 million per year until 2040 and possibly beyond, mostly used for
the National Park System. That is a $900 million dollar nation-wide
land grab. The Wild Olympics campaign is a part of that land
grab. That is another fact, Mr. Carter.
Mr. Carter thinks it is
fiction that Wild Olympics will “grab” our homes and
private property. The Wild Olympics campaign might not, in itself, grab
our homes and property, but it will most certainly make it easier for
the federal government to do so in the very near future. The
north shore of the Quinault Valley was included into Olympic National
Park in 1938 by presidential proclamation. There were over 4,000
acres of private land that had been homesteaded in the
1890’s. Over the years the park has “acquired”
all but approximately 200 acres. I will spare Mr. Carter my
opinion of the park’s abuse of the “willing seller”
method of acquiring land. It is criminal, and that is another fact! You are an
ex-commissioner. I would assume that you know that this 95% loss
of tax base had a devastating affect on both our school and our
county. This is history that you should know and
understand. This is a land
grab, and again, a fact!
Mr. Carter says that our
claim that the Wild Olympics won’t come to the table is
fiction. Let me end this by telling you a little known
fact. Over a year prior to bringing Dan Bohoelt to “his
dining room table”, Commissioner Carter was discussing supporting
the Wild Olympics with fellow Commissioners Mike Wilson and Terry
Willis. He wanted the Grays Harbor County commissioners to sign
on with him as supporters of this fiasco without so much as a word of
it to his Grays Harbor constituents. This was over a year prior
to coming to “the table” with Dan. Mr. Carter would have
signed Grays Harbor on as supporters of the Wild Olympics campaign
without a word to any of us, had it not been for the common sense of
the other two commissioners, and the uncovering of the Wild Olympics
campaign by Dan Bohoelt and Harold Brunstad. This is another fact!
Here is my final fact Mr. Carter. The
man who defeated you, Herb Welch, is up front and honest with his
people. That’s why
you are an ex-commissioner.
Keith Olson
Quinault resident