I wish to thank The Herald and especially the reporter Jaqueline Allison, who interviewed me about the situation of the vehicle in the Sauk Rriver (“It ‘doesn’t belong’: Crashed car still in wild and scenice Sauk River,” The Herald, June 20).
The state of Washington has more than 70,000 miles of river in it. Of that number, 197 miles of that waterway has been classified as “wild and scenic” by Congress in 1978. The Skagit and its tributary feeder rivers such as the Sauk are part of that 197 miles.
I have personally contacted the federal Environmental Protection Agency and the state departments of Ecology, Fish and Wildlife and Natural Resources the vehicle in the river and with salmon spawning season only weeks away must be removed from this waterway immediately.
What do I hear? Nothing. Are there any plans in place? I’m told that the vehicle will be removed when the river comes down in velocity due to safety concerns. Who makes that decision? Is anyone monitoring the river volume? For that matter, when exactly is the point when the velocity is deemed safe for the extraction of the vehicle?
I am outraged by the hypocrisy of the state agencies of the state that deal in protection of the environment. They all have no problem digging into our wallets and use the excuse of “environmental protection” to do it. Liberals have long rung the bell about protection of salmon runs and bring about the limits on fish that sportsmen can catch while ignoring commercial harvesting in Puget Sound, all the time robbing them blind with the costs of fishing licenses all in the cause of maintaining natural habitat.
This situation puts a clear and specific spotlight on how our tax dollars are gleefully gathered by environmental bureaucratic entities, both state and federal, that say one thing and to justify their robbery while they kick the can down the road by not performing the very jobs they profess to be their responsibility as they take our money.
How the vehicle got there is immaterial. I’m sure the fish that use the Sauk to spawn don’t care much. Our state has ample resources to resolve this problem and the clock is ticking as the salmon are soon to return home.
There is a damn vehicle in the Sauk River. Get it out now!
Jon Allen
Darrington
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