Cothren in the race for a third term

Incumbent Wahkiakum County Commissioner Dan Cothren said last Friday he will run for re-election to a third term. He is running as an Independent.

Cothren said he wants to follow through on efforts to revise the county's trust timberlands. He is leading negotiations with the state Department of Natural Resources and District 19 legislators to develop a package that would restore the county's harvestable acreage.

The county has 12,900 acres of trust timberland, acquired through tax foreclosures in the first half of the 20th Century. The legislature put that land in county Forest Board trusts, managed by the DNR, for the financial benefit of the counties where the land is located. State courts have determined that the state has a legal, fiduciary responsibility to manage the land for the counties' benefit.

However, the DNR pulled 3000 acres of Wahkiakum trust land out of production as it developed a habitat management plan for marbeled murrelets, an endangered species of shore bird that lays eggs on moss covered branches of large trees usually at least 80 years of age. The draft of that plan was released last month and included the acreage in land proposed to be set aside from harvest.

"I tried to get this going earlier, but they (DNR personnel) wanted to wait till the draft was out," Cothren said.

"It's going to take someone with knowledge of the forest products industry and who knows the names and faces."

Wayne Flohr, a Wahkiakum Health and Human Services counselor, has also declared his candidacy for the District 2 position as a Democrat.

Other election notes

Offices up for election this year are as follows:

* Wahkiakum County Commissioner # 1 (Precincts - East & West Puget Island & South Cathlamet) 4 year term, George Trott, Incumbent. Bill Coons has announced his candidacy as a Democrat.

* Superior Court Judge for Wahkiakum County and Pacific County)- 4 year term, Michael Sullivan, incumbent. The position is Non-Partisan.

* PUD Commissioner # 1 (Precincts - East & West Puget Island and South Cathlamet), Larry Reese, incumbent. The position is Non-Partisan.

Based on a recent US Supreme Court decision, Washington will adopt its voter approved Top Two Primary this August.

County Auditor Diane Tischer said Tuesday that independent candidates no longer have to have a convention, they just file like other candidates and will be on the primary election.

Filing week is June 2-6.