Commissioners plan for dredging, support planning grant

Wahkiakum County commissioners looked to the future during their business meeting Tuesday.

First, the board reviewed the status of beach nourishment plans with Cape Horn residents. State and federal agencies have approved permits necessary to deposit dredged sand on eroding beaches, Commissioner Dan Cothren said. The US Army Corps of Engineers has been surveying the shoals to establish a dredging program for the summer, said Commissioner Dan Cothren., then they can share their plans with affected property owners.

"That's what we're waiting for," Cothren said. "Then they'll come down and meet with you folks."

Cothren expects the Corps to have plans ready in early June.

Second, the board agreed to join other entities in writing a letter supporting a grant application by the new public service group preparing Wahkiakum Resource Action Plan. The group formed this spring after a bipartisan community survey and series of meetings polling citizens' goals and desires to meet perceived needs and enable future growth.

Group representative Ron Wright said the grant would fund a visit from a planning team focused on assisting local groups and governmements to develop a revitalization program for Cathlamet's Main Street.

"Outdoor activities are increasingly popular across the United States, and communities can take advantage of this trend to revitalize Main Streets," he told the commission. "By conserving forests and other natural lands and making them available for outdoor recreation, small towns can boost air quality and water quality and focus development downtown.

"Promoting outdoor recreation can also create jobs and offer new opportunities for people to connect with the natural world."

Wright commented that the grant is very competitive, so chances of receiving it are small. The process, however, fits with the public input the group received.

Wright said he expects to have about 15 letters of support ranging from Wahkiakum PUD and the Town of Cathlamet to Columbia Land Trust and Hancock Forest Management.