Kilmer plans telephone town hall Tuesday, Dec. 22 at 6 pm

Congressman Derek Kilmer plans a telephone town hall at 6 p.m. Tuesday to provide an update on the federal government’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic and to answer questions from constituents.

Residents of the 6th District — which includes the North Olympic Peninsula — can call 877-229-8493 to join the town hall. The PIN is 111435. They also can listen over the internet at www.facebook.com/Derek.Kilmer

Dr. Larry Corey will join the conversation to discuss COVID-19 vaccines and the road ahead, Kilmer’s office said.

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FYI: New Research Shows Olympic Peninsula Forests Critical to Mitigate Climate Change

New OSU research indicates that Olympic Peninsula and Northwest forests (WA and OR) play a critical role in sequestering carbon to mitigate climate change. As forest policy at state and federal level is under pressure to cut more of the remaining forests - it could hav e implications beyond local revenues for essential services, and local environmental challenges (clean water, habitat for keystone species). Funded by USDA. 
https://today.oregonstate.edu/news/researchers-find-some-forests-crucial-climate-change-mitigation-biodiversity

Wild Olympics Bill Rides Wave of Broad Local Support out of Key House Committee

QUILCENE, Wash. (December 5th, 2019) –The Wild Olympics Coalition today cheered the passage of the Wild Olympics Wilderness and Wild and Scenic Rivers Act (H.R. 2642) out of the U.S. House of Representatives Natural Resources Committee. The legislation was introduced by Senator Patty Murray and Representative Derek Kilmer (D-WA-06) in May, and would permanently protect more than 126,500 acres of Olympic National Forest as wilderness and 19 rivers and their major tributaries – a total of 464 river miles – as Wild and Scenic Rivers. Designed through extensive community input to protect ancient forests and clean water and enhance outdoor recreation, the legislation would designate the first new wilderness in the Olympic National Forest in nearly three decades and the first-ever protected wild and scenic rivers on the Olympic Peninsula.

The Campaign released a stunning new video featuring some of their most prominent local champions to celebrate the milestone, including a local logger, conservationist, fishing guide, scientist, shellfish grower and a city councilmember who are all backing the legislation.

Video On Vimeo: https://vimeo.com/374404086

Video On Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/wildolympics/videos/936210906778791/

Video On Twitter: https://twitter.com/WildOlympics/status/1202614173768679424

Senator Murray and Representative Kilmer spent years gathering extensive community input on the Olympic Peninsula to craft the carefully-balanced legislation. It would permanently protect ancient and mature forests, critical salmon habitat, and sources of clean drinking water for local communities, while also protecting and expanding world-class outdoor recreation opportunities like hiking, camping, boating, hunting, and fishing without closing any roads or affecting any trailhead access.

Obituary: Phil Johnson 1946-2019

Donate to the Phil Johnson Scholarship Fund

From Al Bergstein: This is one of the hardest obituaries I’ve ever written. I knew a small piece of Phil Johnson. I never knew him as he grew up in Port Townsend, on the farm just north of the county fairgrounds. Nor did I know him as he went off to college, and then became a salmon fisherman. Nor when he married the love of his life, Sandy. Nor the daughter that they had, Maia. I didn’t know him when he became a property owner in downtown PT, nor when he helped a young guy named Rocky buy and restore the Rose Theater. I didn’t know him as he built homes, and then ran for County Commissioner. But then I got to know Phil when he and I bumped into each other fighting for environmental protections in Jefferson County, first on the Shoreline Master Program, to write in rules to better regulate aquaculture and then to work to ban Atlantic salmon raised in net pens in the Salish Sea. Then on the Jefferson County Marine Resources Committee. READ MORE: https://olyopen.com/2019/01/10/phil-johnson-walks-on/