• Jon Jarvis, Director of the National Park Service, which is overseeing the dam removal project, saluted the resilience of the Lower Elwha elders, saying that for more than 20 years and the 14 congressional appropriations cycles so far, the people of this region persisted, along with the tribe. “This has been a Peninsula in transition for a long time.” He went on to note: “I believe [the restoration] will be the source of a new economy,” largely based on recreation and that “with persistence and dedication and focus on an idea… amazing things can happen.”
• Senator Patty Murray noted that the dams’ removal “will be remembered for the community partnership… and the power of a community coming together.”
• Rep. Norm Dicks has also labored for this day. “This, by far, has been the longest struggle,” Dicks said of the dam demolition.
• Governor Chris Gregoire added that the restored river, with its fishing, whitewater and surrounding splendor, may well be “a great boost to the economy of our whole state… I can only imagine the tourism.”

The Olympic National Park has animation showing how the Elwha Dam and the Glines Canyon Dam will be removed over the next three years.

Lastly, the Seattle Times did a special report on “the grand experiment to tear down two dams and return an Olympic wilderness to its former glory.” You’ll want to go straight to their website to explore the interactive report, complete with stories, photos, videos and more.

“The Elwha River will begin to be freed this week when workers start to take “a little off the top” of the Glines Canyon Dam, the second of the two Elwha dams west of Port Angeles.

It will be the beginning of the largest dam removal project in the United States.

Photo courtesy of the Peninsula Daily News

Once the Elwha and Glines Canyon dams are brought down, the river will flow freely for the first time in nearly 100 years. It also will open more than 70 miles of river and stream habitat to five species of Pacific salmon and steelhead.

A “ceremonial scoop” of the sediment will be removed during the dam removal celebrations set for 11 a.m. Saturday, said Barb Maynes, Olympic National Park spokeswoman.

Olympic National Park and a number of partners are holding dam-removal celebrations this week in Port Angeles and Sequim, with several events beginning Tuesday and culminating in the official ceremonies with dignitaries — including actor Tom Skerritt, Congressman Norm Dicks and Interior Secretary Ken Salazar — at the official dam removal ceremony at Elwha Dam on September 17 at the Elwha Dam on Saturday.”

Click here for a full schedule of events.

As published in the Kitsap Sun:

“A new $6 million water-purification plant will allow Bremerton to continue drawing much of its drinking water from the Casad Dam on the Union River while avoiding a far-more-costly filtration plant, city officials say.

The new plant, to be dedicated Wednesday, uses ultraviolet light in addition to chlorine to ensure that the water is disinfected to the highest quality under all conditions, said Kathleen Cahall, Bremerton’s water resources manager.

The plant was fully funded with $6 million from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, the 2009 stimulus program designed to increase jobs while rebuilding the nation’s infrastructure. Bremerton’s project supported about 120 workers during design and construction, according to city figures.”

To read more about this project, click here.

The Port of Port Townsend will receive $1.3 million from the federal government toward building a passenger ferry boat to run between Port Townsend and Seattle. U.S. Rep. Norm Dicks said Monday that he was informed of the allocation by Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood through the government’s “ferry boat discretionary” program.

The money will be used for the design and construction of a new boat specific to the needs of traveling the route, which will cut the travel time from Port Townsend to Seattle to 70 minutes, Dicks said in a statement.

The port envisions a boat about 56 feet long that will carry 49 passengers — ahead of the threshold that requires additional crew and increases expense, Crockett said. The boat will be able to make the trip in 75 minutes with two round trips a day to start.

Because of the requirements of the Point Hudson dock, the first trip will leave Port Townsend in time to arrive in Seattle at 10 a.m., return to Port Townsend and make a second late afternoon/evening run to Seattle. It will not be a commuter service, although people with a flexible schedule may be able to use it for that purpose, Pivarnik said.

It will instead be more geared toward tourists, a possibility that excites Port Townsend city marketing director — and Jim Pivarnik’s wife — Christina Pivarnik.

“I am ecstatic about this,” she said. “This opens a lot of possibilities for downtown businesses.”

Christina Pivarnik said the ferry can be marketed to tourists and those whose spouses are in Seattle for weeklong conventions, who want to take day trips “to see something different.” Packages including lodging at local hotels and bed and breakfast inns will also appeal to visitors, she said.

Jefferson County Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Teresa Verraes said the passenger ferry could change how people travel from Port Townsend to Seattle, and thinks it will greatly benefit both cities.

“This is the best [economic] news I’ve heard in years,” she said.

Almost $1 million in federal funds is headed for Tacoma to be used on a revamp of downtown’s Pacific Avenue, Rep. Norm Dicks’ office announced today.

Dicks’ office said in a news release that the city’s grant application had been approved by a program run through the U.S. Department of Transportation.

The money, $978,300, will contribute to the almost $8 million project to renovate Pacific Avenue with a better stormwater system and new streets, sidewalks and landscaping between South 7th and 17th streets. Other funds are in the works, including a grant from the Environmental Protection Agency.

“This grant continues the momentum that the city has achieved along the Pacific Avenue corridor, helping to make it more accessible, pedestrian friendly and more attractive for those living and working in downtown Tacoma,” Rep. Dicks said in the news release.

In a rare victory for the environment, spearheaded by Rep. Norm Dicks, D-Wash., the U.S. House of Representatives on Wednesday rejected an amendment to eviscerate the Endangered Species Act.

The so-called “Extinction Rider” would have prevented the U.S. Fish and Wildlife service from spending any money to list new species under the act, despite a backlog of 260 species needing protection.

The prominent species awaiting protection include two predators found in the North Cascades — the wolverine and Canadian lynx — as well as creatures ranging from the Pacific Walrus to the Sonoran Desert Tortoise.

“They would have also blocked designation of critical habitat necessary to a species survival,” said Dicks.

The move by Dicks to strike the “Extinction Rider” passed 224-202, with 37 House Republicans breaking ranks to support it.

Marjorie Mulhall, of the environmental group Earthjustice, said: “The majority’s vote today affirms that we absolutely don’t have to let our imperiled species die off in order to balance our budget. Anyone who says otherwise, deeply underestimates our nation.”

In the Tacoma News Tribune:

“The iconic building’s metamorphosis from an abandoned rail station into a bustling federal courthouse in 1992 triggered a cascade of development nearby, including the Washington State History Museum, The University of Washington Tacoma, the Museum of Glass and the new Tacoma Art Museum…

A 1985 News Tribune letter to the editor by Seymour L. Johnson was the game-changer. He suggested that Union Station was a good candidate for a federal courthouse. Congressman Norm Dicks agreed – and got the ball rolling. After years of negotiation among stakeholders, coming up with the $50 million-plus in funding and the actual restoration work, Union Station was reborn as the U.S. Courthouse at Union Station, its copper dome once again a shining beacon for Tacoma…

Someone who hadn’t been to Tacoma since the early 1980s would be startled to see the difference today in the area around Union Station. It bustles with students going to classes at the UWT, tourists visiting the history museum, art lovers going to the museums, diners going to upscale restaurants, and light rail passengers getting on or off at the stop in front of Union Station. Thanks to the many people – public officials and private citizens – who worked so hard to save Union Station from the dustbin of history and a letter writer who had the inspired idea of turning it into a federal courthouse. Tacoma is richer for its preservation.”

Read more here, here or here.

Photo Credit: Peninsula Daily News

“This is all really about jobs, jobs, jobs,” said Dicks, D-Belfair.

“That is the No. 1 concern in the country right now, and with 15 or 16 million people without jobs, creating some in this community is very important.”

Dicks also indicated he was a supporter in Congress of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, which provided the funds that are being used to construct the buildings.

The Port of Port Angeles is using $4 million in bonds from the federal act — and which will be paid back through rent revenues — to pay for construction of the first building and the three building pads.

The three buildings, along with the current 120,000 square feet of buildings at the industrial complex, are set up to be what the port is calling its “composites campus.”

The complex consists of 6.5 acres of the 123 acres of Airport Industrial Park the port owns.

It eventually will have three large buildings appropriate for both hot and cold composites-manufacturing processes, port officials said.

The city of Port Angeles committed $540,000 in infrastructure for the complex, Deputy Mayor Don Perry said.

“The city is very excited and very proud to be a part of this,” he said.

“We have very high expectations for return on investments on this complex.”

Read more here.

“The Army conducted an assessment of all schools and Joint Base Lewis-McChord was one of the top priorities.” Rep. Dicks said. “The Defense Department will make the ultimate decision, but I think they will just go down their list.”

Last July, the school dsitrict and military base issued a wish list of projects and now will work to prioritize the needs. Read more about the specific projects here.

“The recent tragedy on the Japanese coast is a reminder of the enormous power of these waves and underscores the importance of passing this legislation as soon as possible so the tribe can move to safer ground outside the tsunami zone,” said Dicks, who represents the 6th Congressional District, which includes the North Olympic Peninsula.

Read more here.

You can also view a video on the need for tsunami protection legislation here: