Easement approved for Olympic Discovery Trail section
Published 3:30 pm Tuesday, March 10, 2026
PORT ANGELES — The project to extend the Olympic Discovery Trail from Forks to La Push took a step forward this week.
During their regular meeting Tuesday, the Clallam County commissioners voted to approve an easement with Ecotrust Forest Management to be used for the trail between the two West End towns.
“The trail easement varies in width from 100 feet to 527 feet in width but basically averages the width of 150 feet, depending on the topography,” county administrator Todd Mielke said. “I believe this is a perpetual easement, so it will be ongoing for the purposes of the Olympic Discovery Trail.”
The easement length is 1.6 miles over 35.33 acres. The cost is $320,000 and the funds come from a combination of a state Recreation Conservation Office Washington Wildlife and Recreation Program grant and also from a Clallam County Lodging Tax Grant, according to county documents.
The bulk of Tuesday’s meeting was dedicated to a public hearing regarding the request from the Washington Women Lawyers Olympic Peninsula Chapter to honor late state Supreme Court Justice Susan Owens.
“This is somebody that lived in the West End of the county who served as a district court judge, who rose up to be a Supreme Court justice, which we recognize as two things: No. 1 is that’s kind of the highest position in the judicial branch of this state, and also that it doesn’t happen very often for small counties,” Mielke said.
Owens’ legal career spanned more than 40 years and she retired in late 2024. She died in March 2025.
The request to honor Owens first came to the county last April and was originally suggested to be an outside seating bench with a dedication plaque, Mielke said.
“The county actually does have a formal park memorial program for placing monuments and plaques on county properties,” he said.
The county also has heard from the Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe, which would like to honor Owens and the city of Forks and is working on a way to honor her.
The request to honor Owens grew, however, from the suggestion of a bench with a plaque to a request to rename the Clallam County courthouse after her or to name the historic courtroom in the courthouse after Owens.
“The information I received during the month of December was that, other than serving as a pro tem on a couple of cases here in this building, she really didn’t preside over court in this building,” Mielke said. “For those that served with her, they said, ‘Well, I think, actually, she might feel a little bit awkward to be honored in a building in which she didn’t have an ongoing courtroom.’ I also heard stories that she was very proud of being part of the Forks community.”
During her time as a Supreme Court justice, Owens brought the other justices to Clallam County and showed them “her courtroom” in Forks, Mielke said.
Forks city attorney Rod Fleck spoke to the commissioners about action on a resolution taken by the Forks City Council on Monday night.
“The resolution designated that portion of City Hall that’s used as District Court 2 as the Susan J. Owens courtroom,” Fleck said.
The city also wants to put up a photo of Owens inside the courtroom with her biography and a plaque commemorating her time and work there.
In regard to a memorial for Owens at the county level, Mielke said the commissioners do have the authority to name buildings owned by the county. Mielke also reached out to the state Historic Preservation officer, because the courthouse is a historic building, and they said the commissioners are not prohibited from naming a building that’s listed on the register.
County staff came up with a few options for the commissioners to consider other than renaming the building after Owens. One is to name a courtroom after Owens and another is to choose a section of the building to be designated as a judicial hall that’s named after Owens.
During the public hearing, proponents of the plan to rename the courthouse after Owens spoke up, but the majority of commentors were against the plan.
“The Clallam County courthouse is the people’s house, and it houses much more than a court,” said Mark Curtis of Sequim. “If a judge never served court in the courtroom at the courthouse, perhaps this is not the appropriate place for her memorial. Honor her where she served in an appropriate manner.”
Curtis’ remarks were echoed with similar comments from several other people.
“This is a historic courthouse, and just because the state preservation officer believes you can move forward with naming it this, I disagree,” said Ed Bowen of Clallam Bay.
Owens should be honored, Karin Cummins said, but not in the county courthouse.
“She didn’t do anything here,” Cummins said. “She didn’t do anything for me, personally.”
Commissioner Mark Ozias stated support for a memorial at the county short of naming the courthouse after Owens while Commissioner Mike French also expressed support for such a move.
Mielke said he will meet again with the proponents about the budget for a memorial and come back to the commissioners with more information.
________
Reporter Emily Hanson can be reached by email at emily.hanson@peninsuladailynews.com.
