CHIMACUM — The Jefferson County commissioners earmarked money for the preservation of Tamanowas Rock this week after hearing concerns about the future of access to the Native American icon near Anderson Lake State Park.
“We probably do not support climbing on the rock,” said Leo Gaten, the James- town S’Klallam tribe’s government policy adviser.
Gaten — speaking as the representative of the Blyn-based tribe’s chairman, Ron Allen — said that, should the tribe acquire the property around the rock, it would prefer that climbing be shifted to the “sister rock” in Anderson Lake State Park to the west.
Martin Mellish, a Port Townsend-area rock climber who frequents the rugged brown walls of the rock, said that would, in essence, end Tamanowas Rock climbing.
“There is not a comparable rock in the park,” he said. “That is not an option.”
Action on rock
Both Mellish and Gaten were among those who went before the Jefferson County commissioners Monday during a public hearing that preceded the commissioners approving $97,606 in 2010 county Conservation Futures Funds to the Jefferson Land Trust to permanently protect 129 acres of property.
The area to be protected includes Tamanowas Rock, which juts up more than 100 feet and is considered a sacred place of Native American worship.
Commissioners also approved $102,394 toward the land preservation project in 2011 for a total of $200,000 of Conservation Futures Fund allocated to the project.
The tribe hopes to eventually purchase the 129 acres that includes the rock.
“I think it’s a question of time perspective,” said Owen Fairbank, president of the Jefferson Land Trust board.
“Native Americans been going there for thousands of years. Climbers have just been going there for decades.”
Futures Fund
The Conservation Futures Fund, established by the county commissioners in 2002, is derived from a tax levy of slightly more than 4 cents per $1,000 of assessed property valuation and a fraction of the timber tax receipts the county receives.
The amount of funds generated through taxation has been running at least $180,000 annually.
The Conservation Futures Fund balance was at more than $700,000 in 2009.
The eight-member Conservation Futures Citizen Oversight Committee earlier this year recommended the $200,000 funding.
Committee member Herb Beck of Quilcene said that access should be required for a tax-revenue funding proposal, an issue raised in reference to the possibility of the property being closed to the general public for tribal spiritual ceremonies.
Purchased in December
In November 2008, Washington State Parks entered into a purchase agreement for 63-acres of the Tamanowas Rock property and transferred that agreement to Jefferson Land Trust, which bought it last December for $600,000.
Jefferson Land Trust will remain the “bridge” owner until the tribe — and perhaps Washington State Parks — come up with the money to purchase the property.
Fairbank said that the next step is for the land trust to meet with Tamanowas Rock project partners and the community to develop a land management plan.
“As a land trust, we want to preserve the habitat and the unique qualities of the area,” Fairbank said.
Access would ultimately be determined by the property’s owner, he said.
“If the tribe purchases it, in addition to county money, they are obviously going to have a voice,” he said.
Mellish, who objects to public funds being used to purchase land the public may not be able to access, argues that attempts to manage access to the property might prove futile.
“They’ll run into all kinds of troubles,” he said. “It’s not economically feasible to police it.”
“When climbing the rock is outlawed, only criminals will climb the rock.”
The tribe in 2005 obtained loans and purchased 86 privately-owned acres adjacent to the rock, which otherwise might have been developed as home sites.
Jefferson County’s Conservation Fund partially funded purchase of a conservation easement of the tribe’s property just north of the rock, a deal completed in 2008.
Access plan
County Commissioner David Sullivan said he was confident an access plan could be reached between the tribe and other parties.
“Historically, we’ve worked real well with the tribe,” Sullivan said. “I know they are a big proponent of the Olympic Discovery Trail.
“It benefits them for us to know more about their culture and more about them, and I think it would be good if they invited the public in.”
County Commissioner John Austin said the question of access was complicated.
“I’m still withholding judgment on that because I can hear both sides of this,” Austin said.
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Port Townsend-Jefferson County Editor Jeff Chew can be reached at 360-385-2335 or at jeff.chew@peninsuladailynews.com.