OLYMPIC NATIONAL PARK — Port Angeles Mayor Cherie Kidd is calling on North Olympic Peninsula residents to write to National Park Service Comptroller Bruce Sheaffer and thank him for his role in keeping Hurricane Ridge Road open seven days a week for the past two winters.
City officials are in negotiations with the U.S. Department of Interior, which includes the National Park Service, to keep weekday winter access open a third year and beyond.
‘Support our park’
Kidd is asking individuals, business owners and civic organizations to urge Sheaffer to “continue to support our park.”
“We appreciate what he has done,” Kidd added.
Sheaffer’s mailing address is Comptroller, National Park Service, Department of the Interior, 1849 C St. N.W., Washington, D.C. 20240.
In response to a community-driven lobbying effort that raised $75,000 in consecutive years, Interior provided $250,000 to pay for year-round access to the popular snowplay area in the winters of 2010-2011 and 2011-2012.
Moving forward
“We spoke this morning and discussed several possible options to possibly move forward,” Kidd said Wednesday. “I think that hearing from community members on why it is important to them would help in this effort.”
Sheaffer oversees all matters relating to the National Park Service financial programs, including annual budgets submitted to Congress and the executive Office of Management and Budget.
He became the first comptroller of the National Park Service in 1987. He also serves as its chief financial officer.
Kidd led a vigorous two-year fundraising campaign for seven-day access to Hurricane Ridge.
Daily access
Until 2010, Hurricane Ridge Road was open daily only in the late spring, summer and early fall.
During the winter, it was open only on weekends and some holidays.
Interior had provided the $250,000 grants under the assumption that the funds would be provided for two or three years, and that if the efforts brought more visitors to Hurricane Ridge, the federal agency would fund the entire cost after the pilot project ends.
Kidd told Port Angeles High School students in March that the funding had to be renewed for the upcoming winter amid ongoing federal budget cuts.
Weekday visitation to the Ridge was about 20 percent of weekend days, in part because of late snows and shortened ski seasons.
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Reporter Rob Ollikainen can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5072, or at rob.ollikainen@peninsuladailynews.com.