PORT ANGELES — Olympic National Park’s mid-September bash celebrating the start of the teardown of the two Elwha River dams is on track to receive $20,000 from Washington’s National Park Fund, the nonprofit group’s executive director said Monday.
Eleanor Kittelson said she is confident the park will receive $98,500 in grants for projects including the Sept. 16-18 celebration at venues including Port Angeles’ Gateway transit center and on-site at the Glines Canyon or Elwha dams.
The park is hoping for attendance between 5,000 and 10,000.
President Barack Obama, rocker Jon Bon Jovi and actor Robert Redford have been invited to be among them, although Olympic National Park has not received responses from their representatives, park spokeswoman Barb Maynes said Monday.
Lower Elwha Klallam Tribal Chairwoman Frances Charles also said Monday that she sent written invitations to Obama through his staff and has yet to hear back.
Charles also invited Obama personally Dec. 16. That’s when she visited the White House with other Native American leaders and shook Obama’s hand.
“He said, ‘I recall the Elwha Dam,’” Charles said Monday. “He nodded and moved onward.”
Kittelson credited her confidence about full funding for Olympic National Park’s grant request to a faster-paced stream of contributions to Washington’s National Park Fund this year compared with last year, when Olympic National Park received $103,280 from the group.
Also on track for full funding is North Cascades National Park, for $172,650, and Mount Rainier National Park, in line for $163,000.
“We are raising significantly more money than we were able to raise in prior years,” Kittelson said. “It’s a very good chance that all of these will be funded this year.”
Washington’s National Park Fund will make a decision on grant awards by July 1, she said.
Projects related to the $351.4 million, three-year Elwha River Restoration Project, which includes $26.9 million for dismantling the dams, would get the bulk of funding for Olympic National Park.
They include $30,000 for educational materials and to support a seasonal interpretive ranger dedicated exclusively to the restoration project and $11,000 to produce The Elwha Revegetation Species Manual.
Park staff and volunteers will revegetate acreage within about 750 acres of basin area made bare by the draining of Lake Aldwell, behind Elwha Dam, and Lake Mills, behind Glines Canyon Dam, to free the river and provide habitat to a legendary salmon run blocked from spawning for the last century.
The revegetation will be volunteer-driven, and anyone interested in helping out should phone 360-683-0757.
Other park fund projects for Olympic National Park include $18,000 to monitor fisher populations with hair snares and cameras to determine if their numbers have increased, $15,000 for Roosevelt elk surveys and $4,500 to continue the second year of a marmot-monitoring program.
Maynes, saying she was “so appreciative” of the park fund money, said the mid-September celebration does not yet have a budget.
The park hopes to build on “a small amount of seed money” with donations such as those from the park fund, Maynes said.
“Whatever is coming from Washington’s National Park Fund will enable us to do more,” she said.
Confirmed guests for mid-September are Department of Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, National Park Service Director Jon Jarvis and 6th District U.S. Rep. Norm Dicks, whose electoral territory includes Clallam and Jefferson counties
Port Angeles Civic Field at Fourth and Race streets, which can hold more than 3,500 spectators in the stands and on the grass depending on the size of the stage, has been eyed as the site of a concert that could feature Jon Bon Jovi or another rock or country act, while Redford might keynote a dinner hosted by the Lower Elwha Klallam tribe, possibly at Peninsula College, party planners have said.
“It’s really, really early in the process, and we are working on contacting a whole variety of people and talking to people about their possible interest,” Maynes said.
A planning group will get together at a meeting closed to the public Thursday afternoon at park headquarters, 600 E. Park Ave., Port Angeles, to continue to further plan for the celebration, Maynes said.
“After this meeting, we will be far enough along to be able to name people who are going to be on the core team,” she said.
Senior Staff Writer Paul Gottlieb can be reached at 360-417-3536 or at paul.gottlieb@peninsuladailynews.com.
