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The Washington chapter's Executive Committee members are:
- President Bob Batty, Cheney
- Vice President Jan Brucker, Seattle
- Secretary Lloyd Flem, Olympia
- Treasurer Ed Bustamante, Vancouver
- Harvey Brown, Greenacres
- Lunell Haught, Spokane
- Former State Rep. Toby Nixon, Kirkland
State Profile
Washington has some of America's most breathtaking scenery. In a day's drive, from west to east, you can see wild ocean waves, a temperate rain forest, an inland sea speckled with forested islands, an active volcano, cathedral groves of cedar, Douglas fir and ponderosa pine, snow-capped mountains, harsh desert beauty, ancient coulees, and the Columbia River, the Great River of the West. Washingtonians are proud of our national parks -- Mount Rainier, Olympic, and North Cascades. Nearly 10 percent of our state is designated wilderness. Our newest gem is the Hanford Reach National Monument, which protects the last free-flowing stretch of the Columbia River in the United States.
Washington has a long tradition of Republican conservation leadership. Dan Evans, an outstanding Republican governor who served three terms in Olympia, says his proudest accomplishment was getting legislation passed to protect the Evergreen State's air and water, and winning approval of a bond measure to expand the state's parks system. As a U.S. senator, Evans and fellow Senator Slade Gorton helped win passage of the Washington Wilderness Act of 1984. John Spellman, another great Republican governor, stopped construction of an oil pipeline beneath the waters of Puget Sound and of an oil drilling rig in the sensitive shorelines of north Puget Sound. Congressman John Miller was a strong conservationist. The late Congresswoman Jennifer Dunn won passage of legislation expanding Mount Rainier National Park. Her successor, Congressman Dave Reichert, is compiling a strong record on energy, public lands, and other conservation issues.
At the state level, five-term Secretary of State Ralph Munro (a REP member) fought to protect Puget Sound's native wildlife. His successor, Sam Reed, also a REP member, cares strongly about keeping the environment as a mainstream Republican issue. Former state Senator Don Carlson and former state Representative Toby Nixon are great friends of the environment and of REP. Current Republican legislators such as Glenn Anderson, Skip Priest, and others are showing that protecting Washington's quality of life is a bipartisan concern.
As it should be. Washington's environment is under growing pressure. Rapid urban growth is spreading over timberlands, wetlands and prairies. Increasing traffic is polluting the air and making our cities less livable. Puget Sound is stressed by polluted stormwater, toxic contaminants, and shoreline "hardening." More than 600 streams, lakes, and other bodies of water in the state are on the federal impaired waters list. The last remaining roadless areas in our national forests are still unprotected. The spread of noxious cheatgrass is shrinking native shrub steppe habitat east of the Cascades. And what used to be the world's largest salmon runs are disappearing as a result of habitat degradation, dams, overfishing and ill-conceived fish hatcheries. Click the Current Issues button (above) to learn more about these issues.
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