Hiking and Other Outdoor Activities Restart COVID-19 Requesremts and Recommendations.This week an amendment was made to Proclamation 20-25.2. Read the full proclamation from Governor Jay Inslee and view the quick guide banner.
I hope this email finds you healthy and well during this difficult time. We have heard from many of you about the extraordinary work you are doing on behalf of your community. We know that special park districts are in a difficult place with respect to the ability to receive funding while still facing the challenges that COVID-19 has brought.
NRPA has drafted a memo that will provide you additional information about the federal response along with a letter that we plan to send to federal leaders on behalf of special park districts. This letter asks for equitable treatment when funding is provided.
Gov. Jay Inslee will address media Monday via streaming video and telephone to provide an update on the state's COVID-19 response.
The governor will be joined by Hilary Franz, commissioner of public lands, Kelly Susewind, director of the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, and Don Hoch, director of the Washington State Parks and Recreation Commission.
Connect with Your Industry Peers Online
April 20 - 24, 2020
Now more than ever is the time for the membership to connect, collaborate, and share resources. In order to bring the organization together, we are offering virtual WRPA Network meetings during the week that we otherwise would have had the conference, April 20 - 24, 2020.
If your agency is currently or past the point of contact for a parks and recreation grant or if your agency is interested in RCO's programs, please review the below:
In response to the COVID-19 pandemic RCO is proposing reducing an applicant’s match for 2020 parks and recreation grants from a 50% contribution to 25%:
The one-month Stay at Home extension to May 4th the big thing by far. Also covered:
On other fronts, during Q&A the Governor made it clear he will:
Dear Recreation, Conservation, and Salmon Recovery Partners:
First and foremost, we hope you and your family and friends are safe and doing well in these uncertain times. At RCO, staff made the transition to working from home and are fully operational and ready to continue our role as an exemplary partner, helping to recover salmon and protect habitats and develop special places to play.
I wish I wasn’t writing this e-mail, but I need to. Barring some unforeseen circumstances, our WRPA priority local parks funding options bill (ES HB 2625), which was tantalizingly close to passage this Session, is not going to make it up for a Floor vote by the Friday COB deadline. The bill is in the Rules Committee – and were it to get to the Floor, the votes are there to pass it. But we are doubtful it will get there.
What I can tell you is that we worked very hard to get this bill out of the Senate Ways & Means Committee last Friday, and had “pulls” lined up for the Senate Rules Committee both Wednesday and today to get 2625 to the Floor Calendar. We also had strong support from the Senate Floor Leader (Sen. Liias) who spoke to the bill in the Ways & Means Caucus – and had support in that Caucus discussion from Sens. Keiser and Conway.
Good Morning, Everyone!
Here is my usual Weekly Report and Weekly list of hearings – I’d note that on the Weekly Hearings list, with fiscal committees coming down the homestretch and public hearings reducing in numbers, all my recommendations for today (2/10) and tomorrow (2/11) are “MONITOR.”
What are your primary functions as the State Lobbyist for the WRPA?As WRPA’s state lobbyist, I’m responsible for helping to develop the annual Legislative Agenda, promoting priority issues for WRPA, and protecting WRPA’s interests to head off any legislation or budget initiatives that are adverse to us. I’m also responsible for ongoing communications with WRPA Member agencies, for keeping local parks officials informed and aware of happenings in Olympia, and hopefully for enhancing agencies’ knowledge of how to move the needle forward for local parks and recreation overall.
The annual Great Outdoors Day/Legislative Day is a day in Olympia and on “the Hill” where both WRPA and our co-sponsors, the Washington Wildlife & Recreation Coalition (WWRC), can bring a concentration of Members to Olympia to speak with a unified and loud voice about our priorities and about the importance of outdoor recreation and the outdoors when it comes to quality of life, public health, economic development, and environmental stewardship.
Have you expressed an interest or submitted an application for the Washington Wildlife and Recreation Program? The Recreation and Conservation Office (RCO) is seeking your input on the possibility of establishing a maximum amount of funding that can be applied for in any one grant in the WWRP Trails Category. Currently, there are no grant limits.
If you could please take 5 minutes to participate in a survey no later than December 10, 2019, we would be most appreciative. We will share the results with the Recreation and Conservation Funding Board to help them make an informed decision about this issue.
The Washington State Recreation and Conservation Office (RCO) is looking for 50 volunteers to serve on its advisory committees, which help determine what new projects will happen around the state. The advisory committees evaluate grant proposals for parks, boating amenities, working farms and forests, and habitat conservation statewide. There’s a committee for just about any outdoor activity you’re passionate about.
Created in 1964, the Recreation and Conservation Office provides statewide leadership and funding to protect and improve the best of Washington’s natural and outdoor recreation resources. Volunteering with the RCO, you would join 200 other folks serving on 17 different committees to evaluate about 650 grant applications every 2 years.
