RICHARDSON BAY ACCESS COALITION

June 10, 2001

Dear Neighbors,

One month has passed since our May 8 meeting with representatives of the Fish and Wildlife Service. Since then, many of you have written letters to Supervisor Annette Rose, our local representatives and Fish and Wildlife staff requesting the removal of our shorefront and channel from the proposed National Wildlife Refuge. The Strawberry Recreation District and the Richardson Bay Access Coalition (RBAC) also wrote letters requesting our removal. Presumably these letters will be considered in the preliminary report which will be published in late July or early August.

On June 1 the Strawberry Recreation District held its quarterly breakfast meeting with Supervisor Annette Rose. Several RBAC members (Miriam Doody, Cathy Dunlap, Andy Elbert, and I) attended this meeting and questioned Supervisor Rose about our inclusion in the Refuge. Supervisor Rose stated that she and Supervisor Kress had attended a meeting with Marge Kolar and Cathy Osugi of Fish and Wildlife. Supervisor Rose stated that she was told at that meeting that all areas in her district (District Three) would be excluded from any of the Refuge alternatives.

My follow-up call to Ms. Kolar suggests a different scenario. Ms. Kolar implied that she did not make a global policy statement regarding District Three shorefront. She reiterated the Fish and Wildlife position that it avoids including small or dredged areas. She stated that it is very likely that the Greenwood Beach Road shorefront and the Strawberry Channel shorefront would be excluded from any Refuge alternatives. But, she stated that Aramburu Island was “still on the table” and that it was possible, although not probable, that Aramburu Island would be included. Of course, because our channel borders one half of this island, we do not want it included in the Refuge. I called Cindy Roby, Supervisor Rose’s aide, to inform her of this difference in interpretation and asked what Annette’s position was regarding the inclusion of Aramburu Island in the Refuge. Cindy stated that Annette would take the position of her constituents.

Supervisor Rose, when asked at the breakfast meeting if she would sponsor an amended resolution removing us from the Refuge, stated that such an amendment was premature because there were other areas in the county that would probably want to be excluded. I am currently talking to residents and representatives of other affected areas to determine if and when it would be appropriate to request a complete amended resolution from the entire Board.

The bottom line is we have much left to do. If any of you have any contacts in Washington, D.C. or elsewhere that might be useful, please let us know. Our first indication of any success will be in the document published in late summer. We must be ready to spring into action. In the meantime, please join the RBAC (RBAC2001@aol.com).

Sincerely,

Terry

Tirrell B. Graham

Co-Founder, RBAC